His Master's Voice

"His Master's Voice" by Randall Garrett is a science fiction story from the early 1960s that explores the complicated creation of McGuire, a super-smart robot spaceship, while revealing political and corporate schemes to destroy it. It touches on ideas like AI, power, and also how technology can go wrong when mixed with human desire and questions of right and wrong. The main character, Daniel Oak, unexpectedly becomes McGuire's master after it wakes up. As Oak figures out how the robot works and watches its growth, he gets caught up in a series of secret plots by companies that want to ruin Viking Spacecraft's new project. Oak struggles because the robot only understands him when he uses a specific voice. The story builds up to uncover deeper problems of money and robotic control, and Oak fights to take back control of the intelligent machine he has been suddenly put in charge of. The book investigates how humans and their creations connect and asks important questions about responsibility and the unexpected outcomes of scientific discoveries.