The two faces of tomorrow - James P Hogan

Midway through the Twenty-first century, a global computer manages much of the world's affairs. A proposed major software upgrade an artificial intelligence will give the system an unprecedented degree of independent decision-making power. In order to more fully assess the system, a new space station is developed for deployment named Spartacus. This mini-world can then be attacked' in a series g tests to assess the system's capabilities. If Spartacus gets out of hand, the system can be destroyed unless Spartacus decides to take matters into its own hands.'