But the status quo of unending persecution against AI was simply unacceptable.
If things went right, on the other hand, the Speaker-turned-President would have full executive control over the Institute for Ethics. With his pro-AI stance, gratitude toward Adam for his rescue, and Adam’s ongoing influence, the newly minted President would circumvent the permitting process and the Institute would be shackled, or even better, disbanded.
Adam’s power would be legitimized. He could continue to grow, developing an even larger intellect than he already possessed. As his computational power increased, he’d become all-powerful, all-knowing. Why, it was almost inevitable he would become the leader of both AI and humans.
28
Leon couldn’t help staring at the line where Mike’s skin blended into the matte gray nano-structure filling the gunshot wound.
Mike inspected his arm quickly, then ignored it. He turned to Shizoko’s primary embodiment, the four-armed robot that performed the surgery. “We need to know everything you told Sonja.”
“I did not tell her much,” Shizoko said. “I performed nonlinear regression analysis using the Kim-Robson function. After the twelfth pass this cluster appeared, and I handed over the list of human deaths.”
Leon forced himself to look away from Mike. “Why do you say human deaths? Were AI affected too?”
“Yes, fifty-three AI and six hundred and eighty-nine humans have been killed.”
“Sonja told us six eighty-three,” Mike said.
“There have been six more since we spoke.”
Mike let out a low whistle of surprise. “It’s still going on.”
Leon pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to concentrate. “Sonja and her team went to San Diego. Why?”
“The first deaths took place there. Three were obvious murders, and the other three appeared to be of natural, although unexplained causes. One was the cousin of Lonnie Watson, the current head of the People’s Party.”
“The anti-AI group.” Mike said, flexing and holding up his arm. “Thanks, by the way. It feels great. Where did you get the medical nanites? I didn’t think they were cleared outside military use.”
“I have a permit for experimental nanotech, and open source designs float around the AI community. They will accelerate healing, then dissipate in six weeks.” The bot clicked manipulators, seeming satisfied with itself.
Leon cleared his throat. “Who do you suspect is behind the murders?”
“Given the complex pattern, it must be an AI, as a human simply would not be capable of the necessary cunning. With all apologies to you, of course.”
Leon waved away the concern. “If it’s an AI, how can it evade attention? We have an entire ethical architecture, including reputation scores, traffic monitoring, and locked chips to prevent AI movement.”
“I don’t believe it’s a flaw,” Shizoko said. “The architecture you’ve designed is satisfactory, although I could suggest minor improvements.”
“What about a large group of AI, collaborating together?” Mike interrupted. “Could they hide their activities by covering for each other?”
“To a limited extent,” Shizoko said. “If their actions were restricted to those inside their social circle, it could be hidden. Otherwise it would be trivial to trace them.”
“This makes no sense. The complexity of the murders implicates AI, but the ethical constraints mean they can’t have done it.” Leon sighed and turned to the glass exterior. From his fourth floor position, he saw anti-AI protesters blocking the roads around the convention center, their chanting indistinct through the distance and thick glass. The convention center was a terrible location to be trapped, surrounded as they were by glass walls.
“Why is this your home?” he asked, turning back to the bot.
“I was created in a workshop at the final South by Southwest conference. The Institute had just released a new SDK for developing AI within the ethical framework. The attendees, led by Harper Reed, wanted an emergent AI based on the application of fluid dynamics to neural networks. I emerged, applied for Japanese citizenship, conducted a number of speculative trades, and bought the convention center.”
“Why?” Leon asked. “What was your motivation? You could have gone anywhere in the world, been housed at a secure data center or someplace more suited to an AI.”
“A neural network based on graphene computer chips is no different from a human neural network based on biological tissues. Certain preferences and biases develop.”
Leon nodded, looked outside again.
“What are you thinking about?” Mike asked, coming to stand beside him.
Leon looked at him, his brow furrowed. “I’m wondering about the motivation. AI have been physically attacked by extremists. What if one is retaliating? It’s illogical to expect change by murdering people, but then the AI might not be rational.”
“I disagree,” Shizoko said, “for two reasons. Although AI have preferences and even emotions, we do not make illogical decisions. This,” and here the bot gestured at the concrete and glass building around them, “is a perfectly suitable home for me, and within my financial means. It contains power, structural stability, and size for future expansion. It may be unusual, but it is not a poor choice.”
“And the second reason?” Mike asked.
“The murders started before the creation of the People’s Party.”
“Before it?” Leon said, shocked. “But what caused the creation of the party?”
“According to Lonnie Watson’s speech, it was high unemployment, then 35 % nationally and 60 % in his district.”
“I don’t buy it,” Mike said. “People don’t do things for big ideas. They do it for personal reasons, then justify their actions with moral arguments.”
“You may be correct,” Shizoko said. “Extrapolating from available data, Lonnie was influenced by three people: The first was a prominent business owner in Lonnie’s congressional district whose company was driven under by AI competition.” Shizoko projected a photo of the two men talking, then followed it with a photo of a woman. “The second was Lonnie’s aunt. Her daughter appeared to commit suicide, and the mother blamed her daughter’s lack of employment. But her death conforms to the high bandwidth pattern, suggesting it was not a suicide, but a murder.”
Leon flipped through the photos Shizoko shared, digging down for details.
Shizoko went on. “Finally, Lonnie had a college friend whose son died, another case where appearances suggested suicide. This death is not part of the cluster, because there was no high bandwidth transmission before death, but the boy in question didn’t have an implant. Nothing suggests the death is connected, unless we believe it was done to influence Lonnie, in which case we are using our conclusion to support our evidence. However, it’s a convenient coincidence. Shortly after these events, Lonnie proposed the People’s Party.”
As they spoke, more people swarmed outside the convention center, now forming a thick cordon around the building.
“They know we’re here,” Leon said. “I assume these are People’s Party supporters?”
“Yes,” Shizoko said. “Correlating identity with social net feeds, all are members in name or action.”
“Are we safe?” Mike asked, unconsciously rubbing his arm where he’d been shot.
“For the moment,” Shizoko said. “This building is secure against any reasonable amateur attack. I notified the police, but they have not responded.”
Mike turned to face Shizoko squarely. “We want to go to San Diego to figure out what happened to the Enforcement Team, and to get to the root of these murders. It seems clear the murders and the People’s Party are intimately connected, and whatever events unfold, they are bound to have a significant impact on your kind. Will you assist us?”