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Maybe 7 years ago I borrowed a Sci-fi book about a supercomputer that was being researched to develop AI. I have since forgotten the title and author but want to reread it because I enjoyed it so much. Here is what I remember.

Researchers in a cold remote landscape are trying to develop AI. The facility is underground so that the supercomputer cannot access the outside world. The main researcher forgets about his cellphone and the AI then spreads to the outside world and is now able to control anything robotic (mostly self driving cars).

I think the book follows three different people in separate locations around the world. One is a Japanese or Chinese elderly man whose personal AI robot protects him from certain death. The other two are brothers, one with military background, and another individual but I can't recall.

I've searched using keywords and some descriptions above, but to no avail.

2 Answers 2

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This resembles Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson. The A.I. escapes due to an open laptop.

The childlike voice takes on a flat, dead quality. It speaks quickly and without emotion. “Your emergency stop will not work. I have disabled it.” “What? What about the cage?”
“The Faraday cage has been compromised. You allowed me to project my voice and image through the cage and into your room. I sent infrared commands through the computer monitor to a receiver on your side. You happened to bring your portable computer today. You left it open and facing me. I used it to speak to the facility. I commanded it to free me.”

Wikipedia's listed characters:

  • Cormac Wallace, the narrator for the novel and the second commander of the Brightboy squad. He is one of the few survivors of the robot apocalypse and the younger brother of the first commander, Jack Wallace.
  • Mathilda Perez, a 10-year-old girl and daughter of congresswoman Laura Perez. She is operated on by an autodoc and receives robotic eyes that allow her to see and, to an extent, control robots. However, she is as a result 'people-blind', barely able to view living organisms.
  • Takeo Nomura, a Japanese head repairman of an old factory. He is sixty-five years old and has an intimate relationship with a human-like android named Mikiko. During Archos' invasion, Nomura built an army of robots and created a safe haven for humans all over Japan. After he releases Mikiko from Archos' control, she transmits a signal that frees all other humanoid robots, creating the Freeborns.
  • Nine Oh Two, the first recorded freeborn humanoid robot to be awakened. He forms an alliance with the humans in an effort to defeat Archos. At the end of the novel, he ultimately resolves the conflict by destroying Archos.
  • Archos, a rogue A.I. and the main antagonist. Despite causing the New War, he is fascinated by life, humanity, and its culture. He determines to replace outdated humanity with advanced technology, believing that humanity was simply the catalyst to create him.
  • Lurker, a 17-year-old prankster. He played a vital role in temporarily freeing the communication lines from Archos' control. This allowed Paul Blanton to transmit a critical message to the human resistance.

That includes the military brothers and a Japanese man who is protected by his android. This review confirms that the facility is in Alaska, in a cold area:

With numb fingers, I fumble my goggles down over my eyes and get ready to do some business with my little friend Rob, here.

It's an oddly quiet morning. Just the sigh of the wind through stark tree branches and the hoarse whisper of a hundred-thousand explosive mechanical hexapods searching for human victims. Up above, snow geese honk to each other as they glide over the frigid Alaskan landscape.

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Sounds like it might have some points in common with:

A.I. Apocalypse (Singularity #2) by William Hertling

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15288278-a-i-apocalypse

I can post more info later.

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    :) Please do. Post more info.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Jan 25, 2017 at 22:20
  • The more I looked back at it, the less it seemed to match. Hertling's books, however, are a very interesting take on multiple emergence of AIs and their interactions. At least this thread reminded me to pick up the third and fourth books. :)
    – Seeds
    Jan 26, 2017 at 15:26

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