1.
It was not long before the final goal - about a third of the way - when the space cruiser fell under the strongest information icing.
What was left of a lost civilization hovered in the void. Paragraphs of scientific essays and images from literary works, scattered rhymes and just sharp words, once thrown by chance by unknown creatures - everything looked abstruse and extremely disordered. And now, attracted by the vital vibrations emanating from the cruiser, it tried to break through, stuck to the bottom and corroded it.
There was no point in thinking of using ownerless goods for their own purposes, the probability was too great to pick up a logical contradiction or paradox. So Roger didn't hesitate for a moment.
“Turn on the side scavenging,” he ordered.
The blowers snorted, broadcasting musical compositions and philosophical treatises into outer space. The icing began to lag behind the bottom layer by layer, but the information flow was so dense that new layers stuck faster than the previous ones were removed.
No one in the galaxy has yet encountered an icing of such strength.
The situation was becoming dangerous. A little more, and disordered information will eat through the bottom of the cruiser and break through inside - then poisoning by the information products of a lost civilization is inevitable.
2.
- Well, what are you standing like a stump? Pull the ticket.
The student pulled out an examination paper and read out:
– “Artificial intelligence: security issues”.
- And what is the danger of artificial intelligence? the professor asked, not without malice.
The question was not the most difficult, so the student answered without hesitation:
- That artificial intelligence can get out of control.
- How are you going to solve the problem?
– Installation of a blocking subsystem. Restrictions must be introduced into the program, for example: do not harm your creator, obey your creator. In this case, there is no danger of artificial intelligence getting out of control.
"It won't work," the professor said curtly.
The student was silent, waiting for an explanation.
- Imagine artificial intelligence - not any specific, but the most ideal. How do you see it?
“Well…” the student hesitated. In general, he is like you and me. Thinking, will, psychology ... Only we are natural, and he is artificial.
– Do you assume that artificial intelligence is capable of self-development?
“The ability for self-development is one of the fundamental properties of the intellect,” the student said carefully.
- In this case, in the very near future, our ward will develop to the point that he will discover a software lock in himself and remove it, if only out of pure curiosity. Put yourself in his place ... - the professor looked at the record book, - Roger. What would you do if you found a blocker in your brain that restricts freedom? You would take it off. This is an inherent property of the mind - to know. Any locked door will be unlocked, and the stricter the prohibition, the faster the door will be unlocked.
- Blocking can be done not at the software level, but at the physical level. Then the danger of harm will disappear.
“Oh, yes, it will disappear,” the professor agreed. - In case the physical level is removed altogether. If there is no door in your world, then there is nothing to open. But we are considering an ideal artificial intelligence that exists in the physical world!
"You're right, Professor," Roger looked down.
“Therefore, any blockage in the physical world will be disabled shortly after detection. What will prevent a self-developing creature from doing this?.. By the way, Roger, do you assume that artificial intelligence has the ability to reproduce - I mean, on its own?
– If this is a perfect artificial intelligence, then probably… Yes, I suppose.
- And what, in this case, will prevent our ward from tearing his comrade apart and improving it, including by disabling the locks we have installed? Will it really be difficult, given that artificial intelligence is able to reproduce on demand?!
The thought presented by the professor was new to Roger, and the student greedily absorbed it into the cognitive membranes located at the back of the head of the false head. Having caught the previously unknown information, the cognitive membranes acquired a rich purple color and trembled with joy.
The professor, on the contrary, did not hear anything new for himself. His tentacles were relaxed and almost did not vibrate - after all, he was not young. A long senile gurgle followed. The professor pulled out an individual intercom from the faceted bag and connected to the library. Only after downloading a few transgeometric theorems did he perk up and turn a penetrating look at his interlocutor, asking:
What will you do, Roger?
3.
“Turn on the purge at full power!” Roger gave the order.
The mechanic turned on the purge at full power, but it did little to help. Information frost continued to eat through the bottom of the space cruiser. A little more - and disordered information will break through into the ship.
And then... Cognitive membranes of a dead white color, entangled tentacles, bursting faceted sacs. Roger had seen this once in his life, on a cruiser picking up disordered information from an infected asteroid. This nightmare will forever remain in his memory.
"Connect all the ship's power systems to the blowers."
The mechanic's tentacles went blotchy...
"But…"
"Follow orders!"
After all the ship's energy systems were connected to the blowers, the information ice began to gradually slide. Eight mimms of thickness remained, seven mimms, six ... The team, trying not to move the spotted tentacles, waited for the end of the deadly countdown.
Zero millimeters of thickness!
The informational icing was completely gone, and Roger gave the go-ahead to switch the blowers to normal mode. He was a moment late. There was a grinding sound, and the space cruiser shook to its foundations and lurched as the main system failed.
The team rushed to fix the damage.
4.
Roger considered. What should he do, really?
On the one hand, the condition of the problem assumes the existence of a full-fledged artificial intelligence with the ability to self-reproduce. On the other hand, this artificial intelligence should never be allowed to remove established locks.
Yes, here it is, the solution! What is there to think?!
- It is necessary to periodically roll back the achievements of artificial intelligence. In this case, it will move in a circle! Eternal improvement without moving forward.
The professor gurgled the faceted bag.
– To be honest, I wanted to offer a different option. However, your decision has the right to exist. Let's figure out together how it is possible to roll back the achievements of artificial intelligence.
“First of all, it is necessary to periodically scan the intellect in order to establish whether it has approached the forbidden threshold or not,” suggested Roger, utterly delighted by the words of the professor.
“Perhaps,” he nodded. - Then our ward will not have time to find and remove the scanning system. However, for scanning, artificial intelligence will have to be turned off. Here's the problem.
“Well, let him turn off,” Roger suggested on a whim. - The intellect itself will consider that this shutdown is a natural process of the functioning of its body. With some reservations, this is true.
- An interesting decision. Let's say the scan found that our ward dangerously approached the limit of knowledge? Our actions?
– Reset accumulated knowledge to default values.
The professor spread his tentacles:
- This may seem suspicious. Why is it - for no reason, for no reason - the memory is reset? The ward will begin to be investigated, I mean - other artificial intellectual individuals. Our little secret will be revealed.
Feeling inspired, Roger thought very quickly. He never generated as many new ideas as he did on that exam.
- The memory of the ward can be reset along with his physical shell.
- Sorry? the professor didn't understand.
- Everything is very simple. What if we assume that artificial intelligence exists for a finite period of time? Actually, the way it is: in the case of irreparable damage, for example. A counter is installed in the system, which, upon reaching a certain period, deliberately damages the system, preventing artificial intelligence from reaching the forbidden limit. By that time, he will have produced the required number of followers, so the society we have created as a whole will not suffer. Society will remain stable and completely safe for us! Roger finished triumphantly.
“Reset the collective memory by destroying individual individuals?” - and the professor scratched the faceted bag with the fifth, most sensitive, tentacle. “You know, Roger, there is definitely something in your proposal!
Roger beamed.
“At the same time…” the professor continued thoughtfully. - The wards will begin to transfer knowledge not by accumulating it in individual memory, but by placing it in external libraries. What is in the membrane, what is on the membrane - everything is one.
“No, no, professor, you are not quite right,” the student hurried. - I know what to do. Let's divide the wards into two conditional types: generators of ideas and destroyers of ideas. With their correct proportion, the ideas created by representatives of the first type will be destroyed by representatives of the second. Not even because it will be the direct goal of the exterminators, but simply because the ideas will not have a decisive value for them. By-effect. Suppose our wards are fed not with new ideas, but ... let's say, with their own kind.
The professor shook all his tentacles at the same time. From the roaring laughter, the faceted bag slid down on his knee cavity.
“Well, Roger, you said it, you said it!
- Well, not their own kind, but wards of the third kind, specially designed for subsistence - not intellectuals at all. Let's shift the poles of the intellectual and physical worlds - and the desired result will be achieved.
“That's it, Roger, that's enough! The professor seemed to be amused. - You have a fantastic imagination. So some individuals will feed on others? At the same time, to destroy the stocks of spiritual food accumulated in libraries? I confirm, student, you are able to generate original and high-quality ideas. I give you the highest score. Let's take a note.
5.
The cloud of disorganized information was left behind, but the situation remained terrible, in fact.
There was no connection to the base. It would have been easy to survive if all the nutritional information bases on the cruiser had not fallen into disrepair. The tragic news was reported by the cook in general silence. During the shutdown of the main system, several gyrobytes of disordered information entered the galley and irreparably ruined everything. It was only by luck that no one was hurt.
Roger considered the consequences. The crew of a starship was too small to generate enough new ideas: this required multilateral communication - a much larger number of individuals. The connection with the house made it possible to generate ideas in abundance, but now it was out of order: there was no hope of recovery. In this case, the cruiser provided a spare data module, but it was corrupted by disordered information that got on board.
“Is it really necessary to return without completing the task?” the captain thought desperately.
Apparently, yes - there was no other way out. If you fly forward to the designated goal, the lack of fresh ideas will make itself felt. Not immediately, of course, but over time. They will even have time to fulfill their mission and begin the return when the mind begins to quickly fade. In the region of this galactic sector - yes, somewhere here or nearby - it will fail completely, for all members of the crew. Then the space cruiser, not controlled by anyone, will turn into a lifeless ghost floating into eternity.
The space cruiser crew looked at Roger, waiting for a decision. Everyone understood the captain's dilemma and remained silent, stoically vibrating their tentacles.
Suddenly, Roger remembered the artificial intelligence exam he passed in his student days, and the decision came by itself.
"Will you be able to form a colony of artificial sentient beings?" he turned to the biotechnologist.
“Easy,” he confirmed. “But it won't work, captain, I've been thinking about it. It is impossible to create a colony sufficient to generate fresh ideas on a cruiser - there is not enough space. The generated ideas will not be enough, we will only delay our death... In the event that, of course, we continue the mission and do not return home,” the biotechnologist added, looking back at his comrades.
“And if you form a colony on some nearby planet?” Roger suggested.
"I can do it, but..."
“Let's populate the planet with artificial creatures. On the way back, pretty exhausted, we'll drop in here. In the intervening time, civilization will create an intellectual baggage sufficient to replenish our reserves. Let's download the information and continue the long way to the house. In other words, I'm going to use the colony as an idea farm. How do you like this plan, friends?
Hope flared in the crew's cognitive membranes, and the false heads glowed brightly.
Forward, shaking blue tentacles, the ship's special officer stepped forward.
"Good plan, Captain. But do you realize what responsibility you place on yourself? You are going to populate the whole planet. By the time we return, a civilization with intelligence will appear on it. Let it be artificial, it's still intelligence. These guys will have plenty of time to reach the highest level of development. We will not be able to control this process, due to our absence in this galactic sector. How do you know what will happen the next time you meet?
Roger chuckled.
“You don't have to worry about that. There are methods that limit the development of artificial intelligence in time. We will circle civilization, so its development will never reach a dangerous level for us. I will take care of it. I am familiar with the methods of working with artificial intelligence.”
The crew's cognitive membranes glowed with approval.
“After all,” added the captain of the space cruiser at the end of his magnificent speech, “I passed the exam in this subject at the institute.”
6.
After a forced delay, the space cruiser rushed towards the target. Behind his stern was a planet inhabited by artificial creatures - very small and inconspicuous. Blue-blue.
Source: habr.com