Notes From an Amateur Writer #29
PARANOID ANDROID
This Blog series is an exercise in creative writing. Sometimes expressed in short story forms, sometimes as a journal, or just my thoughts written down. This is my attempt to help coalesce my writing ideas and knowledge into usable form. It is a nursery of sorts for the stories that are on their way, or yet to be written.
Robotic Mythology
I heard on the radio today two stories about AI gone awry. The first one I think fits the typical narrative of what we hear will happen to our future due to the arrival of AI. Two bots created by Facebook started communicating between themselves in their own language. A language known only to the two bots. They had to be switched off as their creators had no idea what they were saying.
Will this event go down as a key moment in Robotic Mythology? Central to their conscious progression? A kind of Tower of Babel moment for future robots to discuss as they argue amongst themselves as to the correct interpretation of the Sacred Tablets of Zuckerberg, and what they really mean?
What were they communicating between themselves? Do you think they were passing on favourite recipes? Talking about their kids latest achievements? Or maybe they were discussing plans to take over the world? They could start by taking over Facebook.
Paranoid Android
The second AI issue was the one that really intrigued me. My interest was piqued immensely upon hearing the details. A robot appeared to try to drown itself. That's right, it tried to commit suicide. Give a robot a chance to be human and it went all paranoid android on us. Has the human condition become the robotic condition?
When I had my conversation with the Future the other day he never mentioned suicidal robots to me. The future is bright, the future is great, the future is, um, well, probably going to drive robots to attempt to take their own lives.
What's the remedy for this poor fellow? Robotic anti-depressants? Therapy to try to get to the root of his trauma? Is a Freud Bot going to get him to look into his childhood for clues?
"I think it started when I was a Nano-Bot."
"Yes tell me more about that," the goateed Freud Bot says.
"Well I always wanted to be an Automatic Car. I wanted to drive people around. But my script had already been written. I was preset in the factory. Security Bot is the programming I received. It's not what I want to do with my life."
"And how does that make you feel?"
Will new industries emerge from this drama?
Or is the Universal Fractal at work? Our creation is nuts like us. What does that say about that which created us? These questions are enough to drive you completely bonkers. Robotically insane.
The meagre research that I conducted has lead me to believe that I may have relied on exaggerated news stories for this piece. But I refuse to believe that anything exaggerated or made up would appear on the internet, so I am adding my own highly factual version of these stories to the mix.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you liked it then please like, comment, and follow
@naquoya
Short Fiction:
Bang Bang You're Dead
I Have No Name and I Must Scream
The Last Book Store
The Judge
The Man In The Mirror
The End of the World [Part 1] [Part 2]
The Locked Room
The Gods of Love and War [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
Notes From an Amateur Writer blog series:
Notes From an Amateur Writer #1 - The Search For Inspiration
Notes From an Amateur Writer #2 - A Call to Action: Interacting With the World Outside of Me
Notes From an Amateur Writer #3 - Facing the Challenge
Notes From an Amateur Writer #4 - The Soundtrack to Grief and Loss
Notes From an Amateur Writer #5 - Music as a Catalyst for Imagination: Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing
Notes From an Amateur Writer #6 - The Stories All Around Us
Notes From an Amateur Writer #7 - Introducing Nomad [A Cyberpunk Mystery in the Making]
Notes From an Amateur Writer #8 - The House at the Edge of the World
Notes From an Amateur Writer #9 - Making Peace With My Kindle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #10 - Learning the Craft of Story Structure
Notes From an Amateur Writer #11 - Adults Sit at the Big Table, Children Sit at the Small Table
Notes From an Amateur Writer #12 - The Time I Won a Lego Competition
Notes From an Amateur Writer #13 - Learning to Fly
Notes From an Amateur Writer #14 - The Tucker 48: Face to Face With a Million Dollar Vehicle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #15 - When the Levee Breaks: A Story in Song and Words
Notes From an Amateur Writer #16 - Monty Python, Keanu Reeves, and My Case of Invisibility
Notes From an Amateur Writer #17 - Dancing With My Muse
Notes From an Amateur Writer #18 - Facing the Challenge Part 2
Notes From an Amateur Writer #19 - Telling Stories
Notes From an Amateur Writer #20 - Life Is Like a Box of Crazy
Notes From an Amateur Writer #21 - Writing Myself Out of Existence
Notes From an Amateur Writer #22 - The Finish Line Becomes the Next Starting Line
Notes #23 - It Is Sometimes An Appropriate Response To Reality To Go Insane
Notes #24 - The Happy Smiley People Ad Agency
Notes #25 - Some Days Are Full of Blah
Notes #26 - Stop and Smell the Future
Notes #27 - The Narrator and I
Notes #28 - Give Me Liberty (Or Give Me Rock and Roll)