MARJORIE PRIME by Jordan Harrison

This speculative tale set in the near future, begins with 85-year-old Marjorie who is coping with dementia. As her personal memories blend and fade, her family arranges for a new companion, Walter, who helps her reassemble her life’s moments, both big and small. Her daughter, Tess, and son-in-law, Jon, struggle with what such a companion should provide or know as they confront what is lost to time. As our society debates the value or threat AI poses, Marjorie Prime considers the extent to which human identity will be aided or replaced by technology and asks the question “What will we remember, and what will we forget, given the chance?” Are memories fact or protective fiction?