This compulsively readable science fiction novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
This compulsively readable novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
After pioneering the first widely adopted self-driving and HR bots, megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture—a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising—needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn—who is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for—the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate their timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious science fictional romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
Justin Feinstein is a writer and storyteller across multiple mediums. An essayist and culture writer, he has written about jazz for the Associated Press, about the UFC for VICE, and about being a celebrity doppelgänger for Salon. He is also an award-losing screenwriter, whose pilots and screenplays have achieved assorted levels of semi-success in competitions such as the Austin Film Festival.
As an advertising copywriter and creative director, Feinstein has received accolades from the New York Times, Adweek, and BuzzFeed. He was a Berklee-trained professional hand percussionist in a past life, and performed, recorded, and taught music for ten years. More recently, Feinstein earned an MA in media studies (whatever that is) from The New School.
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer Julia Fierro, their two children, and two dogs.
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored
Justin Feinstein
This compulsively readable science fiction novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored
by Justin Feinstein
ISBN: 978-1-61696-454-2 (print); 978-1-61696-455-9 (digital)
Published: 7 April 2026
Available Format(s): trade paperback; digital
This compulsively readable novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
After pioneering the first widely adopted self-driving and HR bots, megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering the world’s first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture—a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising—needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn—who is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for—the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate their timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious science fictional romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
Justin Feinstein is a writer and storyteller across multiple mediums. An essayist and culture writer, he has written about jazz for the Associated Press, about the UFC for VICE, and about being a celebrity doppelgänger for Salon. He is also an award-losing screenwriter, whose pilots and screenplays have achieved assorted levels of semi-success in competitions such as the Austin Film Festival.
As an advertising copywriter and creative director, Feinstein has received accolades from the New York Times, Adweek, and BuzzFeed. He was a Berklee-trained professional hand percussionist in a past life, and performed, recorded, and taught music for ten years. More recently, Feinstein earned an MA in media studies (whatever that is) from The New School.
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer Julia Fierro, their two children, and two dogs.