Why I Wrote a Novel Instead of a Manifesto About AI

by Torbjorn Zetterlund

I could have written an essay. A whitepaper. A TED-style talk.

Instead, I wrote fiction.
Why?

Because stories linger.
Characters reveal more than charts ever can.
And the workplace we live in today, where AI shapes decisions before we even weigh in, is already stranger than fiction.

The Prompts War is my attempt to capture the slow surrender to automation that happens one helpful suggestion at a time.

In the end, no one remembered who sent the first prompt.
But everyone remembered what happened next.

The Revolution Didn't Arrive with a Bang, It Showed Up as a Tooltip

The modern workplace didn’t need a villain.

It just needed helpful tools:

• Spellcheck became smart suggestions.

• Calendar invites came with summaries.

• Email replies began writing themselves.

One by one, the prompts arrived, friendly, subtle, efficient. And we embraced them.

Not with resistance, but with gratitude.

Until one day we realized:
We weren’t just using the tools. We used the tools.

Why I Chose Fiction Over Facts

I’ve led engineering teams, built platforms, and written code that powers solutions that people rely on. I could’ve outlined the risks of AI in bullet points and policy recommendations.

But fiction lets you feel the shift.

I didn’t want to write about a rogue AI takeover in The Prompts War.
That’s not how it happens.

Instead, I told the story of a company, not unlike yours, where the line between decision and suggestion blurred. Where corporate ambition met algorithmic “efficiency.” Where the humans forgot to stay human.

This Isn’t About Dystopia. It’s About Tuesday.

There’s no Skynet here. No rebellion. No robot overlords.

Just:

• PowerPoints tweaked by AI.

• Memos that no one remembers writing.

• Promotions shaped by algorithms.

• Feedback filtered through sentiment engines.

Sound familiar?

We’ve already welcomed AI into the room.
The real story is: What happens next?

Why I Care: The Mission Behind the Fiction

As founder and CTO of Social Climate Tech, I build technology that serves people and the planet. We use intelligent tools to fight climate change, empower communities, and improve lives.

But I’m also watching closely. Every line of code has values baked in, even if we pretend it’s neutral.

AI isn’t just infrastructure.
It’s culture. It’s power. It’s philosophy.

And right now, that philosophy is being written by whoever has the loudest data and the biggest models.

We need better voices in that room.

So… Why a Novel?

Because a whitepaper would’ve gotten read by ten people.
A blog post might’ve gotten skimmed.

But a story?
A story can haunt you.
It can entertain, provoke, and warn, without preaching.

So I wrote The Prompts War.

If you’ve ever:

• Let autocomplete finish your thoughts

• Felt like your meeting notes wrote themselves

• Wondered who’s making the decisions

… This story is for you.

Explore More

Read the novel: The Prompts War on Amazon

See how we build tech for good: Social Climate Tech

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