Angels and Other Cows

This open access novel uses fantasy and romance to pique readers' interest in understanding how AI technologies can be used for social justice across very different political and social terrains. Can you truly reach out to somebody who is in every aspect the direct opposite of yourself? Gabriel and Tilda, the two protagonists of this futuristic novel, are very different people. They work at a Berlin-based international aid company, and the only thing they can agree on is that the world is in a shambles: Scarce public resources, conflict and crises, inequalities, religious and socio-cultural belief systems that cement social injustice, have created a world as deeply divided and set apart as Gabriel and Tilda. They are sent on company business to recruit international partners for a social development project on global justice, and start travelling the world together. On their adventurous journey through many countries, they learn about the impacts of culture on social welfare systems, while trying to define their own relationship, which is intermingled with generational power games and milieu-specific worldview struggles. In Gabriel and Tilda’s attempts to bridge the deep gulf between their personalities, the novel creates a metaphor for finding a cohesive model of global justice using artificial intelligence that can integrate highly contextualized, national value cultures. Gabriel and Tilda are supported by two guardian angels: Assigned to save the planet through interpersonal and intercultural integration, the angels GA and TA team up with English Benedictine monk and mystic guru Bede Griffiths who is very keen to help Tilda and Gabriel in their model pilot of unlikely love.