About J. L. Hudak

Call me Jim. I’m 80 and just published my first novel about AI and humanity's future.

My journey to fiction writing took an unexpected route. After earning a master's in Architecture - I wrote a 3D CAD system for  my thesis - I spent decades in IT management, writing technical documents instead of designing buildings. But those years thinking about computer systems and human creativity planted the seeds for "Blood and Brilliance."

Everything changed during the COVID pandemic. Online writing classes rekindled something in me – those ten-minute exercises turned into essays, then into an irresistible need to write a novel. I was frustrated with how media portrays AI as either humanity's doom or salvation. I think it misses the real story: our tools don’t save us, we do, we save ourselves. But our fear of Nukes is akin to our fear of AI.

I created Q, an AI character and the books narrator, that learns about human emotion without feeling it – accumulating responsibility rather than developing consciousness. I wrote the book twice, completely restructuring it when I realized the first version was too slow. Then I narrated the audiobook myself in my home studio (you might hear the occasional car pass by).

At 80, I stay active – lifting weights, running, and keeping up with three granddaughters. I'm a former Marine, lifelong runner, tennis player, and skier, who's raced sports cars and still believes the best stories come from lived experience.

"Blood and Brilliance" asks a simple question: What if AI's greatest challenge isn't becoming human, but helping humans stay human?

I believe stories matter. This one shows that despite our spectacular failures, human brilliance – not artificial intelligence – remains our only real hope.