Review of Terms of Service

Post by **Ilze Herholdt** » 05 Jan 2023, 06:58

[Following is a volunteer review of "Terms of Service" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

5 out of 5 stars

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Imagine a world controlled by Artificial Intelligence and a terrifying hierarchy who shows no mercy. The citizens are expected to obey the ridiculous rules, and there are enough artificial intelligence systems in place to ensure that nobody breaks them. Every aspect of every human's life is controlled by Artificial Intelligence. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide where they won't find you. Kim and her friends live in this strange world where technology rules everything. Kim decides to obey because she's afraid of what might happen if she doesn't. Her loyal dedication to the rules has made her a model citizen worthy of emulation. She was given many privileges because of her higher social cohesion rating, which eventually led her to find out the truth about the virtual reality world. Subsequently, she faced the dark truth about the system eye to eye.

Terms of Service: Subject to Change Without Notice, written by Craig W. Stanfill, is a highly intellectual science fiction novel. The readers continue to follow Kim's life as an Artificial Intelligence trainer. Through Kim, the other characters that are important to her are revealed. The book also explores what social conventions might look like in a world with such technological advancement. Initially, the book focuses on world-building and character development of the protagonist. This is influential later on because it wouldn't have been possible to understand society and Kim's place in it otherwise. The book is easy to read and follow because it is written in third-person narrative.

I like how realistic the author made the book sound. For example, Artificial Intelligence would never understand human behavior because they lack the ability to understand emotion. No amount of analyzed data about human behavior will be able to predict the emotions people feel. Several things the author created fascinated me, including a talking refrigerator where the AIs control, based on your performance at work, the food you eat. You'll eat heavenly tasty foods, have luxurious hot showers, and have access to the fanciest clubs if you work hard, obey the rules, and achieve what they want you to achieve. If you don't obey the rules, you'll eat unpleasant tasteless food, have ice-cold showers, and won't even be able to afford to go out to a club. I liked how many characters were fully developed in the story, and all the interesting topics that were covered. Craig W. Stanfill got his PhD in Artificial Intelligence in 1983. He has spent his career doing research in AI and enterprise computing. Consequently, he did write this dystopian fictitious novel out of an intellectual standpoint. This information makes the book even more brilliant since the author knows what he is talking about.

There is an introduction to the book called “A Note On Pronouns” in which everyone in the society is speaking a futuristic language called Panglobal. English is classified as a classical language and, therefore, only spoken occasionally and then clearly indicated as English. The thing I really disliked about this concept is that the entire book is written in English. Therefore, I found it a bit strange to imagine reading the book in “Panglobal” and even more absurd to read texts such as, “[English] Rex! Sit! Don't bother those people!” on page 92, and then the rest carries on in English, but the reader has to imagine it as a new futuristic language that doesn't officially exist. This is the only thing I disliked about the book.

I didn't find any errors in the text while reading this book. The writing and description are impressively laid forward, and the editing and proofreading are impeccable. I hereby rate this book a five out of five stars.

Lovers of science fiction, politics, and technology will most definitely enjoy reading this book. Terms of Service is bound to delight and educate lovers of this genre. I warn readers who are sensitive to the subject of drug and alcohol abuse to avoid this book.

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Terms of Service
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Phooko Tebogo PC · Post by **Phooko Tebogo PC** » 12 Jan 2023, 23:07

I do not really love politics, but how you have opinionated the book makes me wanna try it out. Thank you for an amazing reiew.

Ohna Martin · Post by **Ohna Martin** » 17 Jan 2023, 02:11

I have also read this book and the follow-up up still do my review. I liked the book though sci-fi is not my genre the author created an amazing world with good characters. Kim's development in the book is interesting. Her intellect when it comes to controlling the bots leads her to come face-to-face with the truth of the world that was created.

Jack Winnick · Post by **Alex Reeves** » 04 Feb 2023, 03:59

Artificial intelligence and robots taking over the world is a fear brewing in the minds of many people, and I think this book is just an accurate description of that. Kim does well to follow the rules of the AIs, but who knows what she uncovered about the secret behind the virtual world. Great review. Have a great week.