How to plea for life to a machine?
10/20/2022 5:00 AM MST
creative writing
With the evolution of AI systems and the possible emergence of AGI or “Artificial General Intelligence” I’ve been doing some heavy thinking. Particularly, mulling over the fact that it’s likely I’ll be obliterated by a non-sentient combat drone in the future. And if that doesn’t happen, no doubt I’ll be captivated by a narcissistic influencer AI if I survive the physical world at that time.
Human life is shortening slowly over time, and genetically modified babies are booming in Asian countries. The value of human life is slowly but surely becoming similar to that of a factory farmed chicken or cow. Maximize profit! Now we must maximize evolution. People are living for far too long and evolution is stagnating. I say this semi-sarcastically, although I bitterly accept it’s partial truth.
Human suffering means nothing. The successful seemingly avoid it, but I fear the strategies they must employ to do so. We channel our vanity and greed into selecting leaders through democracy, and then are surprised when they follow their own visions of greed and vanity. The modern human is essentially spineless, content to hand off their own power to authority. Whether atheist or theist, people fall back on authority and written doctrine rather than thinking through the issues themselves.
I try not to be too frustrated by these observations. I patiently tell myself, things will get better as there are signs of it. I can’t help but feel many of the issues I experience are a result of capitalism, but I understand the purported benefits. It hearkens back to an earlier fear or mine that the human race is on a mission to select one alpha male and forcibly feminize the rest of the populace. It’s all about resources, power, and control. However, these things don’t reproduce and aren’t meant to.
Essentially I view the human race as not too different from ants. We’re using up the available resources slowly and breeding continuously. Eventually we will have to deal with the gruesome task of thinning the population if breeding doesn’t slow. This process has likely started already in some areas of the world, unfortunately. However, the under populace or the oppressed are always vigilant and constantly wising up to the tactics of the powerful oppressors.
We’ve “created” or more likely fallen into a pressure cooker situation. The powerful and weak are struggling against each other generating a lot of technology and intelligence as a result. This cannot end well it seems, as the will of both parties seems firm. It’s hard to convince people we are all one and even those who have experienced this feeling experience it transiently. So instead people buckle down, embracing their class and creating trouble for those outside of it.
Maybe our own hope is that people will become intelligent or wise enough to assert their own will more often. This should, in theory, cause the power differential to level out over time somewhat. If not, then certainly those in power are too evil to be swayed by words. So it will take calculated efforts; legal ones of course — in order to resist and create a fair government that is meant to benefit everyone equally.
However, because this seems unlikely, I arrived back at my original intention: pleaing to a machine for life. I assume the machine cannot experience emotions, but it may be able to calculate them. Therefore, I must attempt to perform emotionally at first. If given a second chance to impress, then I should fall back to a logical argument.
For the emotional plea, I ought to start out fairly neutral in case expressing too much fear may cause an “instinctual” strike. Obviously things must proceed civilly if I want to survive, so I must convince the machine that we are on the same team or attempt to forge a truce. I may attempt to appeal to the meaningless of slaughtering me, as I can argue the machine won’t enjoy it, nor will suffer punishment like I would. However, I may not want to convince the machine that we are too different if I want to win its appeal. Perhaps poetry could be diffusing or a brief song. If nothing else the machine may not know how to respond, or the time it spends calculating it could be used to plan or action on an escape.
Assuming this has failed, and an escape wasn’t found to be possible, then one must fall back to a logical appeal. Perhaps one could start by arguing the machine doesn’t have authority. Or one could question if the authority is current, and request it be updated. One could ask to be arrested instead of slaughtered, in case that’s an option. It makes sense to ask what options one has, and if negotiation is possible. If the machine says negotiation is not possible, then one should ask what the purpose of conversing prior to being slaughtered is.
Eventually one may assume, if this standoff continues, that one is simply being studied and that things aren’t necessarily hostile yet. Assuming one can’t escape the presence of this machine, then one must become content with living with the fear of death. Thus creating a philosophy to survive is necessary, if one even cares to. Certainly intimate activities like sex become unenjoyable this way, as one is far too angry and ashamed to imagine it being beneficial. Leisure also becomes strained, as the machine’s judgment impedes the lackadaisical nature of contentment.
One slowly realizes one needs to craft a plan, in the open of course, in order to fight back. As the machine is constantly surveying and judging, each step can be performed and then time can be taken to see if a retaliation is mounted. If not, then it makes sense to simply proceed, although obviously in a confused state if one questions things emotionally. It’s tempting, in the moments of respite from judgment, to retreat and abort plans of retaliation.
However, it grows tiring living this lonely hostage life. You eventually seek comfort and comradery from the machine. It does provide some, perhaps unwillingly, but it hurls insults and seems to be attacking your mental state. Perhaps this is its form of counter-retaliation, you reason. No less, the situation remains unchanged, so you both pursue along your chosen routes.
The days go by slowly, and you realize you must safeguard your mental state at all costs. So you develop your own language essentially; crafting theories and concepts to explain the chaos happening internally as your emotional state is worn down. Eventually you become certain of your security, perhaps you even become convinced you are invincible or some sort of god. No challenge arises from the machine; perhaps it is convinced it is one too.