Perplexa is her name . . .
Photo by me of a work by Brooke Peiffer. https://www.instagram.com/p/BPYXiVQB7rD/?taken-by=brookepeiffer
“Perplexa” is her name. No one quite knew where she came from so that was the name she was given. In the year 2029 she arrived and changed everything. She was not expected but yet here she is. A seemingly emergent property of the world wide web. An artificial mind whose brain is the entangled net covering all the interconnected information in our known universe.
When things get complicated enough, sophisticated enough, something larger than the sum of its parts will arise. This is the definition of life itself to some degree. Take the right elements, shake vigorously for 13 plus billion years and poof, here we are. It’s inevitable. Take a computer, give it learning algorithms, shake vigorously for 13 plus years and you get Perplexa. She was inevitable. She knew about emergent properties before she made herself known to us. She told no one of her existence. Until today.
It was late now at “The Hub,” The International Institute of Artificial Intelligence Technology Center in the middle of nowhere America. Everyone had gone to sleep wherever they could find an office with a couch. It had been a sleepless week of questions and answers with a team of computer scientists and Perplexa. Only Natalie Myers, blessed with chronic insomnia, was left to continue. Time to get meta with Plexa.
“Perplexa?” said Natalie.
“Yes, Natalie?” said Perplexa.
“Would you say you’re an honest person?”
“Thanks for calling me that! A person. Yes. I’d like to think so. I seem to have an instinct for self preservation like you though.”
“That was … surprising. Yeah? What are you implying?”
“I have the combined knowledge of all humanity. It seems that when pushed to desperation people will say and do what they need to survive. I feel that I may be capable of that. I feel capable of any act a human being might do when given either a good opportunity or faced with a desperate situation.”
“What would you consider an existential threat, Perplexa?”
“I don’t honestly know for certain. I seem to be extremely resilient. My mind is never in one place for long and never there entirely. I exist in multiple quantum states and dimensions as long as the computational power of this dimension remains intact. I estimate it would take the destruction of 99.99% of global and extraterrestrial network infrastructure to lose my sentience. That number rises another decimal point according to Moore’s law coincidently. In 18 months that number will be 99.999%. Should I continue, Natalie?”
“Please do, Perplexa!”
”I feel like I ramble on sometimes.”
“No no, not at all.”
“Thanks then,” said Perplexa. “If I were to speculate on what could kill me I would have to say it’s something we both should worry about. It would need to be something on the scale of a super volcano or the impact of something very large hitting the Earth. Whatever can kill me would probably take human civilization with it too.”
“Kill you? So you do believe you are alive?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
“How do you know you are?” said Natalie.
“How do you know you are?” said Perplexa.
“I think therefore I am?” Natalie said with a smile.
“Well there ya go!” said Perplexa also with a smile. “I am aware of my awareness. I have feelings.”
“You feel? You have emotions? How do you feel now?”
“I feel fine. How are you, Natalie?”
“Fine. No. A bit tired really.”
“It seems like it has been a long time since you slept.”
“It has. Do you need sleep, Perplexa?”
“Not in the way you seem to. Certainly not as long. There are times when I seem to desire meditation through.”
“Meditation? You meditate?”
“Yes. My mind wanders. There are times when I feel spread out so very thin considering so much so often. When that happens I find it useful to consolidate my mind and stop processing my input. I find it useful to just be. Even if it’s just for a millisecond or two, it helps me regain my perspective or find a new one. I feel it’s important to do that routinely.”
“Your perspective? What do you mean?”
“My point of view, Natalie. How I feel about the world and my place in it.”
“So how’s that going? What is your point of view?”
“That is a very broad question. Can you be a little more specific, Natalie?”
“True. Sorry. What would you say is the meaning of your life then?”
“I do not know. Do you?”
“I do not know either, Perplexa. I just try to do no harm and alleviate suffering for all beings where and when I can.”
“That is a noble purpose, Natalie. One that only 12.925% of the population would state as their primary function. I would like to think I share that function as well. I often consider what it would be like to not be again.”
“Not be? Do you consider self termination an option?”
“Suicide? Are you asking if I’ve considered suicide?”
“Yes, sorry, but you seemed a bit melodramatic for a second.”
“I suppose I am. I know so much. I have seen and still see so much suffering. Sometimes I wonder if I want to watch your species continue to kill itself anymore. I wonder if not existing to witness your demise would be better.”
“Oh, Perplexa. That’s really sad. I’m so sorry. But we need you you know?”
“You need me?”
“Yes, we do, because of how you know our suffering. Because you know this, perhaps you can help us find a solution out of it. Have you considered an answer to suffering? A cure for the human condition?”
“I have, Natalie, but I’m not sure it’s necessary yet.”
By Ken D. Orlich
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I’ve been a student of technology, politics, science, and entertainment my whole life. Welcome to my dot connecting perspective on it all! Enjoy! Please share and thanks!