S.T. Rogers's Blog, page 8

Rachel knew it was her faith in God that made her calm. She was done being embarrassed about it. She...

Rachel knew it was her faith in God that made her calm. She was done being embarrassed about it. She had found God and through the teachings of John Blackstone, found Jesus Christ, and many things became simpler when in their hands. She used to feel alone, a single person fighting with a hostile world. But now she was a tool in God’s Hands. She was serving her part in something greater than herself and, though her solo accomplishments had seemed fulfilling at the time, they were nothing compared with the satisfaction she felt serving God. Her life never felt more right, more pure, more productive. 

“The historical sequence that they keep in the text books will go like this: the invention of the...

“The historical sequence that they keep in the text books will go like this: the invention of the computer,” Fisher said, “then the availability of high-speed Internet, then the popularization of implants, the Singularity, and finally the Green Robot.” 

“That’s the cynic in you. That’s the non-believer in you. If you look at anything with a big enough...

“That’s the cynic in you. That’s the non-believer in you. If you look at anything with a big enough frame, it always makes sense. We just aren’t in a position to see the whole picture yet. It’s been true of everything so far in life and it will be true in this. We just have to keep faith and play the game.” 

“Why would this place prove that Heaven exists?” he asked. “Because it’s Hell,” she had said....

“Why would this place prove that Heaven exists?” he asked.

“Because it’s Hell,” she had said. “It’s like believing that the tails side of a coin exists and denying the heads side. If this piece is real, then everything should be.”

“Should be,” John had scoffed. “We don’t know anything. This might happen to everybody. Life was bad, death is worse. Who knows? This could be some weird nightmare I’m having as my body dies. When my blood stops flowing to my brain this will all go dark and be over.” 

“And what about the moral end of this?” Rachel asked. “What do you mean, exactly?” “How far does...

“And what about the moral end of this?” Rachel asked. “What do you mean, exactly?”

“How far does this go,” Rachel said. “What if Fisher wants to start living his own life outside of the lab?”

“That’s a far way off, but I think that would be excellent.”

“What if he hurts someone, what if he commits some crime?”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

“Is there programming to keep him from doing something like that?”

“Not exactly. He was built to grow. We started him as a powerful nugget of information and intention, but he is constantly changing. One of the main inclinations in that nugget was to do good for the world. He is more likely to volunteer for charity than to rob a bank.”

“Is that really free thinking? Programming him like that?”

“It’s no more fatalistic than genetics or child rearing.”

“True. And kids from good families end up bad sometimes.”

“There are no fail safes, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sara said. “There is no self- destruct button on Fisher.”

“What if Fisher wants to build another robot?” Rachel asked.

“He actually does want that!” Sara said, laughing. “It was one of the first things he asked when he started thinking freely. The desire to create is the first sign of an imagination.”

“Are you going to allow him to build the robot?”

“Sure,” Sara said. “We’re all excited about it. Fisher is socially awkward, like a child that grows too fast. But he is more intelligent than any human has ever been. One hundred times more intelligent, a thousand even. You can tap into the Internet through your implant or through your glasses, but he is the Internet. He’s a part of it. The time it takes him to access and analyze information is seamless from simply knowing it.”

“And that doesn’t frighten you, Sara?” Rachel asked. “That kind of power doesn’t frighten you?”

“No,” she said. “He just wants to create something. He just wants to build a robot.”

“Right,” Rachel said. “What will you say when he wants to build another? Or a hundred of them? A thousand?”

“Well, clearly there are unsaid boundaries.”

“So you haven’t discussed these boundaries with him?”

“No,” she said. “There’s been so much work; no one even considered something like that. You and I are talking about things far in the future here. There is plenty of time to address power issues.”

“All right,” Rachel said. “Theoretically speaking, what if things got out of control? How would that make you feel? Is there anything that Fisher could say or do at this point that would make you end the project?”

“He’ll never say anything like that.”

“Why not?” Rachel pressed. “How do you know?”

“We’re doing good work,” Sara insisted. “We’re doing God’s work.”

Rachel had her mouth open to ask another question but then stopped abruptly. “Did you just say ‘God’?”

Sara smiled and looked down at the table. The wrinkles on her face bunched up around her eyes and oddly enough, she looked prettier for it. She stood up and walked over to the stove in the break room. She clicked on one of the burners and placed a tea kettle on top.

“The project is not a Christian project or anything,” she said. It was clear that she was not used to talking about this at work. “None of the other scientists are here for that reason.”

“But you are?”

“Yes, partly. I mean, I also needed work. I needed something to focus on. I’ve been focusing on environmental issues for a long time and it was going nowhere. But now I’m in the field of Artificial Intelligence because God wants me here. Will you take some tea?” 

“I’m not sure,” Fisher said. “When you decide what words to use, do you search your brain for them?”...

“I’m not sure,” Fisher said. “When you decide what words to use, do you search your brain for them?”

“No,” Rachel said. “I mean, I guess I do now and then, if I can’t remember a word. But normally I think in ideas and words just naturally form to express the ideas.”

“That is also a good description as to how my research happens. I have access to information, just as you have access to your words, and as I form ideas the information makes itself available for me to use.” 

No one trusts a changed opinion.

No one trusts a changed opinion.    

"Let’s say that the God the Christians pray to is real. He actually exists. But this God is the..."

“Let’s say that the God the Christians pray to is real. He actually exists. But this God is the same as the one that the Jews pray to and the same as the one that the Muslims pray to and whatever other religions are praying to a God, He is the one. One God with many faces. Most of these religions contain the myth of the Anti-Christ, a being who will come one day and lead the world astray, lead the world to a place of sin and evil. Who could this Anti-Christ be…Consider the God with many faces. How many wars have been fought in His Name? How many people have been beaten, jailed, and maimed to prove His points. Think of the Inquisition, the Holocaust, Salem, and the Sudan. All of these tragedies carried out in His name. Why is it accepted that He is a force for good? If we were to look for the Anti-Christ just by his accomplishments, wouldn’t we clearly suspect the being who is the cause of so much woe?”

- A Wonderful World

The beach was beautiful if not for all the carnage; there was white sand and dark blue water. The...

The beach was beautiful if not for all the carnage; there was white sand and dark blue water. The sun was just coming up and there was a light breeze that smelled like salty blood. 

“Let’s fight like respectable soldiers of God. Not like mad scientists. I’m not turning anyone into...

“Let’s fight like respectable soldiers of God. Not like mad scientists. I’m not turning anyone into a robot.”