KITT and Jane sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g, haha. Ok, here's what this is all about. Orson Scott Card, the author of the much-acclaimed Ender Wiggin series which begins with Ender's Game, wrote a sequel entitled Speaker for the Dead. I need not go into all the details, but in this book, a sentient program decides to reveal herself to Ender before all other humans, because of his ability to understand non-human entities. They have quite a close relationship for most of the book. In fact, Ender carries around a communication device which fits into his ear, like Michael's Comlink on his wrist. She helps him access things of great importance, and she monitors him virtually non-stop. At one point, however, Ender has to turn off the link for a while. For Ender, it isn't a big deal, but to Jane, it is like death, because all her highest levels of awareness are generally focused on him. After that, they never have quite the same relationship again.
In the end, though Ender is a hero in his own right, it is Jane who pulls off the biggest tricks to save Ender and his new planet, much like KITT so often does for Michael. Orson Scott Card is a huge Tolkien fan, and that shows through in his work from time to time, but was he possibly a Knight Rider fan as well? I would love to hear your takes on this.
On a side note, Jane is a form of AI very similar to KITT in her wit and desire for verbal sparring, but of vastly greater data collecting and processing abilities (she could communicate with herself and others faster than light, after all).
By the way, Speaker was first copyrighted in 1986, the same year KR ended.
DK
KITT-like AI entity in Speaker for the Dead
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