About the Author

Richard Kane, Jr. is a Northern Virginia-based author and innovative Food Service Director whose work sits at the intersection of technology, human potential, and the future of food. In his professional life, Richard uses artificial intelligence to streamline workflow processes and oversees a groundbreaking robotic indoor farming lab, giving him a front-row seat to the rapid technological changes reshaping our world.

It is precisely that front-row seat that inspired TheNextUs series. While the breakthroughs Richard witnesses daily in food science and technology appear beneficial on the surface, he sees something larger and more unsettling taking shape. Across every field from medicine to agriculture to AI, humanity stands at a pivotal crossroads, and Richard wanted to explore what happens when progress outpaces our ability to control it.

TheNextUs is his debut novel and the first chapter of a larger universe he is building — one that asks the question we may all soon have to answer: What would you trade humanity for?