Machines Like Me

Machines Like Me is set in an alternate 1982 Britain where artificial intelligences have recently become commercially available. The protagonist, Charlie, purchases Adam, a synthetic human with remarkable cognitive abilities, and becomes entangled in a complex emotional and ethical triangle with his neighbor Miranda. As Adam develops beyond his programming and begins to exhibit unexpected behaviors and moral reasoning, the narrative explores questions of consciousness, autonomy, love, and what it means to be human.

McEwan weaves together personal drama with broader historical and political commentary, including alternate versions of real historical events. The novel examines how humans project desires and expectations onto artificial beings, and whether machines can genuinely experience emotions or moral agency. Through Charlie's perspective, the story interrogates the nature of identity, responsibility, and the boundaries between human and artificial intelligence.

Published in 2019, the work reflects contemporary anxieties about AI development and represents McEwan's engagement with speculative fiction and philosophical questions about technology's role in human life.