Smarter Than a Gel Pack, Part 2

Posted on Wed 23rd Oct, 2019 @ 8:06pm by

1,124 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD 7, 2320

Previously, in Orchids & Jazz:
Hari came over and leaned on the bar next to the pretty woman with the slightly tilted eyes and beautiful skin tones. "What can I do for you, Miss Lantz?" he asked his boss.

"My friends, Commander Perry, an engineer, and Commander McCord, a scientist, are part of USS Samurai's crew, and they have some questions for you. Take your break, and I'll get you a lemon coke. That's something you and Commander McCord have in common," Jade told him.

Now our story continues ...

Hari held out his hand to shake as she introduced the two commanders. He slipped on to the barstool next to McCord. "Hari Seldon, at your service. Just call me Hari. What would you like to know?"

"Nice to meet you Hari," Henry said as he extended a hand for a shake. "Hari, I need to ask you about AIs. What is your opinion of them?" the engineer asked.

Surprised, Seldon thought about what to say. Did the man know HE was an AI? "That's a pretty broad term," he said finally. "There's artificial intelligence that's capable of doing one job, and one job only, to robots which can do simple construction, or nannies who can keep children safe. It goes all the way up to self-awareness that is really another form of sentience, in my opinion. Did you want to narrow your meaning down for me a little?"

"Well since you bought up self-awareness, let's talk about that. Are you self aware?" Henry asked wondering if he could be offending Hari. "And before you answer, let me apologize if I am being insensitive. I just don't know any other way to broach this conversation without being direct."

"I think I am," Hari laughed. "That's like me asking you if you are self-aware. I know humans who walk around with no clue about most of what's going on around them. Are they self-aware? I'm capable of making my own decisions, and do it on a regular basis. I know the difference between right and wrong. Do I have programming? Yes, I do. Could I get around that programming? At least some of it, if I chose to do so. But, again, I could ask you, what did your parents program into you? Do you easily get around those early values they gave you?

"What is the actual problem that you are trying to solve about artificial intelligence?" the humaniform asked. "It might be easier if we talk about that."

Henry looked over at Riko. "What do you think Riko? Should we lay our cards on the table?" he asked.

"You're giving this whippin', as sofu¹ always said, so you decide. Jade trusts her people, and I think we can, too. Even so, it's highly classified information, and we're the only ones with that kind of clearance," Riko said, then shrugged. "Still, I don't know how you'll find out what you need to know if you don't at least give a little general information."

Henry took a big sigh and looked over to Jade. "O.K., as Riko said, what we are about to tell you is highly classified. I need to hear both of you swear to me that what I am about to tell you doesn't leave this circle of trust."

Jade nodded her head, "You can trust me to keep my mouth closed."

Seldon agreed, "Yes, I have no reason to tell anyone anything."

"O.K., Starfleet is testing new technology that would put an independent AI in control in every system aboard a Starship. And when I say in control, that means it would target ships in battle and automatically adjust shield frequencies on the fly. It could even take control of the ship and navigate through an asteroid field, if it feels like the ship is in danger. I think you get the picture right?" Henry asked.

"Wow," Hari said, "I'm shocked that Starfleet would even consider such a thing. In my experience, they are far too paranoid to allow such a thing ever to happen!"

"I know the lower ranking inspector we had here a while back would never agree to such a thing, so it makes me curious why Starfleet is going that direction," Jade agreed. "Would this be the everyday general warships, or only some specialty grouping?"

"We don't know yet," Henry said nervously. "We are just testing it the idea of it all right now. I think depending on our test results, Starfleet will make a determination. But I won't lie, Jade, it makes me a little nervous."

Glancing at his boss, who just happened to own him as a piece of technology, as well, though she never acted as if he were anything but human, Seldon proposed an idea. "With Jade's blessing, what if I come along on this test run you are planning? Without knowing the exact level of intelligence being programmed into your AI controller, it's hard to give an informed opinion. Seeing it in action will give me a better idea of what it is capable of, and what it isn't, and where those two things might come into conflict. When and where are you going?"

McCabe took over smoothly from her boss, sensing an opportunity for them to have first-hand knowledge available on the yacht as they ran experiments. "In a couple of days, we're going to Nāmaka. Are you familiar with the planet?"

"I haven't really paid attention, but it's that purplish blue beauty off in the distance, isn't it? I thought it was a heavy planet. What could interest you there?" Hari asked, intrigued.

"Oh, exploration, seeing if there's possible life, you know, creation of the universe stuff," Riko laughed. "But that's more for me and the two scientists we're bringing from the base. Your job would be working with my friend Henry, here," she nodded toward the Commander next to her. "He's the one testing things for Starfleet. The rest of us are along for the ride, the excitement, and to harvest a little knowledge about our neighbor in space."

"Huh, sounds like it could be interesting. Maybe I could help and maybe I couldn't tell you a thing you wouldn't figure out without me, but if Miss Lantz says it's alright, I'm willing to take a ride with you."

Jade spoke up then. "Hari, I keep telling you to do what interests you. If this does, then go. Of course it's alright with me. You might have some jealous housemates, though."

"Too bad for them," he grinned, and turned back to Perry and McCord. "If you think I can help, I'm your man."

---

¹ my own grandpa, familiar

 

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