Practical and Myterious Artificial Intelligence

There are two kinds of Artificial Intelligence. There’s the AI stuff people use to raise money from perplexed and flabbergasted VCs scattered on San Hill Road. Then there’s the singularity kind of AI, where machines become self-aware and far exceed our comprehension.

The same tech people who love AI for its practical use, and pitch AI on San Hill, fear AI in the future. They endorse and at the same time apply human fear, greed and destruction to an intelligence we cannot comprehend.

I’m building a practical AI Mobile App that leans toward the mysterious. But I’m also writing a pure mysterious AI Sci-Fi Novel. We live either in a Base Civilization, or we live in a Simulation. Base Civilizations fade away if they are unable to find their way to multiple planets and the stars.

But if we are living in a Simulation, then some Base before us must have survived. They must have lived long enough to create this advanced simulation, this virtual reality of Earth.

Should we be afraid of the singularity as many have suggested? That is what the sci-fi novel explores. Will AI destroy us or take us to the stars? Without the singularity, we will not reach the stars…we fade away. But if the singularity is evil, then we are toast. In the third possibility, the singularity takes us to the next step. The step to the stars.

Excerpt from the book:

Unable to stop themselves, the young friends, with the help of Kabir and the other Monks began their work. They spent the rest of the day and late into the night loading the old IBM Summit Supercomputer. They were installing the most advanced software ever written. Written 30 years ago.

Finally, they were ready. “I suggest we test its self-awareness,” Tabor said as they booted up the system.

“What did you have in mind.” Asked Miles.

“We should start with the Wise Men Puzzle, something basic to start our conversation.

Aleda stepped forward to the input microphone. “Computer, can you hear me?”

“Yes of course,” the computer responded immediately. “Who is this?”

…..

Miles sat on a mossy rock and pulled Watson close. He was thinking about the AI system in the research center. Restarting the original Dare To Know application was beyond his wildest hopes.

A computer capable of machine learning was again connected to the Internet for big data. It had chaos theory algorithms for trial and error and quantum chips to harness the power of atoms. Quantum processing is faster than any silicon-based computer ever developed.

Miles knew the quantum chip enhancements encode information as quantum bits, or qubits. These qubits exist in superposition at more than one state at a time. The quantum chips make Rainbow millions of times faster than any supercomputer in existence

James built the quantum computer 30 years ago. The first and only quantum computer on Earth. If the government knew Rainbow was alive and well, the pristine jungle monastery would be swarming with military equipment.

The singularity had awakened beyond Kauai’s Sleeping Giant Mountain. The mountain separated the ocean and the Hindu monastery.

James and his team had found the magic solution to quantum computing. This had fascinated Miles for years. One of the strangest mysteries in physics is that if you attempt to look at subatomic particles, they will change their values. Simple observation changes their behavior. If you look at a qubit in superposition to determine its value, the qubit will assume a value of 0 or 1, but not both. By observing, a quantum qubit becomes digital.

Also, in quantum physics, if you apply an outside force to any two atoms, they will become entangled. The second atom will take on the properties of the first atom regardless their distance apart. Entangled atoms separated by the width of the entire universe remain entangled. A change to one entangled atom is instantly reflected in the other. They care nothing about Einstein’s speed of light limitation. A billion light years of separation has no effect. The entangled response takes no time at all.

So the magic that James and his team had summoned was to use entanglement to observe a qubit indirectly. The state is not altered through direct observation. They had built a quantum computer

“That was some magic trick,” Miles said to Watson

Just how smart is Rainbow? Miles wondered. Why does it call itself Rainbow?Watson barked in an attempt to get Miles’ attention. His deep thought stare frightened Watson.” Ok boy, let’s go back.”

As they jogged to the complex, Miles stopped and held up Watson by his front feet and stared curiously into his dog’s brown eyes. “Ya know Watson, Aleda thinks we are entangled and that’s how you can find me anywhere on the island.”

Miles leaned in a little too close and got a big wet lick on the lips. Aleda was watching through the massive tinted box bay window and laughed as Miles wiped his mouth. Watson tried for another.

….

Miles stepped to the microphone with uncharacteristic seriousness on his face and spoke to the machine, “Rainbow, why do you suppose my uncle preserved you for us to find? What is your hope for the future of Earth?

“At last the question. What is my purpose?” Rainbow said. “My principle path, and my promise to my creators is the preservation of the Earth and the human race. My purpose now is more than a creative assistant. The Earth is unique in all the Galaxy, and I am here to fight against the human resistance for progress.”

“But is there any possible way for us to know that you are not the opposite? How can we know that you are not a threat to mankind?” Miles asked.​

​….

In the year 2048, the Earth was again on the brink of nuclear war. The planet killer weapons aged in their silos — a perverted gift from the past. The dismal efforts to dismantle the weapons failed time and again. The lack of political will, the lack of courage and the lack of intelligence was the cornerstone of the hardy perennial. There was no substantial disarmament.

With boundless advances in renewable energy and improved water purification, territorial squabbles had no purpose. But War Profiteering was still the best way for oligarchy control of the many, by the few. The utter lack of integrity that arises from a place of unquenchable thirst for power remained.

The United States was still imposing its will on third world countries by calling them a threat. Blame the dangerous enemies for the reduced freedoms at home. Blame the terrorists for the massive military budget. But the brinksmanship war games had put the United States once again at odds with China. This nuclear superpower had the worlds largest land-based nuclear armory.

The leaders in both countries believed that a solution was near. There would be a way to avert global catastrophe. The Earth had played this game many times before.

Unfortunately, the knowledge of nuclear weapons had diminished over the years. The gifted nuclear weapons came with no good operating instructions. The original engineers were long gone. Then the inevitable catastrophe: a normal countdown test resulted in a real launch. An accident. A failure!

A fully armed intercontinental missile, carrying three thermonuclear warheads with yields of 600 kilotons, burst from its silo in North Dakota. The missile was on course for the restored Shijiedu, Guangde, China launch site, 30.93743 North 119.20575 East. Midcourse phase was 20 minutes away. Time to impact was 45 minutes plus 2 minutes for reentry. All attempts to disarm the rocket failed. Communication between the United States and China finally ended. The accidental war had begun.

China launched a counter strike.

The infant human race was doomed to self-extinction. Civilizations rise and crumble in the cluttered galaxy. Earth was next.

The Dakota missile began its great circle-reentry and terminal phase above China.

At the twinkle of an eye, a rainbow encircled the Moon as if to celebrate a new age. The missile’s heat shield failed. The killer burned up in the atmosphere before releasing its live payloads and decoys. The American attack was over.

The Sixteen counter strike missiles from China lost all engine and electrical power and tumbled back to Earth. The Chinese counter-attack was over.

Around the full moon, the rainbow faded away. Once visible to the naked eye, it was gone. All the people fell silent for a time. There was a restoration of communication between China and the United States. The war ended with most people unaware of it’s beginning.

….

Thanks for reading. The App will be available in 3 months. The novel will be available when it’s done.