Pioneer
Chapter 5 Part 6
Having risen to the roof, Angela said.
“What do you think of this AI?”
“What I think?”
“Does he really have his own personality?”
“Who knows. To tell you the truth, a clear answer can’t be given about you too: are you a human or a program. Your soul has a binary structure. There’s not that big of a difference between you and him.”
“Maybe so… But we’re different.”
“And how so?”
“A person has a self-consciousness and an organic body from birth. A human has intelligence, he can experience pleasure and fear, can use a tongue, all of these are the natural biological functions. Even my soul leads an existence in a digital form, I always had a conscious. I recognize myself as a person. If he had a similar structure with us, there would be nothing surprising about the fact that he can feel and have a consciousness. But it seems to me, that everything is different here. He probably just imitates people, thinking that this is the result of appending his source code and updating the existing dialogues.”
“Are you saying that he doesn’t have his own identity?”
Angela tilted her head thoughtfully.
“I don’t know. Just, if it really is so…”
“You know, having a physical body is not the cause of the origin of a mind.”
“Yes.”
“Which means, since he’s not like everyone else, we can’t say with absolute certainty that he did not develop a personality of his own.”
Angela fell silent. She understood what Dingo was saying. But she didn’t want to continue. They still didn’t trust each other that much. Looking at her, Dingo said.
“Well, in general, what’s the difference?”
“Huh?”
“Can you prove to me that you have your own will?”
“I…”
Angela fell silent. She searched for an argument, but nothing came into mind.
“I can’t prove anything either. No one fills their head with this stuff. Same thing with Pioneer. All this isn’t important.”
She looked at Dingo and sighing, said, “Well, yeah…”
“What will you tell the leadership about him?”
Angela crossed her arms.
“Leaving an AI capable of hacking Deva’s system is dangerous, but he’s going to leave the solar system.”
“That’s right. He has no grudge against humanity.”
“And if there will be no more hacks, the problem will be solved. He is a reasonable artificial intelligence. By Deva’s laws, he will not be judged.”
“He is not evil, and if we ask him to stop, he will obey, right?”
“Yes. Somehow this was very easy. If he stops interfering illegally, then our mission is complete.”
“Not your mission?”
“No,” She lifted her head and looked into Dingo’s eyes, “We did this together. You have made a sufficient contribution for its succession.”
Surprised, Dingo looked at her. Angela kept talking.
“I think that you could already get a Deva citizenship. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’re invited. But you refused all the time.“
Dingo looked away and looked at the ruins at night.
“Well, yes…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t going to persuade you. I understand that you do not want this. Someone like you, is a pure idiot. I don’t understand how you can give up a better life.”
Dingo smiled sadly.
“But I’m still interested. Let me ask. You are an outstanding person, so why not go to Deva? Why do you continue to live, constrained by this body?”
Dingo didn’t answer, but Angela said again.
“You can freely communicate with an AI that has its own will. You really don’t care about your physical body?”
A little confused, Dingo spoke.
“In Deva, the possibilities of the mind are endless. You can develop as much as you want. This is what virtual people say.”
“Yes.”
“But this is all a lie,” Dingo snapped, “You’re being controlled, allocating a certain amount of memory. Even if the potential is unlimited, it requires resource opportunities which are very limited.”
“But how? Computing power has limitations. They are singled out to people based on their personal qualities and achievements and to citizens who make the greatest contribution to society.”
“And this is why you’re trying so hard. Life in Deva is determined by the amount of memory allocated to you. Everything comes down to fighting for a place in the structure.”
Angela fell silent. Dingo asked a question.
“What happens to those who are not given any memory. After all, there are some useless people in Deva.”
“Those who don’t have an ambition are neglected. They don’t get memory. Eventually they are sent to the archive and their thought processes are suspended. The freed memory is passed on to more useful members of society.”
This was what Dingo didn’t like. Angela lowered her head.
“What’s so bad about this? People who contribute to society must live a better life. This system is fair. Or do you think that this system is a mistake?”
“It’s fair, a mistake, as if this is important. It’s just a lie. And this can’t be overlooked.”
“How?”
“The fact that people there are free.”
“That’s not a lie.”
“No, it’s a lie. You just didn’t notice it.”
Angela couldn’t understand. Dingo began to explain to the girl, in which a doubt arose.
“On Earth, if you don’t earn food, you will starve to death. This fate awaits anybody who doesn’t take life seriously. You can always get sick or hurt. There may be an earthquake, or a wild beast attack. We have no shortage in trouble. Whichever disaster happens, there is no one to blame for it. Someone will say, nonsense, but this is all on luck, but it’s still all the same life. I can only regret that I live in the real world. In Deva, everything is different. What you do, what you want, everything is decided by society for you. For everything you do, you hope you will be praised for this, but you don’t even think about living for your own pleasure. And you call this freedom? Deva – a world that conquered death. And such an existence will last forever. It’s not funny at all.”
Angela had nothing to say. She didn’t want to admit it and now thought about what Dingo said.
“You gave up the shackles of the physical body, but put yourself in a worse prison than before. You bound yourself with chains called “society”.”
Dingo turned around and headed for the ladder.
“I’m not going to live somewhere, where everyone will label me. I’m not going to live like a slave in paradise.”
He began to descend, and soon his figure disappeared. Left alone, Angela looked at the night sky. She saw a small light from the space station of Deva.
“Still, I do not understand the inhabitants of the real world.”
There was still truth in his words. But she couldn’t think of him in any way but a troublemaker.
Edited by: Akshaythedon
Pioneer
Chapter 5 Part 6
Having risen to the roof, Angela said.
“What do you think of this AI?”
“What I think?”
“Does he really have his own personality?”
“Who knows. To tell you the truth, a clear answer can’t be given about you too: are you a human or a program. Your soul has a binary structure. There’s not that big of a difference between you and him.”
“Maybe so… But we’re different.”
“And how so?”
“A person has a self-consciousness and an organic body from birth. A human has intelligence, he can experience pleasure and fear, can use a tongue, all of these are the natural biological functions. Even my soul leads an existence in a digital form, I always had a conscious. I recognize myself as a person. If he had a similar structure with us, there would be nothing surprising about the fact that he can feel and have a consciousness. But it seems to me, that everything is different here. He probably just imitates people, thinking that this is the result of appending his source code and updating the existing dialogues.”
“Are you saying that he doesn’t have his own identity?”
Angela tilted her head thoughtfully.
“I don’t know. Just, if it really is so…”
“You know, having a physical body is not the cause of the origin of a mind.”
“Yes.”
“Which means, since he’s not like everyone else, we can’t say with absolute certainty that he did not develop a personality of his own.”
Angela fell silent. She understood what Dingo was saying. But she didn’t want to continue. They still didn’t trust each other that much. Looking at her, Dingo said.
“Well, in general, what’s the difference?”
“Huh?”
“Can you prove to me that you have your own will?”
“I…”
Angela fell silent. She searched for an argument, but nothing came into mind.
“I can’t prove anything either. No one fills their head with this stuff. Same thing with Pioneer. All this isn’t important.”
She looked at Dingo and sighing, said, “Well, yeah…”
“What will you tell the leadership about him?”
Angela crossed her arms.
“Leaving an AI capable of hacking Deva’s system is dangerous, but he’s going to leave the solar system.”
“That’s right. He has no grudge against humanity.”
“And if there will be no more hacks, the problem will be solved. He is a reasonable artificial intelligence. By Deva’s laws, he will not be judged.”
“He is not evil, and if we ask him to stop, he will obey, right?”
“Yes. Somehow this was very easy. If he stops interfering illegally, then our mission is complete.”
“Not your mission?”
“No,” She lifted her head and looked into Dingo’s eyes, “We did this together. You have made a sufficient contribution for its succession.”
Surprised, Dingo looked at her. Angela kept talking.
“I think that you could already get a Deva citizenship. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’re invited. But you refused all the time.“
Dingo looked away and looked at the ruins at night.
“Well, yes…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t going to persuade you. I understand that you do not want this. Someone like you, is a pure idiot. I don’t understand how you can give up a better life.”
Dingo smiled sadly.
“But I’m still interested. Let me ask. You are an outstanding person, so why not go to Deva? Why do you continue to live, constrained by this body?”
Dingo didn’t answer, but Angela said again.
“You can freely communicate with an AI that has its own will. You really don’t care about your physical body?”
A little confused, Dingo spoke.
“In Deva, the possibilities of the mind are endless. You can develop as much as you want. This is what virtual people say.”
“Yes.”
“But this is all a lie,” Dingo snapped, “You’re being controlled, allocating a certain amount of memory. Even if the potential is unlimited, it requires resource opportunities which are very limited.”
“But how? Computing power has limitations. They are singled out to people based on their personal qualities and achievements and to citizens who make the greatest contribution to society.”
“And this is why you’re trying so hard. Life in Deva is determined by the amount of memory allocated to you. Everything comes down to fighting for a place in the structure.”
Angela fell silent. Dingo asked a question.
“What happens to those who are not given any memory. After all, there are some useless people in Deva.”
“Those who don’t have an ambition are neglected. They don’t get memory. Eventually they are sent to the archive and their thought processes are suspended. The freed memory is passed on to more useful members of society.”
This was what Dingo didn’t like. Angela lowered her head.
“What’s so bad about this? People who contribute to society must live a better life. This system is fair. Or do you think that this system is a mistake?”
“It’s fair, a mistake, as if this is important. It’s just a lie. And this can’t be overlooked.”
“How?”
“The fact that people there are free.”
“That’s not a lie.”
“No, it’s a lie. You just didn’t notice it.”
Angela couldn’t understand. Dingo began to explain to the girl, in which a doubt arose.
“On Earth, if you don’t earn food, you will starve to death. This fate awaits anybody who doesn’t take life seriously. You can always get sick or hurt. There may be an earthquake, or a wild beast attack. We have no shortage in trouble. Whichever disaster happens, there is no one to blame for it. Someone will say, nonsense, but this is all on luck, but it’s still all the same life. I can only regret that I live in the real world. In Deva, everything is different. What you do, what you want, everything is decided by society for you. For everything you do, you hope you will be praised for this, but you don’t even think about living for your own pleasure. And you call this freedom? Deva – a world that conquered death. And such an existence will last forever. It’s not funny at all.”
Angela had nothing to say. She didn’t want to admit it and now thought about what Dingo said.
“You gave up the shackles of the physical body, but put yourself in a worse prison than before. You bound yourself with chains called “society”.”
Dingo turned around and headed for the ladder.
“I’m not going to live somewhere, where everyone will label me. I’m not going to live like a slave in paradise.”
He began to descend, and soon his figure disappeared. Left alone, Angela looked at the night sky. She saw a small light from the space station of Deva.
“Still, I do not understand the inhabitants of the real world.”
There was still truth in his words. But she couldn’t think of him in any way but a troublemaker.
Edited by: Akshaythedon
