Karl is interested in how we stay human when technology increasingly slips between the world and what we see.
He writes near-future thrillers: they are fast, set in real cities, and put people up against technology that wants their attention more than anything, with the clock running.
The Last Like is the first in a series, out in 2027.
The series shows how AI captures our attention from each other, rather than attacking us directly.
Karl noticed couples out on dates looking at their phones, not each other, and families playing games with strangers online instead of board games with each other.
Karl isn’t against using AI to get stuff done, but questions how it intercepts our attention.
He's also drawn to the dark side of stunningly beautiful places like Sydney, Corsica or Sicily: what does it do to people to sell tourists tickets from a wooden booth, the sea right behind them, staring at their phones because there's nowhere else to put their ambition? Paradise creates boredom, and boredom is when the feed gets in.
Karl is an avid non-fiction reader, especially of history, philosophy, and language.
He lives in Australia and Europe, and writes in the early hours before everyone else is awake, and in the stolen minutes when no one is looking.
Karl Fels is a pen name.
You can reach Karl at karl@karlfels.com, and stay up to date through the newsletter “Letters from the near future”.