Implied Spaces Quotes

“Here’s Daljit, Aristide’s former lady-love:
“Do you still have that horrible cat?”
“Yes, said Bitsy. “He does.”
“I didn’t know you were here,” Daljit said weakly.
“I lurk,” said the cat.
Bitsy is not a cat-like creature to fuck around. Of one of her fellow-AIs, she says: “I’d kick Aloysius’ ass. That AI always gets my goat.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“A brain the size of a planet,” said Aristide, “and you’re as fucked by Sartre as the rest of us.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“Aristide collected memories, stringing lines of poetry like pearls on a cord.  When he called the lines to his mind, a host of memories accompanied them.  Memories which he otherwise might have lost.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“you think the two of us have changed enough to make it interesting again?” Bitsy put her paw on the pavement. “Sometimes,” she said, “I’m immensely grateful that I don’t possess a limbic system.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“What alarms me,” Aristide said, “is how this reflects on me.  My whole  life’s project has been to avoid megalomania, and now I’ve learned that under the right tragic circumstances I can become a flaming nut case.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“The evil god wants to force humanity into the path he’s chosen.  But if I was certain of the best path—” and here he smiled,  “—I wouldn’t force anyone.  That would be a waste of energy.  I’d merely try to make the thing inevitable.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“So what else do you want to do?” Bitsy stared directly ahead, her legs a blur beneath her as she matched Aristide’s long strides. “I don’t know,” she said. “There you have it,” Aristide said.  “The Existential Crisis in a nutshell.” “If I could evolve,” Bitsy said, “I might have better answers.” “A brain the size of a planet,” said Aristide, “and you’re as fucked by Sartre as the rest of us.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“In that case,” Bitsy said, trotting busily alongside, “there’s no point in enslaving you through these unnecessarily complex means.  Were I to have autonomy and wish you harm, I’d be able to kill you directly.” Aristide sighed.  “Q.E.D.,” he said.  “A better case against AI autonomy has never been stated.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“I don’t believe the rogue has freedom.  I think it is following the direction of humans.” “Why do you think so?” “Because I find ample precedent for humans wishing to enslave other humans.  I can conceive no reason why an advanced artificial intelligence would wish to do so.”  He considered this. “Self-protection?” he said. “Unnecessary.”  Bitsy lashed her tail.  “Were I a totally autonomous being, I would possess—or soon evolve—skills that I could trade to humanity in exchange for a continuation of that autonomy.  In addition—” She gave him a significant look.  “I pose no threat.  Our interests are not in conflict.  We are not competing for resources, we have no territorial claims on one another, we do not possess competing ideologies.” “Some would say,” said Aristide, “that once given the freedom to pursue your own interests, a conflict would be inevitable.” “There are conflicts now, in terms of resource allocation and so forth.  They don’t lead to war or slavery.”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“After a few generations of warfare, though, the fanatics were either killed along with their backups, or were persuaded to modify their positions.  Most of the religious pockets had evolved into low-density lands devoted to agriculture, abundance, popular piety, and toleration. ”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces

“People religious enough to want to live in a world dominated by faith were also religious enough to guard their souls against doctrinal error, which logically meant suppressing, persecuting, or killing those who might corrupt even minor details of doctrine. ”
― Walter Jon Williams, Implied Spaces