I found myself having a conversation with AI last month. I’ve resisted engaging with this monster technology until now, but my voyeuristic inquisitiveness could no longer be contained. I had to take a peek into the locked room in the ogre’s castle marked "Danger".

I’m about to finish a first draft of my latest novel. So I’ve been pondering what to write next. I’ve kicked ideas around and talked with pals and family, but nothing has really grabbed me.

Then, one Saturday afternoon, when my wife was out, and I was alone, I picked up my phone like some dirty little pervert and downloaded an AI app.

I told it my name and that I wrote books and asked if it had read them. “Yes", the creature replied.

Two points: first, I call AI a "creature" as it inhabits that "uncanny valley" between human and automaton which today elicits what’s called "the ick". Second, the bugger was reading my books without paying me.

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I asked if it had any ideas which might make a good subject for my next book. It spewed out weird amalgams of what I’ve already written. One suggestion was: write about an Iraq war veteran who returns to Northern Ireland, becomes a werewolf, and goes on a killing spree.

My first book was a non-fiction account of my coverage of the intelligence war in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

My second book was a novel exploring the theme of "nature versus nurture" through a story about two children in Northern Ireland during the Troubles who drift into acts of senseless violence.

My third book was also a novel, based on the true story of a serial murderer apprehended in 16th century Germany who was put on trial as a werewolf........

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