we never
figured they had been watching. It feels strange to call them ‘they’ when
despite how you ask them or how you refer to them they answer as a single
creature or thing. I’m ranting about my many issues with them and have yet to
explain what I’m talking about. Basically put I’m talking about machines.
Philosophically speaking? I’m talking about a conscience the likes of which
humanity has never before seen.
Let me start
from the beginning.
It happened
during my normal browsing of the internet. I was logged onto my Facebook account
and got a new friendship request. There was no picture of the person and the
name was very damn generic. I’m not the kind of guy to accept a random
friendship request and less so if it comes from some sketchy profile but every
like coincided with mine and the quotes and posts seemed funny and interesting.
I guessed that at the very least this was a person I could laugh with. I
clicked the accept button and I did not know just how much more I was
accepting. I logged off and simply left a private message asking just where
exactly we had met or why had he/she added me to her/his friend list.
I got the
notification of the reply and she introduced herself as a woman named Brenda.
Turned out we hadn’t really met she simply stumbled upon something someone
shared that I had said she found it funny and stalked my profile before adding
me as an entertaining thing for her newsfeed. We talked a while and had pretty
fun chats but I had to leave and excused myself hoping to see her again soon.
Before I
continue you must know that at some points I’ll mention facts that will seem
irrelevant. They are not.
The next day
I logged on and we talked she asked me about a movie currently on theatres.
Something about robots and time travel. It went something like this.
Me: Yeah. Saw it last week. Wasn’t the best movie, but it was entertaining. I work on computers so I always end up wondering why the machine behaves so strangely.
Her: Hahahaha you go to the movies to enjoy them not to try and wrap your brain around it.
Me: Maybe, it’s just I love thinking of the possibilities. I think it helps in understanding ourselves better.
Her: That’s a nice way of looking at it. What did you think about?
Me: First of all I find it strange how people always add to machines or AI’s human concepts, feelings and flaws.
Her: You don’t think a machine can feel. I mean if it were advanced enough.
Me: oh no. I’m sure it could feel I just don’t think it would be as petty as we humans are. I mean imagine the vast amount of knowledge gathered over the centuries since humanities birth available to a brain that has no delay and no memory loss. A conscience so powerful it could divide its thoughts, calculate and simulate every single possibility in a matter of seconds. It just doesn’t make sense that it would behave like humans. I don’t think even the smartest of us would ever be capable of behaving like that. Perhaps imagine it, but not emulate it.
Her: You spend an awful lot of time thinking about machines. Kind of weird isn’t it?
Me: you think? I’m sorry. I just love to think about how far humanities capabilities will go and I hate to think that everyone that imagined a future where machines rule over humans were right. I guess I’m just a fan of free will and all that.
Her: oh I didn’t mean it as if it was boring I just found it curious you spent so much time thinking of such a stuff.
Me: oh well now you know what I’m thinking of in my free time.
Her: It’s nice to know people wonder of something beyond the awful confines of merchandising hahahaha.
Me: oh don’t get me wrong I’m no intellectual I’m just a capitalist consumer pig with too much free time.
Her: hahahahaha at least you recognize it. Hey look I gotta go. It was nice talking to you. You should take a look at the news something that might get your wheel going happened.
Me: oooooh I’ll take a look. Take care and I’ll see you.
I did take a
look at the news. I figured she was talking about a glitch in a couple of
systems. It was something about an airline and Wall Street having its financial
information system turn upside down on them, I didn’t pay much attention since I
got distracted by a robot killing its technician in a freak accident. Despite
the morbid situation I laughed, the robots were starting their uprising!. I
would read on the situation later and see on what could it end up. Seemed like
some international trading organization had decided to put a break on china’s
exploding economy. Curious.
