Oprah Winfrey's Latest Book Club Pick 'Culpability' Explores AI Ethics and Responsibility

Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick, 'Culpability,' delves into AI ethics

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey has chosen a novel with a timely theme for her latest book club pick. Bruce Holsinger's "Culpability" is a family drama that probes the morals and ethics of AI. "I appreciated the prescience of this story," Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday, the day of the novel's publication. "It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!" Holsinger, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the author of four previous novels and several works of nonfiction. He said in a statement that he had admired Winfrey's book club since its founding in 1996. "Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school," Holsinger said. "For nearly 30 years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found 'Culpability' worthy of her time, praise, and recognition." Tuesday's announcement continues Winfrey's book club partnership with Starbucks. Her interview with Holsinger, held recently at a Starbucks in Seattle, can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel or through other podcast outlets. List of Winfrey's last 10 Oprah's Book Club selections

Oprah Winfrey calls her latest book club pick "Culpability" the must-read of the summer

Analisa Novak is a content producer for CBS News and the Emmy Award-winning "CBS Mornings." Based in Chicago, she specializes in covering live events and exclusive interviews for the show. Analisa is a United States Army veteran and holds a master's degree in strategic communication from Quinnipiac University. Oprah Winfrey picked "Culpability" by Bruce Holsinger as her latest book club selection. Winfrey said the novel explores artificial intelligence and moral responsibility, topics many are currently grappling with. "I picked it because it is so prescient. It is prescient. It is right now. And it is also the future," Winfrey said. "If you were looking for the summer read, this is it, " she said. The timing of her selection felt especially relevant after Winfrey attended an event that featured demonstrations of self-driving cars. "I had just been to one of those tech conferences, and I had seen a demonstration of Waymo -- the driverless cars, self-driving cars," she said. The novel examines themes of accountability in the age of AI through the story of a family whose self-driving minivan crashes into an oncoming car, killing an elderly couple. Winfrey described the central characters as "a typical great American family." "What happens to the family in 'Culpability' could be any family," she said. Author Bruce Holsinger said he wrote the book to explore how artificial intelligence affects people's sense of moral responsibility and autonomy in daily life. Holsinger recalled the moment he got Winfrey's call about the book. "I pick up the phone, and, um, I hear this voice, and it says, 'Bruce.' And I said, 'Yes.' And she says, 'It's Oprah.' And I -- first of all, I thought it was AI-generated." He said he intentionally used shorter chapters to keep the story suspenseful. Winfrey agreed the structure works well: "Because you're feeling so accomplished. Another chapter." She also warned readers not to skip ahead. "Do not under any circumstances cut to the end. Because the end is gonna shock you no matter what," Winfrey said.

Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick, 'Culpability,' delves into AI ethics

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey has chosen a novel with a timely theme for her latest book club pick. Bruce Holsinger's "Culpability" is a family drama that probes the morals and ethics of AI. "I appreciated the prescience of this story," Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday, the day of the novel's publication. "It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!" Holsinger, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the author of four previous novels and several works of nonfiction. He said in a statement that he had admired Winfrey's book club since its founding in 1996. "Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school," Holsinger said. "For nearly 30 years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found 'Culpability' worthy of her time, praise, and recognition." Tuesday's announcement continues Winfrey's book club partnership with Starbucks. Her interview with Holsinger, held recently at a Starbucks in Seattle, can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel or through other podcast outlets. List of Winfrey's last 10 Oprah's Book Club selections June 2025: "The River is Waiting," by Wally Lamb (Read AP's review.) May 2025: "The Emperor of Gladness," by Ocean Vuong (Read AP's review.) April 2025: "Matriarch," by Tina Knowles (Read and watch AP's interview with Knowles.) January 2025: "A New Earth," by Eckhart Tolles (Winfrey has picked this book twice.) December 2024: "Small Things Like These," by Claire Keegan (Read AP's review.) October 2024: "From Here to the Great Unknown," by Lisa Maria Presley and Riley Keough. (Read AP's story about how Keough completed the book. September 2024: "Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout (Read AP's review.)

Oprah Winfrey's Latest Book Club Pick, 'Culpability,' Delves Into AI Ethics

This cover image released by Spiegel & Grau shows "Culpability" by Bruce Holsinger. (Spiegel & Grau via AP) NEW YORK (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey has chosen a novel with a timely theme for her latest book club pick. Bruce Holsinger's "Culpability" is a family drama that probes the morals and ethics of AI. "I appreciated the prescience of this story," Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday, the day of the novel's publication. "It's where we are right now in our appreciation and dilemmas surrounding Artificial Intelligence, centered around an American family we can relate to. I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!" Holsinger, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the author of four previous novels and several works of nonfiction. He said in a statement that he had admired Winfrey's book club since its founding in 1996. "Oprah Winfrey started her book club the same year I finished graduate school," Holsinger said. "For nearly 30 years, as I've taught great books to college students in the classroom and the lecture hall, she has shared great books with the world. Her phone call was like a thunderbolt, and I'll never forget it. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful that she found 'Culpability' worthy of her time, praise, and recognition." Tuesday's announcement continues Winfrey's book club partnership with Starbucks. Her interview with Holsinger, held recently at a Starbucks in Seattle, can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel or through other podcast outlets. List of Winfrey's last 10 Oprah's Book Club selections Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.