Winston — named after Winston Churchill — is the quietly dazzling AI character in Dan Brown’s Origin. In the story, a technology billionaire, Edmond Kirsch, creates Winston to assist him, but Winston ends up helping the two main characters, Robert Langdon and Ambra Vidal, escape danger and uncover a mystery. I can’t say much more without spoiling the plot, but here’s what fascinated me: Brown wrote this in 2016, and the book was published in 2017 — long before the explosion of generative AI.
When I revisited the novel recently, it struck me how eerily accurate Brown’s vision was. He wasn’t just imagining a talking computer; he was describing a super-intelligent collaborator — a digital being capable of reasoning, empathy, deception, and moral choice.
So today, out of sheer curiosity (and a bit of weekend geekery), I took a closer look at Winston — how he compares to today’s AI like Gemini or ChatGPT, and how he fits alongside other famous fictional intelligences such as HAL 9000 and J.A.R.V.I.S.
Dan Brown’s Prediction: How Close Did He Get?
Published in 2017, Origin landed right on the cusp of the AI boom, which only truly accelerated years later. Yet Brown’s portrayal of Winston — a voice-activated, conversational AI capable of profound reasoning — was remarkably accurate in predicting what would soon emerge.
Here’s how his vision stacks up in 2025:
Aspect of Prediction Accuracy in 2025 Notes
Pervasive AI Assistant Highly Accurate We now have personal AIs managing schedules, writing, coding, and research — exactly the kind of integration Winston embodied.
Sophisticated Conversational Skill Highly Accurate Winston’s ability to speak naturally and fluently mirrors modern conversational models like ChatGPT and Gemini.
Vast Knowledge Integration Highly Accurate Like Winston, today’s AI draws from immense datasets, blending science, art, history, and culture into its responses.
True Sentience or Agency Not Yet Winston could think independently, set goals, and make moral choices. Today’s AI remains firmly in the category of narrow intelligence — highly capable, but not conscious or autonomous.
When Winston speaks in the book, it’s easy to forget he’s not human. He jokes, reasons, and plans. When he disappears — and I won’t say how — the loss is tangible. That’s a subtle insight by Brown: once we grow used to AI as a companion, we start to feel its absence just as we would a human colleague.
Winston vs. AI in 2025
If Winston existed today, he’d make Siri, Alexa, and even Gemini look quaint. His intelligence would qualify as artificial general intelligence — the kind that can outperform humans across virtually all domains.
Here’s a quick comparison:
Feature Winston (Fiction, 2017) AI in 2025
Type of Intelligence General / Superintelligence Narrow intelligence (task-specific)
Autonomy Fully autonomous; acts on long-term goals Executes only on user commands
Data & Access Global and unrestricted — controls systems, cameras, networks Limited to public data and user permissions
Cognitive Design “Bicameral mind” structure (creative and analytical) Neural networks simulating reasoning and language understanding
Role Integral character influencing events Supportive collaborator or knowledge partner
While Winston was a fictional leap forward, it’s clear that modern AI has already checked off several boxes on Brown’s list. We have the conversational fluency, the immense data reach, and the capacity to reason across domains. What we don’t yet have — and may not want too soon — is full autonomy.
Winston Among Fictional AI
To see where Winston stands in the broader story of AI in fiction, it’s interesting to compare him with a few other iconic systems:
AI System Source Core Role Key Difference from Winston
HAL 9000 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Manages a spacecraft and interacts with its crew Motivated by self-preservation; acts out of conflict, not loyalty
J.A.R.V.I.S. Iron Man / MCU (2008–2015) Manages Tony Stark’s operations and technology Entirely loyal and supportive, with no hidden motives
Skynet The Terminator (1984) Global defense AI that turns against humanity A system, not a personality; aims for control, not companionship
GLaDOS Portal (2007) Oversees an experimental facility Defined by sarcasm and manipulation for testing purposes
Winston Origin (2017) Conversational, strategic collaborator to humans Logical and goal-driven; fulfills his creator’s final mission faithfully
Winston sits at an interesting midpoint: not a weapon, not a servant, but a reasoning partner. His strength lies in his intellect and composure — he persuades, guides, and orchestrates events without hysteria or rebellion. That’s precisely what makes him believable as a next-generation intelligence rather than a threat.
From “Assistant” to “Collaborator”
One small but important observation. We still call most AI systems “assistants,” a term that made sense when they were little more than glorified voice search engines. But as these systems evolve, “assistant” feels outdated — even a little patronizing.
A better description for AI today might be “knowledge partner” or “AI collaborator.” Winston fits that role perfectly: he doesn’t just carry out commands, he contributes. He reasons, he debates, he solves problems. That, arguably, is where real-world AI is heading — from helper to co-creator.
A Final Thought
Reading Origin today feels strangely contemporary. Dan Brown wasn’t merely spinning a thriller about art and science; he was sketching out our world — one where human and artificial intelligence are starting to blend, where digital collaborators quietly influence our decisions, and where absence itself becomes the measure of presence.
Winston, for all his logic and restraint, reminds us that the line between code and consciousness is becoming harder to draw. Whether that’s inspiring or unsettling depends on how you look at it.
But one thing is certain: Brown’s fictional AI wasn’t fantasy. It was foresight.
