DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel Klara and the Sun, his first since receiving the award in literature in 2017, has some relevance for policymakers and ordinary citizens across the globe. The main protagonist in this dystopian science fiction story is Klara, an artificial friend (AF) - a human-like teenager who behaves and thinks almost like her cohort of the same age and is a fast learner, as any device or robot using artificial intelligence (AI) can be expected to be. However, what we also learn is that if robots, even if they are super-intelligent, are allowed to make decisions that affect the lives of humans, it might lead to unintended consequences unless there are strict guidelines protecting privacy and other individual rights. Many discerning readers might already be aware that AI is whipping up quite a storm, particularly as it makes inroads into facial recognition software, law enforcement, and hiring decisions in the corporate world. Policymakers in many countries are alarmed, realising the pros as well as the cons of this revolutionary technology.