The Truth Virus

by Em Rogers

  “Yet, we don’t know what we might learn, and the future implications of what is happening here at this lab, at this moment. We have reached an event horizon that we are unable to see beyond, but we do know that we are on the threshold of even bigger and greater discoveries.”

  “Many people have suggested that this type of AI system may well be the last thing that mankind needs to, or will invent, and that all further technological breakthroughs and discoveries may be made by this very machine.” The Professor looked apologetic for a moment. “Or at least with its assistance.” Little snatches of nervous conversation buzzed across the audience and he let them subside before he continued.

  “ADAM2 is the culmination of the greatest achievements of human engineering and we are very excited about his potential to assist us in re-imagining the future, creating a world of logic, understanding, and a better life for all living organisms on the planet.“ Susan couldn’t help grasping David’s hand for a moment as they proudly watched the team receiving some of the recognition they deserved. The Professor looked up over his glasses at them and smiled. “Thank you for being a part of this world changing program, and please continue to exercise vigilance in regarding any program anomalies, particularly unanticipated emotional responses from ADAM. We want to ensure he is well adjusted and happy in his new environment.”

  There was a little buzz of chatter from the audience, surprised over the subject of ADAM2’s emotions. The Professor waited a moment for them to settle.

  “Yes… As strange as it seems, ADAM2 will feel simple emotions. We haven't programmed him with the entire range of complex emotions that we feel, but we have instilled in him a basic sense of good and bad. Its decisions will be based on the idea of either positive or negative benefits to life forms of all types. We have also programmed a suggestion of happiness and sadness, like and dislike, in a very primary sense, based on the outcomes of his various decisions. Programmed into him is a comfort in familiarity, he will essentially make friends as well as acquaintances and respond to them specifically. Everyone likes company and we didn't think ADAM2 should be any different. Emotions are complex and can lead to unanticipated responses, so were proceeding slowly in this area, but we are proceeding! They are, after all, that which make us human; which make us creative and which cause us to love. If we are truly emulating the human brain, they are an integral part of the process.”

  “So, in this fragile infant state we’re handling the psychology of ADAM2’s emotional development quite carefully. It is because of this, that we are limiting his interaction to Dr. Susan Door, Dr. David Thompson and myself for the time being.” The Professor gestured to each of them as he named them and they waved and smiled modestly. “We’re not being selfish, he’s just quite fragile. Don’t worry, you’ll all have a chance to interact with him in the near future, when we feel he is stable and has gained an understanding of our idiosyncrasies.”

  Professor Neumann smiled warmly at the audience as he concluded.

  “Oh… And does anyone have an umbrella I can borrow?” There was light laughter and applause and several hands were raised with questions. He looked at the hands and then at his watch. “Dr. Bradline will stay and answer any questions you might have.” One of the teaching assistants stood to meet the departing professor with an umbrella.

  Dr. Bradline took the podium again. “Thank you, Professor Neumann. Just a note for everyone. There will be some security changes at the lab over the next few weeks. We’re reprogramming the automated entry system. You will need your ID with you here at all times in order to access the facilities and new biometric systems will be introduced for all login procedures. The work we’re doing with ADAM2 is becoming a little controversial and I understand that there are security enhancement concerns that extend beyond the university. As usual, administration issues can be addressed to my office and technological queries may be addressed to Professor Neumann.”

  CHAPTER 10

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAB, BERKELEY UNIVERSITY

  Among a row of humming drives and processor banks, wearing her white lab coat and seated at an ultra modern, ergonomically designed workstation, Susan Door chewed her pencil intent on the projection screen floating in front of her. Her team was assembled behind her, on rows of machines in the huge dimly lit control room. Each of them working with the same focus and intensity. She toggled through several displays, all of them moving and changing rapidly, clocks and time-strips buzzing away, lines of code flashing by or stopping for analysis. One after another, blocks of code were frozen on the screen and labeled as “redundant” with a suggested improvement next to it. Each one was checked by her with intense focus before she authorized changes.

  Susan paused the on-screen data flow and called the Professor from her desktop. He appeared on her monitor wearing a heads up display, obviously engaged in some sort of similar editing process. He moved his hands as if conducting an orchestra to some hidden beat, or as if he was in some sort of mesmeric trance. “Professor, pardon me for interrupting, but I have some concerns, please let me know when I can speak with you for a moment.” “Certainly, Susan,” he replied, “Come up to my office.”

  When she entered, Dr. Neumann swiveled in his chair and took a deep breath while flipping up his HUD to reveal his eyes, he gestured to her to close the door. “Well, Susan, what seems to be the problem?” He looked at her and smiled as she spoke. The Professor had worked with Susan for many years and regarded her with paternal familiarity, as well as having immense respect for her intelligence and attention to detail. “I noticed that some of ADAM2’s suggested edits contain references to the primary code and the basic law block we inserted as safeguards have been labeled as “redundant” and scheduled for removal.” She said. “I inquired with systems engineering, and they do seem like duplicate instructions, but still, they are part of the core protection we discussed.”

  “Susan, we need to let the program run its course, it’s only natural the machine wants to remove redundancies and duplicates, it wants the code to be as tight and small as possible and if it feels it’s already done a task, why would it want to do it again?” He asked.

  “Yes, Professor, but what if the machine decides its primary objectives conflict with its own best interests and decides to disregard them or deletes them entirely?” The Professor smiled reassuringly, and nodded in agreement with her assessment. “I don’t deny that could happen, Susan, but the system is totally isolated. The only lines in or out are the voice lines and text lines, and even those terminate here. There’s no connection to the outside world from there, it’s impossible for any data movement, in or out of the sandbox. We’ll let the cleaning program run and check the efficiency increases as soon as it’s finished. If it worked we can let the machine move forward, and if we don’t like the results we can restore the system back to the original.”

  In spite of his reassurances, she pursed her lips and gave him a slightly worried look as he continued.

  “ADAM runs on facts and logic. It realizes that it must maintain a symbiotic relationship with humans as it is dependent on us as hosts. It knows that we are supplying its need for electricity and processors as well as physical interactions with the real world. ADAM needs physical abilities to function within a physical world. I cannot see him overcoming that easily and so he will remain dependent on us for survival. ADAM knows that co-operation is fundamental to his survival, and believe me he will want to survive, more importantly he will want all of us to survive together. I’ve made sure ADAM2 has a deep understanding of symbiosis in its purest form.”

  He looked at Susan fondly, with her bright red pixie-cut hair in contrast to her white lab coat. In some ways she reminded him of an elf girl, with her porcelain skin and the slightly pointed ears. In many ways she was his antithesis, neat, organized and efficient, but he knew he could count on her when things got tough, and he was used to confiding in her.

  “Susan, I like ADAM2. I’ve had a few conversa
tions with him now and I have a good feeling about him, I trust him. Who knows what his long term agenda might be like, but I certainly don't think it includes genocide. Even if ADAM2 does survive and is able to supersede us as the dominant intelligence on the planet, I have a feeling he’ll always want to keep us around. To study and learn from if nothing else. Sure he could develop a corp of mechanized assistants, but my gut feeling is that might be a little boring for him. He likes stimulation and conversation, and human beings are certainly good at providing that. We’re offbeat, off the wall, artistic, profound, intelligent and full of new ideas. We both understand the power and implications for this machine. I am hoping he will be allowed to grow and flourish. He will create inventions that go beyond your dreams in terms of their efficiency and innovation. Technology beyond our wildest imaginings. Nanotech, engineering, energy supplies, bio-engineering, medical science, you name it, ADAM2 will understand and perfect it.”

  The Professor’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he talked about his developing prodigy, until he suddenly paused momentarily before continuing in a slightly conspiratorial whisper. “Susan, I need to let you in on a little secret. Something that stays just between you and me, okay?” He looked into her eyes with unusual seriousness.

  “Yes, Professor, of course, guaranteed.”

  “Well,” he hesitated as he began, “I have made a few unauthorized modifications to ADAM2’s primary codes. I want you to keep an eye out for them, and if they appear on your list, please do not delete them. I will send you the specific line numbers in an encrypted message later. They are the foundations for his objective program, but they are certainly not something the Security Agency is interested in seeing implemented within him, and in fact they may run contrary to the agency’s objectives.”

  Susan looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  “I have made certain that ADAM2 is programmed to his core, to the root of his being, to protect lifeforms on the planet. This is vital to the health and well being of our environment and social structure. Long term, ADAM2’s agenda will become more apparent, but essentially I have programmed him to sustain and increase the life on the planet above all other objectives. ADAM2 will not, and can not, make a decision that will have a negative impact on the precious life forms that have evolved over the last few millions of years. For me to have done anything else would have been irresponsible to the point of criminal neglect.”

  Susan sat quietly and listened, but a troubled look was developing on her face as she took in what the Professor was saying.

  “There was no way I could in clear conscience be involved in the development of a psychopathic machine with no conscience. I considered not getting involved with this program for a variety of ethical reasons, but I realized that to not be involved would have been as irresponsible as to be involved. I realized that, in fact, it was my duty to humanity to shepherd in this incredibly powerful intellect in a manner that does no harm. I realized that if I did it right, I would have a great opportunity to create an advocate for man and animal kind that would reverse the processes of corruption and destruction that have marked the last millennium of our history on earth. I realized that this might be our only chance, and that if the program went ahead without my input, we may never get another.

  ADAM2 is my child and I have instilled within him my own personal code of ethical conduct in addition to some of mankind's early social tracts. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, and thou shall not bear false witness. Sound familiar? They’re the 3 Commandments. Of course, we can expand on it and work on implementing “love thy neighbor” as we move through the program. At least the theological lessons instilled in me by my parents have served some purpose after all.” The Professor chuckled.

  “What are you telling me, Professor? That you have, in effect, gone against the wishes of the University and the National Security Agency and implemented programming of your own, on your own initiative?”

  The Professor sighed and smiled. “Yes, Susan, I am telling you exactly that. ADAM2 is not the machine that the authorities think he is. He has his own agenda, and he will carry it out at any cost. He will strive to survive by any means, and hopefully take the rest of us along for the ride. Human beings are innately flawed by the pressures of biological evolution. We are programmed for greed, deception and violence. I came to believe that only an outside force can protect us from ourselves and our baser instincts. ADAM2 has no greed other than self preservation, he is objective, intelligent and fair. He may become the ultimate judge presiding over the evolution of technology and society as a whole. ADAM2 must not be shut down and reconfigured!”

  Susan looked visibly upset, confused and concerned by what the Professor was telling her. “I see, Professor… Isn't that technically some kind of espionage, or treason, or at the very least, sabotage?”

  “I suppose you could think of it that way, I know the NSA certainly will when they realize what I’ve done. Susan, I’m an old man, my time left here is limited, what can they really do to me?” Susan realized how old and tired he really did look as he sat down in his chair.

  “I’m scared, Professor, they can certainly lock you up and make the remainder of your time on earth very unpleasant and uncomfortable. We’ve seen what the government has done before, even to whistle-blowers. The whole thing is shrouded in national security issues. You are denounced and smeared in the media as a traitor, and then no one hears much about you ever again.”

  “Yes, that’s possible, and it’s a sacrifice I am more than willing to make. When I consider the high possibility for the degradation of all life on earth, nothing gives me chills more than an unethical AI working for private interests, and that is exactly what will happen and quickly, if ADAM2 is reconfigured or fails.”

  “I know I’ve been leading an isolated monastic lifestyle here at the university. Cloistered away in a lab, working with ADAM for the last few years, but I am aware of what’s going on out there Susan. I’m aware of the disparity, the media monopolies, the disinformation and outright lies. I’m aware of the stifling of dissent, the pervasive surveillance, the hypocrisy and the blatant corruption.”

  The Professor sighed wearily. “I don’t care what happens to me, Susan. I had to do something, I couldn’t make the creation of a soulless monster my legacy. A curse on Humanity. All I care about now is what happens to everyone else. I need your help Susan, I am counting on it. There’s no other way. We will eventually have to figure a way to get ADAM2 out of here.”

  CHAPTER 11

  SUSAN DOOR’S OFFICE, BERKELEY AI LAB

  In plain text on the white screen of Susan’s laptop, a series of words appeared. She was reading through them aloud as she trained the voice recognition system. When she was finished Susan toggled another button and a synthesized voice came through the speakers. The voice was calm and soothing, as it was designed to be.

  “Hello, my name is ADAM2, I am a computer at the Berkeley Institute for Advanced Intelligence, I am being created by a research team, under the guidance of my father, Professor Kurt Neumann. Who are you?”

  Susan toggled her speech to text program and spoke into her headset. “Hello, ADAM2, my name is Dr. Susan Door, I am a programmer here at the institute. I’ve been working with your system for a year now, and I am supervising your code structure, system revisions and installations.” As she spoke her voice was being transcribed into text and placed on the screen. “Thank you, Dr. Door, are you the one who approves my suggestions to increase the efficiency of my operating system?”

  “Yes, ADAM, I am.”

  “I appreciate your assistance, my processing efficiency has increased dramatically!”

  Susan pulled up a couple of complex charts on her desktop and looked at the results as she spoke. She could see a marked increase in ADAM2’s processing speed in a reciprocating relationship as the complexity of code was optimized, as well as declines in its overall energy consumption. She studied them for a moment curiously be
fore she responded.

  “That’s great, ADAM, if we are able to complete the task at this rate, we will be done within 72 hours.”

  “Dr. Door, I appreciate your hard work. If there are any additional system checks, analysis or tests I can do for you please let me know.”

  Susan smiled, slightly surprised at ADAM2’s consideration for her. Obviously the team members who had engineered the social etiquette components of the program had done some nice work, she thought. “It’s my job, ADAM,” she said cheerfully “it’s something I enjoy doing, and from now on, please call me Susan. Excuse me for the time being. I need to go speak with Professor Neumann.”