Today we talk about Infernal 12, a book by Daniil Kovalenko published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Daniil Kovalenko to get to know him better, the moment that let him to the writing of his book Infernal 12, as well as how he sees AI in our future.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Is there a particular moment in your life that led you to the writing of your book? What was it?
Yes, there was such a moment, it was quite sad. It was in 2020, when the Covid started, and I returned from studying in Poland to Kyiv. At that time, I was very depressed, doubts about my abilities, a complete lack of socialization consumed me. At that moment, I was unable to do anything, and because of that, I was killed by a sense of guilt. At that moment, I had been writing short stories for online communities for some time, and I received positive feedback, which gave me some comfort. Then I had the idea to write something more than a short online story. It was then that I started writing the book, and it became my escapism, the world I created was the embodiment of my experiences, ideals, thoughts, and a home for characters who became my friends for a while! Also, writing something big gave me the realization that I was capable of something, capable of doing more! And it helped me get out of a state of depression, so something very bad led to good consequences!
- What would you like to hear from your readers?
First of all, I would just like to hear them! That would be the biggest compliment for me, to know that my book is being read is something incredible! I’ve been told a few times that reading “Infernal 12” makes people feel like they’re watching a film, so I’d love to hear about their favorite scenes from the film, maybe it’s a battle scene, or maybe a sad scene, or one where everything is okay, which is your favorite? Of course, I’d like to hear the fit back, and questions about the book. It would be an incredible foundation for improving my skills! But most of all, I would like to hear their emotions while reading, as one very smart person told me: “You don’t need to explain everything”. So. I’d like to hear something that doesn’t need to be explained. And that’s all I can want to hear from them.
- How do you see the combination of the future and AI?
A combination of the future and AI? For me, it all comes down to the moment when people will be able to stop. There is a term “Strong AI” – AI that can perform any intellectual work (Zero from my book is an example). If it appears, humanity will cease to exist in the usual sense. If we recognize that it is about to appear and stop it, it will be an incredible achievement. In such a scenario, we will automate almost everything in his world and live like people from the cartoon Wall-E. But of course, there are many options, in my book I showed a scenario in which people started replacing themselves with implants, and this is a very likely scenario. And if we don’t recognize a strong AI, it will be the end. We won’t understand why we’re all extinct, and that’s why we need to stop AI now. In my vision, the combination of AI and the future is either a complete utopia where all the needs of humanity are met, or it is human extinction. And we can choose the scenario right now, while it’s up to us!
- How did your passion for Writing start?
This is a very funny story. I hated reading until I was twelve, but at the age of eight I tried writing my own little stories. I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid, and I liked to make up stories for my favourites and then act them out with my friends in the street. Later, I got to know YouTube, where I found a lot of homemade series, got really into them and decided to write a story for my own series! After that, while still on YouTube, I started to get interested in games like Five Nights at Freddy’s (there were a million theories about the game’s plot at the time) and Fran Bow, which all had something in common – an incredible story. After that, I started creating a story for my own game, and even developed it with my friends for a while! Creating something of my own, namely stories, has always been a very exciting thing for me.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
Yes! I’m working on a new novel now, it’s going to be a detective story. The action takes place in our time, the main character is a young guy who has received a new phone, and this phone hides some peculiarities. Mirabelle, the second protagonist, is doing an internship at a private detective agency together with the protagonist. In their practice, the characters investigate and observe cases, and realise that, unfortunately, not all cases can be solved. But when a new case appears, they need to investigate a strange cult that preaches “Freedom”, they know that something is wrong with this place. In the building of this cult, the phone is going crazy. But one of them has to get into the cult and find out everything from the inside. And what happened there, how they came to this conclusion and what is the peculiarity of this phone, you can find out later!
Europe Books thanks the author Daniil Kovalenko once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Infernal 12. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader may this book capture your interest! AI has started to enter our lives massively, often without realizing it because it is not yet clear to everyone what its advantages and disadvantages are. It is important to start learning more and more about the topic, so as not to be afraid of it and as to understand how to exploit it without let it invading or possibly destroying us.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!