Review of Terms of Service

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DorisSamuel
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Latest Review: Terms of Service by Craig W. Stanfill

Review of Terms of Service

Post by DorisSamuel »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Terms of Service was written to take the reader on a ride to the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and this is centered around the life of Kim.

Kim lived in a world that had machines in charge of everything; what they wore and ate, how they interacted with each other. Everything was ruled by the AIs.Kim worked at an AI company as a trainer of automatons. Her life revolved around a circle of work and home. Though she knew she was meant to be different and to live a life other than the life she knew, it didn't stop her from performing her duties as a loyal citizen, loyal to the TERMS OF SERVICE. She countlessly had nightmares that emanated from a past hurt that had been concealed from her memory due to early separation from her birth mother.

Kim's relationship and interaction with her house appliances are one very funny instance in the book where I found myself laughing without even noticing. She had a clique of friends that had her back anyway, anytime especially Shan and Keli. While Keli acted in a way a mother would in the life of Kim, Shan was Kim's best friend and was ready to do anything for Kim.

Kim's life however changed from what seemed to be the norm and what she was used to into another strange reality that she never thought existed, when she went on an adventure with her friend, Shan discovering secrets, the AI has tried to hide for generations. Kim was made to even develop an AI of herself which she called Kimberly. At first, Kim was having difficulty understanding Kimberly but she however grew to love Kimberly as she became one of the few that stood with Kim when things turned sour.

The positive aspect of this book is that it made me realize how beautiful AI can be. Only someone such as Craig who is an expert in AI-related matters would be able to write such a book without hitches and one would read and not get bored. Reading this book was not just interesting, it was also educating. I learned and got to understand more about AI and how machines are programmed to act. Before reading this book, I was quite skeptical about it and whether I'd understand it or not but all these changed, the moment I began this journey, I was unable to stop until I finished the book. Even in the end, I was pleased to discover that there is a second part of the story, a continuation.

The negative aspect I had while reading through is that the author would have made effort to describe the character of Kim. I read through the book getting used to Kim, but couldn't picture her in my head. A little description would have perhaps created a better insight into Kim's personality. Another issue I had is that at some point in the book, I didn't understand the forms the characters were in. Were they humans with the ability to change into animal forms or were they animals with the ability to change into human forms? This was however clarified towards the end of the book where they were clearly stated as being humans.

I'd rate this book a 4 out of 4 because, despite the few hitches listed above, I enjoyed every part of the book. The author did more than a good job in writing out exactly what he wanted his readers to experience. I'd say this book was professionally edited and the grammatical errors I encountered were very negligible.

I'd recommend this book to people who are interested in fiction on Artificial Intelligence-related matters.

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Terms of Service
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readingswithsoso
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Post by readingswithsoso »

Were they humans with the ability to change into animal forms or were they animals with the ability to change into human forms? This was however clarified towards the end of the book where they were clearly stated as being humans.
Very well observed. I wonder if the author did it on purpose.
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