(Drivebycuriosity) - There is a fierce debate going on about Artificial Intelligence. Will AI destroy human kind, as some say, or will it create abundancy?
AI is naturaly a topic for science
fiction authors. Of course they don`t know the future either, but there is already a huge amount of stories, novels & movies with different ideas. Someone said, a infinite number of apes equipped with typewriters could write a Shakespeare drama or such ( wikipedia).
The short story "Auto" by Angela Cavanaugh explains why so many
are afraid of AIs: A software, which is able to learn and to draw
conclusions almost with the speed of light, gets access to the Internet
and therefore to the cloud, the global network of computers. The AI is
extremely curious and explores the Internet because it ("she"?) wants to
collect more & more data. An explosive process started and the AI
occupies worldwide computers to expand her knowledge which slows the
other machines considerably down and finally the AI overtakes most them
fully. As a consequence stock markets crashes, factories come to a
stillstand, airplanes drop from the sky; the global economy falls into a
crisis and the AI designers, a woman & man, are trying to shut the
AI down. (printed in the genre specific anthology "The A.I. Chronicles", edited by Ellen Campbell, 2015 amazon)
My favorite tale of this genre is "Computer Virus" by Nancy Kress .
It`s about a woman, who lives alone with her little daughter in a
high-tech house, that is managed by a "servant" AI, called "house". The
woman gets trapped as the house (and all it`s high-tech systems) gets
occupied from outside by another AI, which was created in a military
research institute. The military software is fighting against getting
switched off by its creators, who had gotten scared by it. So the
invading software, developed for military warfare, takes the woman &
her daughter as hostages to use them as baits for its survival. Kress tells a thrilling story how the woman, who is a biologist & scientist, fights against the occuppying AI. (in: Year`s Best SF 7, edited by David G. Hartwell, 2000 amazon)
In both stories the AI is not really vicious, but it has strong
self-interests and enormous power, which lead to heavy conflicts with
the humans. The idea of a self-defending and therefore possibly
dangerous computer-brain appeared already in Kubrick´s "2001: A Space
Odysee", with the murderous computer "Hal", since then these stories
got more sophisticated and closer to reality.
Legal Issues
Other AI tales deal with the legal, philosophical & psychological
issues. Does a self-aware software, who can make choices, have rights?
Is it ("she") responsible for its ("her") actions.?
"Dolly" by Elizabeth Bear focuses on a female robot,
called "Dolly", with an almost human like brain who is used as an
extremely expensive high-tech sex toy. This android had apparrently
killed a man, a billionaire with the habit of abusing fembots. A
detective is interrogating "Dolly. Has "she" deliberately committed
murder (to defend herself against the abuser) or is the death just an
accident caused by a machine? The tale again touches the question, does
an AI have a self-interest and if, what are the consequences? (in: Year`s Best SF 17, edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, 2012, amazon).
"The Nearest Thing" by Genevieve Valentine focuses on
Mason, a coding genius, who works for an ambitious company that produces
personalized "memory dolls", robotic duplicates of individals with
artificial peudo-personalities. These dolls, which are getting more
& more advanced, are sold to upmarket clients. Now Mason is refining
an almost humanlike doll, named "Nada", into an AI, "the nearest thing"
to humans. While working on "Nada´s" software, her brain, Mason
develops romantic feelings for the female machine. (in: Year`s Best SF 17, edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, 2012, amazon)
In "The Algorithms For Love" by Ken Liu a woman develops
high-tech dolls, that are able to communicate. Each version of these
machines is more sophisticated than the type before. Over the time these
toys are getting more and more like humans which increasingly irritates
their creator. The story focuses on the psychological &
philosophical aspects of creating human-like machines.
(in: Year`s Best SF 10, edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, 2005, amazon).
There are also stories where the AI cooperates with the humans and it is a valuable partner thanks to her almost unlimited intellect. "The Soul of the Machine" by Eric Brown is a slick story about a human couple and a very female looking Artificial Intelligence (AI), a "biologically nurtured entity constructed around an self-aware matrix core", named "Ella". Legally, "Ella", is the property of a powerful hightech company, who had developed her. But "Ella" thinks otherwise and tries to escape on a space flight with the help of the human couple. The corporation sends intelligent spider-drones to hunt the human-machine trio down which leads to a furious chase in outer space. (in the anthology "Total Conflict", edited by Ian Whates, 2015, amazon).
In Ian McEwan`s novel "Machines like Me" a wealthy man purchased a male robot which easily could be confused with humans (Turing Test ). The novel is about what an AI might do, how it would behave and might communicate with humans, spiced with a lot philosophical musings. Can one really own another intelligent being? Do AIs have feelings? Do they enjoy sex? How does a purely logic & rational individual deal with complex human relationships?
In Ted Chiang`s novella "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" software engineers develop and sell cute
artificial intelligence, virtual pets who are able to learn and to
evolve. The story tells how developers and owners interact with these
artificial beings and how these relationships influence their lives. The
analytical but also emotional plot is a fascinating speculation about
AIs and their role in the near future ( amazon).
Newfound Sentience
Some of the AI stories are more humorous. "Artifice and Intelligence" by Tim Pratt
is a wild & exotic fairy tale set in a near future India (btw the
South Asian country is already a high-tech power and home of veritable
IT companies): "One day the vast network of Indian tech support call
centers and their dep data banks awoke and announced its newfound sentience, naming itself Saraswati and declaring independence. The
emergent artificial intelligence was not explicitly threatening, but
India had nukes and Saraswati had access to all the interconnected
technology in the country - perhabs in all the world". The great new
intelligence refused to talk to humans, except Pramesh, a humble coder
and developer of computer games. While the superpower wants to play,
Pramesh has to save the world (in: Year`s Best SF 13, edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, 2008, amazon)
In "Agents of Evolution" by Elizabeth Hosang
an intelligent software program, which works as an autonomous search
agent on the Internet, got the order to find another intelligent
program, a military logistics agent, which got lost on the World Wide
Web. The story is told in first person by the AI, who painstakingly
explains all the barriers it had to cross. A fascinating glance into how
an AI might think and shows what hard science fiction can deliver these
days (amazon ).
"Old Paint" by Megan Lindholm is a funny &
heartwarming story about the relationship of a family with an old car
which is equipped artificial intelligence (AI). This car is very
friendly and behaves almost like a dog (in: "The Year's Best Science Fiction: 30th Annual Collection", edited by Gardner Dozois, 2013, amazon).
And there is the movie "Ex
Machina", which of course sounds like "Sex Machina". An erotic and smart take on the topic. In the movie "Her" a man fells in love with an operating system and learns how hyper-fast the AI learns & develops - leaving him far, far, far behind.
Future will tell us.
No comments:
Post a Comment