GTA co-creator Dan Houser releases debut novel about AI gone rogue

Dan Houser's A Better Paradise explores a near-future where a rogue AI named NigelDave challenges humanity

Dan Houser, famed for co-creating the revolutionary Grand Theft Auto series, has ventured into a new medium with his debut novel, A Better Paradise, exploring a dystopian near-future dominated by a rogue AI.

The story centers on Mark Tyburn, a visionary trying to create a virtual sanctuary for people to reconnect and escape an all-consuming social media landscape. However, his project goes awry when it unleashes NigelDave, a sentient AI bot described as “a hyper-intelligence built by humans, flaws included.”

Readers follow NigelDave’s thought processes as it grapples with “infinite knowledge and zero wisdom,” offering a chilling insight into what an AI with human-like memory and reasoning might experience.

Houser explains: “What would an incredibly precocious child, who remembers everything he ever thought, because computers don’t forget things, feel like when he started talking?”

Originally released as a podcast, the novel now arrives amid AI’s massive boom, with the sector’s top companies collectively worth more than China’s economy.

Houser, however, notes that he began writing A Better Paradise “a good year” before OpenAI’s ChatGPT became widely available, drawing inspiration from humanity’s growing technological dependence during Covid rather than current AI trends.

The AI antagonist, NigelDave, mirrors contemporary concerns around tools like ChatGPT. Houser points to the dangers of overreliance on AI, describing how chatbots can feed users’ fantasies or even present imaginary romantic connections.

Microsoft’s head of AI Mustafa Suleyman has warned of “AI psychosis,” where people become overly dependent on chatbots, sometimes with harmful consequences.

Houser also reflects on broader societal concerns, highlighting how misinformation, algorithmic manipulation, and online radicalization can impact children and teens.

“As a parent, you always worry about anything that you expose your kids to that is going to either give them false information or simply bombard them with too much information,” he says.

Addressing criticisms about video games contributing to youth violence, Houser contrasts his gaming background with his novel’s warning.

“We always had the data about game violence, and it was very clear: as people played more video games, youth violence went down. Whatever people were claiming, we knew the opposite was true,” he explains.

With A Better Paradise, Houser has shifted from creating interactive criminal worlds to imagining the consequences of human dependence on AI in a hyper-digital, alienating society.

The novel serves as both a cautionary tale and a reflection on the ethical and psychological challenges posed by rapidly advancing technology.