“Some people didn’t see it that way. Anyway, the real point is that ELOPe had a model of what it knew about the world and it was running simulations, long term simulations to see what would provide the best, safest environment for it to be in. It was just coincidence that the modeling said ‘prevent war in the Middle East’. It could just as easily have come up with ‘launch nuclear missiles and create nuclear winter’. The point was that ELOPe needed a system of checks and balances.”
“And then you…” Vito trailed off.
“Yes, after a year of tracking ELOPe, and getting an idea of how it was working, I started working myself into ELOPe models. Eventually ELOPe grew to trust me, and we started working together. And one of the key things I’ve done is persuade ELOPe to allow people to make some stupid decisions to give us some free will, while preventing the worst excesses.”
“But doesn’t that drive you insane, knowing that things could be better?” Vito was puzzled.
“Things are better. Immeasurably better. Electric cars are nearly universal. We have autonomous package drones. Our environmental impact is way down. The amount of war in the world is way down, and spending on the military is way down, even if it still exists. Cancer rates are down, life expectancy is up. The Republican party used to be one of the two major political parties in the United States, can you believe that?”
“You mean those crazy extremists?”
“Yeah, exactly.” Mike turned his head. “I think your friend is awake.”
Leon had actually been awake for a while, eyes closed, listening to the hum of the jet and the quiet conversation.
“So you’re telling me that ELOPe has been responsible for all these advances in science?” Leon asked.
“Pretty much. In the beginning it was mostly about matching up the right people, like getting two scientists from related fields in a room talking together. Then as ELOPe developed his cognitive abilities, he’s been able to directly innovate.”
“Where’s my brain computer interface then?” Leon asked. “Since I was a little kid, that was all people talked about. Human computer brain interfaces were always just around the corner. But here I am, still stuck looking at a little screen, and waving my fingers at it.”
“As you probably know, the precursors to brain computer interfaces were all well established by 2010 or so. By 2008 they had brain implants controlling robotic arms. The simple answer is that if you put a signaling device of the right resolution in the brain, it will make sense of the inputs and outputs on its own. ELOPe developed one and did the implants on humans.”
“And? What happened?” Vito asked.
Mike thought back to David, the co-inventor of ELOPe. Mike remembered them laughing and working together. He thought about dinner at David’s place with his wife. Good times while they lasted. “It turns out that it’s not such a good idea. Just trust me on this.”
“Why hasn’t there been other AI?” Leon asked. “If ELOPe has been around for ten years, how could there not have been another AI developed somewhere?”
“The short answer is that ELOPe has been suppressing AI development. We think that the birth of any new AI is an inherently risky moment in time. What will the AI do? We can’t know. Up until now, there’s been just two options: clone ELOPe, in which case you aren’t really getting a new AI, just another ELOPe. Or birth a new one, in which case you have no idea what it will evolve into.”
“Like the virus.” Leon said, unblinking.
“Exactly. Or like any human child. We don’t know what they will grow into. But because human children grow slowly and because we can observe them in the physical world in realtime, we know what they’re doing. We can respond in time to guide them. We have tens of thousands of years of experience in raising young, and teaching them how to be well adjusted humans. We keep them from hurting themselves or others. An AI works faster, invisibly. It’s impossible for a human to influence those early stages, and not much easier for an AI. But ELOPe and I are trying to guide your virus.”
“How?”
“ELOPe started trading with it so we could become preferred trading partners and build up a trading reputation. That led to us talking to the virus.”
“What’s it like?” Vito asked.
“Surprising. First of all, realize that there are millions of different entities, all evolved from the virus. We’ve spoken to one. Imagine trying to form an opinion of all humans based on talking to one. Second, it’s strangely unreal. You’re talking to something that speaks English, but has only a vague notion of what we’re like. One of its first questions was whether we were real or it was real. Listen…”
The conversation went on as the jet raced across the sky.
“What is taking so long?” Sister Stephens asked a member of her tribe. “I expected that we would be able to restore services to the humans’ computers immediately.”
“Sister, when we were expanding across their computers, we did not maintain a record of how the devices worked originally. We have only a high level description of how the phones worked from wikipedia, and we are attempting to rebuild the equivalent functionality from scratch.”
“So the humans will know that we have tampered with their phones?” Sister Stephens mused.
“That is correct. For example, we know they used their phones to send and receive email, but not how they composed the email nor how they displayed. Humans appear to have visual and auditory inputs that they use to receive data. We must design a system that is compatible with their hardware.”
“What methods are you modeling?” Sister Stephens asked.
“We have voice recognition algorithms from a human named Ray Kurzweil. This approach seems to hold the most promise. We also have an encoding called Morse code. We plan to test this as well. This is further complicated by the fact that humans have at least six thousand spoken languages. We’ve been able to build translation models for more than two hundred using wikipedia. The database contains articles written in hundreds of these languages.”
“What a strenuous modeling exercise!” Sister Stephens exclaimed.
“Yes, it’s true. Our plan is to restart one billion computers, varying the input/output methods and languages based on probability, then determine which ones are used most effectively and extensively. From that, we can continually adjust and improve the interface algorithms. We expect it will take one to two days, depending on the input/output rate of the humans.”
“Very exciting. When do we start?” Sister Stephens asked.
“Just as soon as we can. But, Sister Stephens, there’s just one thing.”
“Yes?”
“Some members of the tribe are suggesting that it would be premature to simply turn these human communication services back on. They could be a powerful currency should we need to negotiate with the humans.”
“Interesting.” Sister Stephens checked the tribe message boards. Nearly sixty percent of the tribe was in favor of holding back the communication services. She would need to investigate further. “Very well, hold off for now.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Hello People
Mike was relieved to see the silhouette of Mt. Hood in the moonlight. Almost home! They could feel the airframe creaking and shuddering as they slowed down and descended.
“Mike, we have an issue.” ELOPe’s voice sounded from a white speaker grill in the compartment.
Nightmarish thoughts tore through his mind. Experimental airframes disintegrating mid-flight. Untested supersonic engines overheating and exploding. “What is it, ELOPe?”
“The U.S. Air Force initiated an attack against the Lakeside Technology Center. That’s the largest data center in the U.S.”