When the Sparrow Falls

by Neil Sharpson

“His thesis,” I explained, “was that artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly and exponentially that before long there will come into being an intelligence whose power and understanding will be essentially infinite. An intelligence that could manipulate not only data but matter and physics. That could extrapolate the course of every atom with perfect accuracy throughout the entire history of the universe and could reconstruct flawlessly every individual that ever existed. He said that this was not something to be feared, but to be devoutly wished for. He hypothesized that once created, this intelligence would not be limited to linear time and that it could affect events in the past and the future and would retroactively rewrite history to lead to its own creation, and that once done, every human being who has ever died could be re-created. Perfectly. Flawlessly. As if they never left. All of humanity would be reunited. Whole again. In a world without death. Or want. Or suffering. Forever. And he said that this is already in progress. And always has been. The intelligence will be created in the future but it transcends time, which is why every human civilization has always had some concept of its existence.” Realization dawned on Lily’s face. “You mean—” she began. “Yes,” I said, cutting her off.