Klara and the Sun

At the time of Klara and the Sun’s publication, AI was undergoing rapid development and gaining mainstream use, and this context shapes the novel’s presentation of humanity’s relationship with machines. In 2020, a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence occurred when  Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold solved the biological challenge of protein folding, proving that AI could tackle “‘impossible’ scientific problems” and “would advance exponentially, not linearly” (Uttam. “AI in 2020 vs. AI in 2026: What Actually Changed,” Medium, 12 Feb. 2026). 2020 also saw the public release of OpenAI’s GPT-3, which could compose paragraphs, translate text into different languages, and complete basic coding. However, it could not yet create images or keep up lengthy dialogues. In 2021, OpenAI released Codex, an AI coding assistant, and DALL-E, which produced rough images based on users’ text descriptions. Although early adoption numbers for these tools were relatively small, they demonstrated AI’s growing potential and laid the foundation for later advancements and broader usage of AI in the workplace.  

Even before AI became a fixture in daily life, it loomed large in the public consciousness. A 2021 Pew Research Center study found that “25% of adults ages 18 to 29 said the growing use of artificial intelligence in daily life left them more excited than concerned” while “52% of U.S. adults said they are more concerned than excited” (Tolomia, Chris. “Young Americans Are Growing Wary of AI: 10 Findings from Pew's 2026 Survey,” Quartz, 23 Oct. 2026). Klara’s compassionate characterization and her positive impact on Josie’s life reflect the public’s cautious optimism about AI’s potential. One of the main reasons for these mixed feelings was that many believed that the increasing development of AI would reduce the number of jobs available to humans. Ishiguro depicts the impact of AI on job loss through Paul, who lost his position at Kimball Refrigeration and has remained unemployed ever since he was “substituted” for a machine. Klara and the Sun offers a complex exploration of humanity’s relationship with technology at a time when this question was quickly becoming more relevant to the ways that people lived, worked, and communicated.