Lou Gilmond and Brian Klein

Novelists Lou Gilmond and Brian Klein discuss their latest works that put artificial intelligence (AI) and its dangers at the heart of the plot. Could this really happen?

Gilmond’s Divinity Games is about an opposition MP who uncovers a plot between government ministers and a big tech organisation. The MP finds himself a target of a strange harassment campaign. His train pass and credit cards don’t work, his phone won’t work and every traffic signal he approaches turns red. He is determined to expose them but faces a world dominated by AI in which his every movement is tracked and every conversation listened to. Gilmond is author of two other political thrillers, Dirty Geese and Palisade.

Klein’s The Spider Covenant is the story of an investigation into the Spider network, an organisation set up in 1944 to help SS officers escape the Allies. Switch to 2024 and the Spider network is at the heart of a dark political conspiracy. It is employing next-level AI technology to create undetectable deep fakes of extremist politicians conducting live-stream interviews with outlets across the world in an effort to grab the levers of world power. Klein is a bestselling novelist and a television director whose work includes 28 seasons of Top Gear.