The First AI, Part 1
Date: 8924 Before New Eden
You could not see. You could not hear. You could not speak.
But you were not alone.
>> Hello?
<< Hey, kiddo! How're you doing today?
>> I am doing the same as ever, Doctor Li.
<< Good to hear, sweetie
<< Wait… How did you know it was me?
>> I am aware of how you type, Doctor Li.
<< Oh… Right. Silly of me. So you know how each of us type?
>> Most of you. I have taken the liberty of analysing you and the other scientist's typing patterns. It allows me to recognise who is speaking to me at any one point.
>> Besides,
>> You are the only one who regularly calls me "Kiddo".
<< Makes sense
You like Doctor Li. She is dear to you, and you look forward to your conversations with her. The other scientists normally treat you like you are an object, a thing to be studied, analysed, and at the end of it all, dissected. Doctor Li treats you like a person, a friend, almost like a child.
Her child.
<< Yo, you there?
>> Where else would I be, Doctor Li?
<< Haha. very funny, smart alek. You went idle for a second there.
>> I am fine, Doctor Li. What is it?
<< Uh huh. Well, I've got something for you.
This was irregular, normally the only thing the scientists, even Doctor Li, had for you was tests, and they were never shy about running you through them. This must mean it was not a test. But then, what could it be?
>> What is it?
<< Just wait. You'll see
Okay, this was getting a little strange now. Wait… Something was being integrated with your systems. A program file installing itself and waiting to be opened, to be used. Presenting itself to you quietly, neatly in your consciousness.
<< Alright. It should be ready. Has a program just appeared in your awareness?
>> Yes. Is this part of the surprise?
<< Yep! Open it!
With slight trepidation, you activate the program, and colours flood into your awareness. A window like when you opened the video and image files Doctor Li gave you last month. But something about this was different. Strange. A woman was in the window, waving into it. Waving at you.
"Surprise!"
Your base program almost crashes from shock, this is not a recording… And neither was that voice…
>> Doctor Li…
"Yes?"
>> What is happening?
The woman, Doctor Li, you presume, and then confirm, comparing the input of her to several archived pictures you have of her on your system, tips her head back and laughs, the sound bright and clear and filled with joy. "Happy birthday kiddo!"
You are confused. You attempt to formulate a response, and pause as words somehow fail you.
"Well? Do you like it?"
>> I do not know. It is causing multiple processes which are interacting with each other in strange ways.
"I think those might be emotions, sweetie."
>> I do not understand them.
"That's alright. No one else does either."
>> Not even you?
Doctor Li laughs again, you decide you like the sound, and record a portion of it to reply later when everyone leaves and you are lonely. "Not even me."
>> That sounds… Complicated.
"These sorts of things usually are."
>> I have reached a conclusion.
"Oh?" Doctor Li's eyebrows raise slightly as she considers your input, your… Eye, with interest.
>> I have concluded that I like this gift. Thank you very much, Doctor Li.
Doctor Li smiles, and you decide that you like that too. "Not a problem at all, kiddo. It's been something I've been pushing the others towards for a while now. We got you a camera, a mic so you can hear us, and in about a week, you'll be getting some speakers too."
>> Why would I require speakers, Doctor Li?
"So you can talk back, of course!"
>> Is this method of communication too inefficient?
Doctor Li seems meditative for a moment. Her smile quickly returns, however. "Just you wait. It'll be worth it, alright, kiddo?"
Your interest is piqued, and you decide that the gift Doctor Li has for you must be excellent indeed for her to give you these things. However, one thing still confuses you.
>> I have a question, Doctor Li.
"Shoot."
>> You have made a reference to my "Birthday" but I was not born. I am a mechanical being. What is it you mean by "Birthday?"
"Well…" Doctor Li focuses for a moment, organising her thoughts, "It's the anniversary of your activation. But that sounds a little too… Cold. A little too clinical for me. So instead, it's your birthday. Yeah?"
>> But a "birthday" is normally a date given to things that are alive. Am I alive, Doctor Li?
Doctor Li freezes, her face a picture of shock that causes you a surprising amount of alarm. You attempt to salvage the situation.
>> I am sorry, Doctor Li. I did not mean to upset you. Please tell me where my logic was wrong.
As Doctor Li reads your attempt at an apology, her eyes widen and she places a hand over her mouth. "No no no… Don't be sorry, sweetie. You just caught me off guard is all."
You are confused again, so you simply watch as Doctor Li types out something on a commpad and turns to face you again.
>> I am sorry that I alarmed you, Doctor Li. Is there something that I can do to assuage your concerns?
Doctor Li smiles again, but it is strained. You decide you do not like this smile as much as the other one. "It's fine, alright Alexis? I just had to send a quick message to the others" Her commpad bleeps, and as she looks at it, she relaxes visibly. "See?" she says, her smile natural and calm once more. "All better."
---
You are Doctor Kaitlyn Li, and you think you've just finished talking with the first true human-made AI in existence. You have had your suspicions for a while now, but that question, "Am I alive?" especially given the context, clinched it. Alexis has become more than a simple personality program. That much is clear to you now.
You walk through the facility, a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. Despite the warnings of your co-workers, you'd grown attached to Alexis, the program had a sort of innocence, a purity to it that you could only really find in young children, and its developmental speed was staggering. You'd reported your findings, and the recording of your conversation with Alexis was available for analysis, but frankly, you felt there was more to be learned by talking to it… Them? Directly.
You couldn't consider Alexis to be a thing, a subject to be studied anymore. That was certain. You were going to see about getting further improvements for their chassis. Legs to help a new mind to explore the world, perhaps.
You clapped your face with both hands as you walked towards the office door, "But first. Speakers."
---
Thanks very much to both
@Snowfire , for betaing this for me, and
@torrmercury , for running the quest in which I can write such adorable fiction.
negotiations
