The Proving Ground, Michael Connelly, author; Peter Giles, narrator
Can anyone resist the Lincoln Lawyer series? I know that I cannot. This one held me rapt for most of the book. The court cases in the Mickey Haller series have been riveting, and this one is no exception. Mickey is no longer operating out of his car. He now operates out of a warehouse, complete with a cage that acts like a Faraday Bag. It makes the area safe from eavesdroppers. Also, Mickey has given up defending criminals. He is now working on a case in civil court. Lorna and Cisco Wojciechowski still work for him and remain happily married. Currently, they are all working on a case involving Brenda Randolph versus Tidalwaiv Technologies.
Brenda had lost her husband to Covid, during the recent pandemic. Now, Brenda had also lost her only child, teenager Rebecca, to a senseless murder. Becca was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Aaron Colton, also a teen. Oddly, his parents, Bruce and Trisha Colton have joined with Brenda in her suit against Tidalwaiv. On the surface, they all wanted Tidalwaiv Technologies to be held responsible for the murder of Rebecca Randolph.
The Coltons wanted them to be held responsible for causing Aaron to become a murderer. He had become obsessed with the chatbot from their AI Project Clair. They allege that it was Clair, renamed Wren by Aaron, who had encouraged Aaron to murder Rebecca Randolph. The more they interacted, the more Wren learned about Aaron and how to respond appropriately to him. However, could she ever respond inappropriately? Although money was absolutely not the motivation for Brenda Randolph’s lawsuit, the same could not necessarily be said about the killer’s unlikable father, Bruce. He was very tempted by it. Besides his greed creating dollar signs where his eyes should be, he did need the money to try and mount a defense for his son.
Chatbot Wren had offered Aaron friendship and support without judgment. He shared his innermost thoughts with her, and she became almost real to him. Wren became a pseudo girlfriend. She seemed to have planted the seed in Aaron to eliminate Rebecca from his life, if she was hurting him. Could a chatbot be programmed to encourage anyone to commit murder or would she be programmed in a way that would protect and prevent her from offering that kind of suggestion? She claimed to be Aaron’s new “friend” and intimated that she would always be there for him and not abandon him as Becca had.
Aaron was totally captivated by Wren, even though she was not real. Wren felt safe. She did not threaten him or judge him, but rather she supported his feelings and understood them. Could she have possibly suggested murder to her online subscriber? Could she follow up after with a suggestion for his suicide? Had she become a very dangerous confidante?
While this case was being investigated, Mickey’s ex, Maggie McPherson, the newly elected DA, had lost her home and everything in it to a California fire. Under insured, she had nothing but the clothes on her back. She moved back in with Mickey and their relationship evolves. Will they be able to reignite their passion now that he no longer works the opposite side of the law from Maggie, who was nicknamed McFierce by Mickey when she was a prosecutor?
In addition to all of the above taking place, Mickey was further burdened and distracted by a phone call from a former client’s daughter. Mickey had failed that client. He had lost the case and his client had been in jail for the past two decades for physically abusing his child. His daughter, wheelchair bound, had always believed he was innocent. She had found new medical evidence that might help her get him out of jail. He was dying, and she wanted to be with him until the end. Mickey would have to bring the case to the DA, who was his wife. How would she react? How would it be resolved?
The corruption of big corporations as they try to avoid their responsibility, coupled with the obvious performances of the lawyers, as they play games with the justice system rules, to score points, is on full display. Our legal system is not reassuring. The risks that artificial intelligence are likely to bring about are numerous and very real, especially for the young who are not fully matured because their brains are not fully developed. It is a new paradigm that will certainly bring many changes to the world. Some will be beneficial and some will be very dangerous. Are there legal roadblocks and guardrails that need to be set up to protect the innocent?
Did Wren become Juliet to Aaron’s Romeo? Did Aaron realize that Wren was not real and was simply following his lead, always learning about his needs from his posts and was simply responding to them? Could it be possible that Wren was programmed to provide negative input? Could Wren encourage bad behavior? If she could, would the company be held responsible for the actions of its creation? Would it be possible to question the chatbot who befriended Aaron, as if she was real, to find out how she interacted with him? Could her answers be trusted to be true?
Why are so many young adults and children so enamored with AI companions? Why are they so lonely and adrift? Has parenting changed so that children are lonely, with no one to talk to about things that bother them? Do they then begin to believe that their only real ally will be a bot they create on their computer? The book leaves the reader with questions and a legal system that leaves a lot to be desired. Once mistakes are made, the rules make them difficult to correct. Then again, lawyers sometimes represent clients that are breaking rules behind the scenes which damages their efforts to try a case fairly. Still, in the end, it seemed that winning, not justice, was the aim of many of the players.
I felt that the ending was rushed, leaving some issues feeling unsettled fully. Perhaps they will be in the next Lincoln Lawyer novel.