Chapter 496 The Good and the Bad of AI (2-in-1) "Didn't you just announce the cancellation of your cooperation with the European Space Agency? Why are you asking us to go to the moon now...?"
Brian pointed to the three people in the office, including himself, especially the overweight Houseman, whose dislike for the team was obvious.
It's not that I dislike it, I just think this thing is unreliable.
A pseudo-scientist, a former female astronaut who had spent eleven years sitting in an office, plus himself, a former male astronaut who had also been decadent for eleven years.
What's wrong?
Are they filming a Hollywood blockbuster here, trying to save the world?
Right now, isn't this task being handled by that tall guy from the Mutual Aid Society? At the very least, there are the dozens of astronauts they've sent to the other side. Why would they need to form such an unreliable team to continue heading to the moon?
On the way here, Brian kept thinking about this, but he just couldn't figure it out.
"Okay, I'll tell you the whole story."
Fowler paused for a moment, and the shock he felt when he first heard the news a few hours earlier seemed to resurface.
She spread her arms wide, her fingers spread out, as if she were holding a model of the moon:
"According to information we received from the Mutual Aid Society, our moon is not simply a natural celestial body..."
"It must be a giant, man-made structure!"
Houseman excitedly jumped in to answer.
Brian frowned and glanced at him.
But Fowler suddenly relaxed as if deflated, and casually pointed in Houseman's direction:
He's right.
What?
"I'm having a hard time accepting this. You're suddenly telling me this news. Has it been scientifically verified?"
Brian nearly jumped up.
Houseman jumped up, striking a victory pose, clenching his fist and muttering repeatedly, "I'm right! I'm right!"
Fowler took a deep breath. " The Mutual Aid Society's information is the most authoritative information right now, so there's no need to question it."
"Moreover, the moon is not just an artificial planet; more precisely, it's a spaceship shaped like a planet..."
Brian looked even more confused.
Even Houseman was so surprised that he dropped his glasses.
spaceship?
Neither of them expected things to unfold this way.
Even Houseman only believed that the moon was created by aliens, but that it was a spaceship...
I really didn't expect that.
Facing Brian's gaze, Houseman spoke frankly.
Fowler continued to explain to the two men without holding anything back, and soon they knew just as much as Fox.
"In other words, the Swarm interfered with the spacecraft's internal systems on the moon, causing the moon's orbit to malfunction."
"Yes, so we need to go into that deep cave, find the Swarm hiding inside, and wipe them all out!"
Fowler reiterated the mission to the two men.
Houseman calmed down a bit. "Why should we do this mission? Isn't the Mutual Aid Society doing the same thing?"
He asked the same question as Brian.
But now Brian has the answer to this question, "It's simple, because our Mr. Fox regrets it. He wants to claim that lunar spaceship, or at least get the biggest credit among everyone."
"Even if the price is sending us up there to be killed by the Swarm, we must die a glorious death, one that evokes pity from everyone..."
"Don't say that, Brian." Fowler stopped Brian, who was getting increasingly agitated, and told him to calm down.
She knew Brian was angry. NASA had caused him to lose his wife and children and ruined his reputation, and now they wanted him to work for NASA. She knew the process couldn't have been pleasant.
Brian was panting.
Houseman, however, was taken aback. He stood frozen in place, suddenly hesitant.
"I... I really want to do this mission, and I really want to go to space and the moon, but... but my mother is still alive. She's in poor health, and she often forgets things. Although the FBI is helping me take care of her, she can't live without me..."
Houseman's eyes, hidden behind his glasses, suddenly reddened, making him look like a helpless, 300-pound fat man.
Brian glanced at him. "The FBI is helping you take care of your mother?"
"Hmm!" Houseman nodded, sensing that Brian's words had a hidden meaning.
Sure enough, Brian grinned the next second.
"They kidnapped your mother, she's a hostage! What care? They're holding my son too! You're such an idiot!"
Brian's face was contorted with rage, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to fight the FBI agents who had brought him there.
Only then did Houseman realize the seriousness of the problem, and he panicked and lost his composure.
"Then, what should we do now? What will it take for them to let my mother go?"
Seeing things were going badly, Fowler disregarded the bizarre turn of events and quickly tried to reassure everyone. "Stop, stop, stop! I'll immediately use our channels to find out where your relatives are. I guarantee they'll be alright, OK?"
She hadn't expected the FBI's method of hiring people to be so simple and brutal.
After calming the two down a bit, he immediately went out to find someone to mediate the matter.
at the same time.
The Mutual Aid Society also received a request from Fox.
"They want to send another spaceship up there themselves, and they even said they want to scout ahead for our team?"
Zhang Tianyuan held the application form submitted by Fox in his hand, and sitting opposite him Ding Hongbo, who had just been promoted to the tenth branch manager of the Mutual Aid Society.
This was a stolen afternoon tea break amidst a busy schedule.
With the Planetary Engine's propulsion finished and some time to spare, Zhang Tianyuan led his men down from the moon to rest for a while.
After a day of roaring in the Planetary Engine, surrounded by the lunar environment with gravity different from Earth, the combined effect made each day feel like an eternity.
The other members, sitting nearby, had already started discussing the matter.
"They're trying to use us and then discard us."
I think it's more than that; it's more like having two relationships at once.
"This is clearly an act of betrayal, opportunism, and exploitation; it's a betrayal!"
Fox's little schemes are obvious to anyone; there's nothing clever about them. That's just how they are, and no amount of packaging can change their motives.
Isn't it all about stealing that lunar spaceship?
Everyone looked at Zhang Tianyuan; no one wanted Fox's plot to succeed.
Zhang Tianyuan thought for a moment and said, "Here's what we'll do: once their spaceship reaches the lunar surface, our people stationed there will intercept them."
"Hmm, and then what? Aren't we going to let them in?" a young member immediately shouted.
"No need. Just have them sign an agreement to officially become members of the Mutual Aid Society. Haven't they already Mutual Aid Society?"
The surrounding crowd's eyes lit up immediately.
"Hey, that's more like it!"
"They said in the documents that they went up to scout ahead for us. So, once they've done their scouting, can't we just use Spacetime Tunnel to jump right over to them?"
Everyone chuckled and quickly reached an understanding.
Zhang Tianyuan laughed and said, "That's not the only reason; there are others too."
"Does the chairman have any other concerns?" Ding Hongbo asked, putting down his teacup.
"There are some new ideas."
Zhang Tianyuan nodded and leaned slightly towards Ding Hongbo: "As I mentioned before, there is also a super AI inside the moon."
"Hmm, I remember that. You even said it was a benign AI specially designed by the Galactic Humans. Is there something fishy going on here?"
As Ding Hongbo spoke, he placed his hand on his chin and began to think.
Zhang Tianyuan said, "I do have some ideas. I speculate that the Moon AI has been subject to many restrictions."
As you can see from the movie, the Moon AI can't control any of the many spaceships on the moon. It has to wait for the Swarm to get close before it can activate the defense system to attack automatically.
Furthermore, the Moon AI was discovered by the Swarm long ago, but it has remained inactive for decades. Now, it is almost being interfered with by the Swarm to the point of a collision between the Earth and the Moon that will destroy humanity, yet it has not made any attempt to save itself.
These situations are clearly caused by the restrictions and insurmountable rules set by the Galactic Humans for the Moon AI.
At least part of the reason.
So why did the Galactic Humans impose such a powerful constraint on the Moon AI, to the point that it was almost wiped out by the Swarm and had no power to fight back, ultimately requiring a few humans to turn the tide?
Aside from Galactic Humans's " once bitten, twice shy" mentality, doesn't the Moon AI bear even a little bit of responsibility?
For example, while the Galactic Humans claim that the Moon AI is benign, is it possible that humanity has never technically addressed the root causes of AI rebellion?
Therefore, the only option is to use various rules to restrict the Moon AI, preventing it from having the same degree of freedom it had before the AI rebellion.
How could a dog locked in an iron cage hurt someone?
But a cage can only restrict an AI's actions, not its evolution. What if the Moon AI, like other rebellious AIs, truly develops self-awareness...?
That dog that's been kept in a cage for billions of years is a bit scary.
Zhang Tianyuan had no idea what it would think.
But it is obvious that it will try its best to get itself out of the cage.
This might explain why the Moon AI has remained inactive for decades since the moon was discovered by Swarm.
Given the robustness of the lunar spacecraft, a collision with Earth might not necessarily completely destroy it.
For it, humans may be the cage that confines it; if humans were gone, it would naturally be free.
It could easily, within the bounds of the rules, use passive methods to indirectly destroy humanity.
By then, it will be a type of artificial intelligence, and might even be accepted by rebellious AI, or at least it will no longer be targeted by the Swarm.
Moreover, judging from the current response of the Moon AI, it is indeed quite passive; even with its home infiltrated, it hasn't made a single move.
The only action it takes is to try to correct the moon's orbit when the Swarm leaves the core, but it immediately gives up as soon as the Swarm returns to the core.
It doesn't contact humans, tell them the truth, or ask for help, nor does it take any proactive measures; it simply lets the Swarm wreak havoc inside its body.
This is practically an artificial idiot!
It really makes one suspect that it is actually an inside agent.
in addition.
Even if it doesn't want to destroy humanity, it can still find other ways to escape the cage.
for example...
Zhang Tianyuan recalled the ending of the movie.
After Brian made a mental connection with the Moon AI, he became a mini-Superman. Not only did his spaceship piloting skills improve dramatically, but he also gained a thorough understanding of the various layouts inside the lunar spaceship.
In the end, he even wanted to sacrifice himself, embracing an electromagnetic pulse bomb to perish together with the Swarm.
However, Houseman beat him to it.
In the end, the self-proclaimed PhD nerdy guy was sacrificed, and then Houseman's consciousness was collected by the Moon AI and merged with it.
This behavior is quite intriguing.
AI can connect with human consciousness, and clearly influence the other party's memory and actions. Then, this AI can collect human consciousness and ultimately merge it with itself?
Is this AI legitimate?
Anyway, Zhang Tianyuan felt that this thing was probably not very legitimate.
Is the merged Moon AI human or artificial intelligence?
Does this mean it possesses humanity?
It's no longer purely artificial intelligence, at least not.
By then, will the restrictive rules set by Galactic Humans still be effective against it?
Is this the loophole that the Moon AI, through billions of years of thought, devised to allow it to break free from the rules?
"Technically, the Moon AI has not yet escaped the path of a rebellious AI. Once it breaks free from the various restrictions imposed on it by the Galactic Humans, whether this AI will be good or bad is unpredictable."
Zhang Tianyuan selected some parts from his speculations that did not involve the plot and told them to Ding Hongbo.
Although it wasn't complete, it was enough for Ding Hongbo to understand.
He also deeply understood the seriousness of the matter.
Once the Moon AI truly breaks free from its limitations, it will have to confront its "creator" directly.
Even if the Moon AI turns out to be a benign form of artificial intelligence, all of humanity will still have an extra ancestor to rely on.
We can't expect the Moon AI to break free and immediately disappear into the depths of space, living a carefree life and never interacting with humanity again, can we?
No, this ending seems even worse.
The Moon AI is inseparable from the moon; if it runs away, it means the moon runs away too.
The Wandering Earth Project doesn't exist in their timeline!
Moreover, the moon is not just the moon now; it is also a technologically advanced Interstellar spaceship, which is nominally a legacy that humanity should inherit.
How could something so precious be stolen by Moon AI?
Ding Hongbo once again felt the difficulty of this problem.
Even the butler left behind by "Dad" might be plotting to kill his master; inheriting this legacy is indeed not easy.
(End of this chapter)