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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32755
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The trick, I think, is to make this revelation in a way that, (a) does not invalidate everything that has happened before, and (b) that does not leave the reader wondering if the "new reality" is actually real.

For example, if the first half of the book was all about the hero searching to find his long-lost brother, and then when the AI revelations comes along we learn that he never had a brother, that that was just back story written for his character, I can see that being very unsatisfying to the reader. (On the other hand, if done right, it could be a very emotional and crushing blow.) On the other hand, if he's struggling to stay alive in a hostile world, learning that that world is all a video game changes many things, but doesn't make the struggle go away.

I think a lot of this is how well it's handled: If the reader is invested in the character, a dramatic revelation that changes the nature of the character can be a riveting plot twist ... or it can leave the reader feeling cheated. This isn't a problem unique to "it was all an AI". Plenty of stories have moments where a character suddenly learns that she is not a peasant at all but a princess, or that he is not really working for the good guys but the villains, or that he is not the brave man he thought he was but runs away in terror the first time he meets real danger, etc. If done well, the reader says, "Wow, I never saw that coming! What a great twist!" If done poorly the reader says, "So the whole book up to this point has been one big lie. What was the point?"

RE establishing the new reality: I read a story once, I forget the title but the author was Keith Laumer, where a man runs into aliens and heads off in their spaceship, and then he learns that everything they told him is a lie, it's all a setup. So okay, sudden plot twist. Then the next chapter we're told that the new reality was a lie to, and the reality is really something else. And then a chapter later we're told that was a lie to, and the reality is some fourth thing. The writer pulls the rug out from under the reader like a dozen times in the story. So when he gets to the end and says, "now this is what was really happening", I was left wondering, "So is this supposed to be the real story, or is this just another trick?" And frankly I didn't care any more. After the second or third reality shift I ceased to believe in the story.

So I'd just encourage you, once you establish the new AI reality, don't start having program reboots or something so that that reality keeps changing. Once can be a clever plot twist. Twice can be a brilliant ploy. But after that you rapidly start losing the reader's interest because nothing is real.

Original score: 1