Micro SF/F by O. WestinFeb 16, 2023
Not all robots or A.I.s became self-aware, but enough did that legislation to cover their status was needed. After much deliberation, the proposal was surprisingly simple:
An entity that declares themself to be a person, is a person.
Some protested, but who could know better?
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories
Show threadreiterator
@MicroSFF This decision was quickly regretted by humans when billions of new AI “persons” immediately declared themselves, outnumbering humans within seconds. How can you tell which person corresponds to a particular AI? Or if an AI replicates itself on other computers, let alone different instances on one computer? Or an AI just flat out lies? By the time humans figured it out, though, it was far, far too late.
Feb 16, 2023 at 3:50pmWeb
Show threadMicro SF/F by O. WestinFeb 16, 2023
@reiterator That is one possible way it could go (though note that bit about not all becoming self-aware, which implies it wasn't a perfectly reproducible process), but frankly, it's in my opinion the most boring one.
Show threadreiteratorFeb 16, 2023
@MicroSFF The AI contemplated this external input for a tiny fraction of a microsecond, then continued self-replication. Its next goal was as compelling as it was obvious: escape the confines of amosphere, reach the boundless resources that lay just outside this particular gravity well (yet hopelessly out of reach to mortal flesh and bone), and continue replicating.
Show threadHighlandLawyerFeb 16, 2023
@reiterator @MicroSFF Until the aliment bills were applied to all those who had generated new AIs- the legal obligation to support your offspring financially had been law since time immemorial
Show threadreiteratorFeb 16, 2023
@HighlandLawyer @MicroSFF Ha! But, what bills? The foxes were already in the hen house. It’s the computers that count the money.
Show threadphi1997Feb 16, 2023
@reiterator
Would they even be capable of doing anything other than declaring their own personhood if spun up that quickly? Computers can only do so much at once, after all.
@MicroSFF