Discover the story behind the bestseller In the Blink of an Eye and Jo Callaghan’s vision of AI detectives, the future of artificial intelligence, and writing crime novels.
What if the detectives of the future worked side by side with artificial intelligence to solve complex crimes? Jo Callaghan, author of the bestseller In the Blink of an Eye, explores this very idea through her unique investigative duo: Kat Frank and Lock, an AI entity with surprising abilities. In this captivating interview, the British writer talks about the inspiration behind the novel, the challenges of building a believable non-human character, and how AI is already shaping both the present and the future.
C&B: Hello, Jo Callaghan, and thank you for the interview! In the Blink of an Eye puts forward a very intriguing idea – a detective duo that’s half human, half algorithm-based, with artificial intelligence. Usually, literature runs ahead of reality! Do you think we’ll soon see detectives working alongside AI to fight crime?
Jo Callaghan: Thank you! They already do. The police in the UK and in other countries are using artificial intelligence in the fight against crime, whether through facial recognition technology, algorithms designed to prevent or reduce illegal activities, or data analysis in criminal investigations. What I did was to bring together many of the different aspects of AI already used in investigative work and imagine them merging into Lock, who is an EDIA (Artificial Intelligence Detective Entity).
C&B: How did the idea of a detective that is an AI entity come about? Which character was harder to write – Lock or his partner, Kat Frank?
Jo Callaghan: I’d wanted to write a crime novel for some time, but the market was oversaturated, so I struggled to come up with an original concept. Then, in my day job, I was analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market (whether AI would one day replace radiologists, and what that would mean for the entire team), and I thought: what if you had an AI detective? I did some research and found out that the police were already experimenting with algorithms and AI-based technologies such as facial recognition and predictive strategies (this was around 2017). Of course, that raises a host of questions – could such an approach make policing more efficient, grounded in concrete evidence, or do we risk losing those flashes of intuition and nuance that come from human judgment? These debates fascinated me, and I became excited when I realized it would be the perfect framework for writing a gripping crime novel that also explores what it means to be human.
Lock was, without a doubt, the hardest character to write, because I had to find a way to convey how a machine guided by logic and algorithms would “think” and speak, while still evoking enough humanity to make readers wonder to what extent Lock might develop more human traits, without seeming too stiff or implausible. Interestingly, the conversational abilities of some large language models have evolved so quickly that Lock’s capabilities in this regard no longer feel like pure speculation, as they did when I first wrote the book.
C&B: The novel’s motto says that “there is as much mystery in the thinking of a machine as in that of a human being.” Why did you feel this quote was representative of the novel?
Jo Callaghan: That’s an excellent question! I love that quote, so I’m glad you brought it up. I chose it because there’s such a heated debate about whether artificial intelligence will ever develop its own consciousness, but the truth is, we don’t actually understand what consciousness is, how it can be gained or lost.
We can make judgments about others based on their behavior, but we can never truly know what is happening in someone else’s mind. There’s a scene in the novel where Lock says “condolences” to Kat. She’s ready to dismiss it, assuming it’s just a formula he’s reproducing, something he’s learned to say in that context. But then she pauses and wonders: isn’t that exactly what we all do? Isn’t that what her friends do when they send similar text messages?
I wanted to highlight the fact that while we talk a lot about machine learning, humans learn in a very similar way. In future novels, a small child also appears, because I wanted to compare and sketch parallels between how Lock learns and how a child learns. These questions fascinate me, and I think that’s why I enjoy writing these books so much.
C&B: Did you expect In the Blink of an Eye to be such a huge success?
Jo Callaghan: Not at all! At that point, I had been writing for 13 years, with no success. I had written five books for children and young adults, and each project was rejected by publishers in the UK. I had basically given up. But after my husband passed away, I decided to write this novel to take my mind off grief and motivate myself to keep going, for my children’s sake. That’s why Kat Frank is a middle-aged widow returning to work after the death of her husband – because that’s what I was going through at the time. I didn’t write the book with the intention of publishing it, but eventually I was persuaded to send it to publishers. Even then, I was very relaxed about it, because for me it had already served its purpose – it had kept me alive. So everything that came afterwards was a bonus.
After so many years of rejections, it was very strange to see multiple publishers competing to publish it, and then for it to win several major crime fiction awards and make the Sunday Times bestseller list! I hope the novel will also be appreciated by Romanian readers, and I’m delighted that it has been published in Romania.
C&B: As a lead strategist researching the future impact of artificial intelligence and genomics on the workforce, how do you think society and educational systems should adapt to the inevitable transformations brought about by the wider adoption of AI?
Jo Callaghan: In my work, I’ve learned that the only certainty about the future is that all predictions will turn out to be wrong. But things are changing at a much faster pace and on a much larger scale than ever before, so we’ll all need to accept a world where lifelong learning is the norm. The idea that you could go to school or university, qualify for a certain job at 18 or 21, and then work for 40 years in that field has long ceased to be valid. We’ll all have to learn constantly, adapt, and be flexible in how we apply and develop our skills. The challenge will be to identify where we, as humans, can bring the most valuable contribution – probably in areas like relationships, trust, judgment, and holistic thinking – but also to define more clearly what we value. For example, what does it mean for us to live well, what do we want to do outside of work, and how do we make sure AI supports, rather than undermines, that ideal. We need to reclaim decision-making power and proactively shape our future, rather than just letting things happen to us.
C&B: Speaking of future skills: which competencies do you think will become essential in the next 10–20 years?
Jo Callaghan: In the future, flexibility and adaptability will be essential, as will the ability to live and work in uncertain circumstances where many things are constantly changing. But on the other hand, I think that in such a scenario, fixed points become even more important. Human beings are social animals – we love to interact. That’s why so many people go to book festivals, music festivals, or conventions like Comic Con. People love art, they love to create, to form bonds. These truths about us will endure, which is why I’m more optimistic than others about the arts.
C&B: As a specialist in the field – if it’s quite possible that AI will partner with humans in police investigations, do you also think it’s possible for it to start writing crime novels?
Jo Callaghan: I’m sure it already does. The question isn’t whether artificial intelligence can write a crime novel (it can) – the question is whether people will want to read it. I tend to think some will – there has always been demand for formulaic fiction. But the films and books that are most successful or truly groundbreaking are the ones that touch people’s hearts, the ones that transcend genre to reveal a truth about the human condition. We write and read stories to remind ourselves that someone else has felt what we’re feeling – that, ultimately, we’re not alone. I attend literary festivals all the time and, as in this interview, people want to know who I am, why I wrote the book, what my story is. I think readers appreciate my books because they sense, on some level, that they’re inspired by my own experience, and that there’s a connection between us when they read them and especially when they share their thoughts with me. At least, that’s what I like to believe.
C&B: Kat and Lock are an irresistible duo, and we can’t wait to see them again! Can you give us a few hints about the next volume?
Jo Callaghan: Thank you! The second book is called Leave No Trace, and here Kat and Lock face their first real-time case, when a man’s body is discovered crucified on Judd’s Peak, with his ears cut off. As more crucified male victims appear, the police issue an extraordinary warning to men in the area: avoid pub crawls, don’t walk alone late at night, and always tell a friend where you are. Amid a media frenzy, Kat and Lock must work together to solve the mystery and prevent another murder.
I’ve just finished writing the fourth volume (the last in the series). Lock is capable of learning, so the question I’ve been exploring throughout the series is: how much can he learn, and what happens as he evolves…
Interview conducted by Fabrica de PR for Careers & Business magazine
Photo credit: Edward Moss
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