In recent months, if you’ve consumed any sort of media, you will likely have seen something about artificial intelligence (AI for short).
In the graphic novel “The Infinity Particle” by Wendy Xu, AI is everywhere.
We experience the story, taking place on Mars in the 26th century, through the perspective of the main character, Clem.
She has just left Earth with her created construct named SENA to start a new job on Mars working for Dr. Lin, a famous scientist in the field of AI.
This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Clem, who closely follows the developments of Dr. Lin.
On her first day, in addition to meeting her new manager, Nadiya, and Dr. Lin, she meets the humanoid AI, Kye.
He was created by Dr. Lin to be her assistant.
As the story unfolds, Kye develops a “glitch.”
To help him figure out the problem, Clem starts to spend more time with him.
As their relationship grows and they begin to learn about each other, the audience gets a glimpse into Clem’s past.
On top of that, it is revealed that all is not as it seems between Kye and Dr. Lin.
Who is the mysterious young boy who keeps appearing when Kye’s glitch causes him to pass out?
My initial thoughts when finishing “The Infinity Particle” were that it was a short and cute read.
However, after thinking about it for a bit, I came to a different conclusion.
While it is a cute graphic novel on the surface, there are serious topics within, ethical questions that humans may eventually have to grapple with.
Should humans be allowed to create AI constructs to mimic our appearance?
At what level of sentience is a creature no longer the property of its creator?
While our technology may not be at that level now, these questions are still important to think about.
I would also include a few trigger warnings for anyone looking to read the graphic novel.
Mental-health issues, particularly narcissism, are present in the story, as is verbal abuse.
The premise of the story and the cast of characters are interesting.
The art style is beautiful, mostly using a unique pastel color palette with some splashes of vivid red, and the layout of the panels is well-done.
For fans of cute creatures, there are a lot of adorable AI companions in the story.
Though there are a few points in the story that I wish would have been expanded upon, overall, this is a good graphic novel.
I first picked it up because I liked the author’s previous graphic novel, “Mooncakes,” so if you enjoy “The Infinity Particle,” I recommend checking out that one as well.
