AI Baby: A Novel

For fans of speculative fiction like The Husbands, a funny, smart mother-daughter story about how we will live with ever-evolving AI - in our kitchens, our carpools, and our friendships. "AI Baby has compelling, complex characters and a strong story that could be less fictional than many think..." -Karen Smiley, Founder, She Writes AI "...entertaining and brisk...Garcia has crafted a solid, suspenseful narrative arc that draws readers in..." -The BookLife Prize Tiger mom Erica Barbieri has one full-time job: keeping her daughter Zoey at the top of her class. Her program of "trying everything" worked. Senior year at their elite Seattle prep school, Zoey is poised to be valedictorian and Harvard is a "likely." Zoey thinks her mom is lovingly psychotic but knows her methods equal guaranteed success. Then Fenella Kingsley rolls in. Genius with supermodel looks, brilliant, polite, poised, and tireless. She effortlessly dethrones Zoey on day one but wants to be her friend. Zoey falls under her spell. And under the spell of Fenella's mother, billionaire Lannie Kingsley, who runs Prometheus - the AI company making audacious moves for market dominance. To Lannie, everyone is a test subject for her tech, even her daughter. Erica senses Fenella is just too perfect and gets a job at Prometheus to investigate. Then Zoey starts pulling away, so Erica breaks into the Kingsley mansion to get answers. Inside, she learns what Zoey already knows: Fenella isn't a perfect girl. Fenella is the product. Racing to expose Lannie, Erica uncovers a chilling truth: Zoey's future is being shaped by forces far more powerful than college admissions. Distraught that her obsession with success may have jeopardized her daughter's welfare, Erica must push past her parenting failures and fight for Zoey's humanity before it is engineered out of her. "A must-read." - Dana Frank, Best-Selling Author of Get Up And Get On It "Smart, humorous and a somewhat terrifying look at life... I loved every minute of it." - Stacey R. Campbell, Author of the Highly Rated Lakeview Series