Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears by William Hertling

I purchased this self published novel based on the fascinating premise that a seemingly innocent email auto reply program could evolve into self aware intelligence. Based on software engineers working for the fictional Avogradro Corp (think of it as Google), a project called ELOPe (Email Language Optimization Program) aims to automatically analyze and provide suggested replies for user’s email. To generate better replies, the program has been granted access to train on all the user’s data. Soon the program starts sending replies automatically and through various means of social engineering starts modifying and upgrading itself.

While not as polished as the typical novel from a large publisher, the plot piqued my interest to keep me entertained throughout.