Libbie Grant is the author of The Ended World, out now from Galiot Press. Below, she recommends three novels about humanity’s relationship with thinking machines.

When I first began writing my novel The Ended World, I never imagined I’d see some of the themes play out in real time shortly before the book’s release. The Ended World is a literary novel that follows two characters whose ideas about technology and spirituality are challenged when an AI appears to have gained consciousness.

Now, we’re seeing echoes of the plot as major publications debate the possibility of AI consciousness and tech companies invest in hiring psychologists, ethicists, and philosophers to guide their decision-making.

The Ended World asks the question of what it means to be human here and now, at the beginning of the age of AI. I explored that idea in a few ways with my story, but I’m not the first author to tackle the subject.

Here are three great novels that examine humanity’s relationship with thinking machines:

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger: This Oprah’s Book Club pick appeared on many Best Books of the Year lists in 2025, with good reason. A tense family drama exploring the aftermath of an accident involving an AI-driven minivan, it’s a deeply moving portrait of a family trying to hold onto their humanity in the face of technological encroachment and overbearing capitalism.

Speak by Louisa Hall: A complex, engrossing narrative that weaves across time and space and multiple seemingly unrelated characters, each involved in surprising ways with the creation of lifelike dolls imbued with artificial intelligence.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro: Klara is an AI-powered android waiting in a store for a human to choose her. It’s such a touching exploration of the need for love and belonging. The fact that such human emotions are explored through the character of a non-human intelligence somehow makes it all the more impactful.

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