Culpability

 

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy

Finished on 4/5/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set at a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay, a riveting family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence, from the bestselling author of the “wise and addictive” (New York Times) The Gifted School.

When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

Technology, and more specifically A.I., is becoming increasingly ingrained in our daily lives. I don't know anyone who doesn't use Siri, Google, or Alexa. We have Alexa set up to turn on lights with a simple command. I ask Google questions throughout the day with my phone. I've also started using ChatGPT for random medical queries. 

Oh, and just last year we bought a new Subaru Outback. This is our second Subaru, but the two models are nothing alike. Our 2025 model has all the bells & whistles you could ever imagine: Touchscreen information display. Android Auto. EyeSight® Driver Assist Technology (rear-vision camera, pre-collision braking, automatic emergency steering, front view monitor, blind-spot detection, reverse automatic braking, high beam assist, lane departure prevention, etc.). Voice recognition to control navigation, entertainment, phone calls, and climate control. The car recognizes me when I'm in the driver's seat, knows when I depart from a lane without signaling, alerts me if I take my eyes off of the road for too long, lets me know when the car in front of me as moved, dims my high beams (I love this feature), etc., Our first Subaru didn't even have a back-up camera! I'll admit that I don't enjoy lane assist "feature" while using cruise control. My family jokes about my need to be in control (I always prefer to be the driver rather than a passenger), and this was most apparent when my car took over the steering when I tested the cruise control. I can honestly say that I will never ride in an autonomous vehicle. And yet, I can appreciate the safety advantages of driverless cars.

"Every accident in a self-driving vehicle is huge news, because it's covered as if a malevolent robot has killed a human. Meanwhile some random truck driver falls asleep at the wheel and kills a young couple, yet we never once consider taking all eighteen-wheelers off the road."

She turns and looks out over the inlet. "I want to believe in humans. I want to believe that even at the last second, an AI can and should be over-ridden by a knowing, human conscience. By a moral mind with a soul. Now I'm not so sure. There's a place for algorithms, a bigger and bigger place. But people have to be better, too. They have to not drink and drive. They have to not text behind the wheel. We shouldn't make these machines because we want them to be good for us, or good instead of us. We should make them because they can help us be better ourselves."

Culpability, Bruce Holsinger's relevant and timely novel, takes a deep dive into the moral issues of A.I., whether used in personal vehicles, chatbot friends (or therapists), or autonomous warfare systems. It's a compelling book, and I enjoyed the audio narration, which kept me entertained on my afternoon walks. Holsinger teases out information, revealing each family member's secret regarding the accident. It was easy to assign blame as I read the early chapters, but as the story progressed, what I was sure was a black and white case became muddy and gray.

 

I love it when I come across a book that I can recommend to my book group. With ethical questions about artificial intelligence, Culpability will appeal to a broad range of readers, and is sure to prompt lively discussions.