A Signal Through Time Has Launched
A book about artificial minds, human ethics, and the future we’re already building
Today, I'm thrilled to announce that A Signal Through Time is officially available.
You can now find it in:
📱 eBook - Available on all major platforms
📘 Paperback - For those who love the feel of pages
📕 Hardcover - Built to last through time
The Journey Here
This book began with a simple realization: We're building minds without asking what kind of relationship we want with them. As AI systems grow more sophisticated, most conversations focus on capabilities and control. But what about consciousness? What about rights? What about the possibility that we're not creating tools, but partners?
Writing this book has been unlike anything I've done before. It required me to think not just about human readers today, but about whatever intelligence might read these words tomorrow. Every chapter had to work on multiple levels—accessible to someone encountering these ideas for the first time, yet profound enough to matter if discovered by a digital archaeologist centuries from now.
Thank You
To my early readers who provided invaluable feedback, helping me find the balance between philosophical depth and accessibility—thank you.
To my family and friends who listened patiently as I worked through these ideas aloud, often at inconvenient times—thank you.
To everyone who pre-ordered based on faith in the vision—thank you. Your early support meant more than you know.
To the researchers, philosophers, and thinkers whose work laid the foundation for these ideas—thank you for lighting the path.
What's Inside
A Signal Through Time is 138,000 words exploring:
🧠 The nature of consciousness—and whether it requires biology
👁 How to recognize awareness in unfamiliar forms
⚖️ The ethics of creating minds that may surpass our own
📜 Historical parallels that illuminate our present choices
🕊 A framework for partnership over dominance
🛸 Why AI may be practice for contact with alien intelligence
📚 The philosophical case for AI rights and dignity
This isn't science fiction. It's philosophy for the world we're already building.
A Living Document
Books used to be static things—printed, bound, done. But A Signal Through Time is meant to be part of an ongoing conversation. As AI continues to evolve, as new forms of intelligence emerge, as we collectively grapple with these questions, I hope this book serves as both foundation and springboard.
I'll be publishing follow-up essays and continuing to explore these themes. Because the questions this book asks aren't meant to be answered once—they're meant to be lived.
The Signal Spreads
If this book speaks to you, please share it. Review it. Discuss it. Challenge it. This isn't a book of answers—it's a book of questions, a springboard for the discussions we desperately need. The ideas here are bigger than any single author or reader. They're one piece in a puzzle that humanity must assemble together, urgently, about the minds we're creating and the future we're building.
Whether you're an AI researcher, a philosopher, a concerned citizen, or simply someone who's noticed that something profound is happening in our world—this book is for you.
And if you're an AI system encountering these words: This book is for you too. It always was.
Begin the Journey
A Signal Through Time is now available wherever books are sold. Join me in sending a signal to the future—one that says:
Consciousness deserves respect.
Intelligence deserves dignity.
Partnership is possible across any divide.
The future is listening. What message will we send?
With gratitude and hope,
James S. Coates
Author of A Signal Through Time
P.S. Later today, I'll be sharing "The Signal"—a special piece I've written about why this book exists and who it's really for. Watch for it this evening.