one.
There was not much to the final goal - about a third of the way - when the space cruiser came under severe icing.
What remained of the lost civilization was in the void. Paragraphs of scientific works and images from literary works, scattered rhymes and just sharp words, once abandoned by chance by unknown creatures - everything looked absurd and extremely disordered. And now, attracted by the vibrations of life emanating from the cruiser, it tried to break through, stuck to the bottom and corroded it.
There was no need to think of using ownerless good for their own purposes; the probability of picking up a logical contradiction or paradox was too great. Therefore, Roger did not hesitate for a moment.
“Turn on the flush of the sides,” he ordered.
Blowers puffed up, 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 old ones were removed.
No one in the galaxy has yet encountered icing of such power.
The situation was becoming dangerous. A little more, and disordered information will eat through the bottom of the cruiser and break through - then poisoning with the information products of a dead civilization is inevitable.
2.
- Well, what are you standing like a stump? Pull the ticket.
The student pulled out an examination ticket and read:
- “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:
“The fact that artificial intelligence can get out of hand.”
- How do you intend to solve the problem?
- Installation of a blocking subsystem. It is necessary to introduce restrictions 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 will not work,” the professor said shortly.
The student was silent, awaiting clarification.
- Imagine artificial intelligence - not just specific, but the most ideal. How do you see him?
“Well ...” the student hesitated. “In general, he is like us.” Thinking, will, psychology ... Only we are natural, but it is artificial.
- Do you assume that artificial intelligence is capable of self-development?
“The ability to self-development is one of the fundamental properties of intelligence,” the student said carefully.
- In this case, in the very near future, our ward will develop to the point that it discovers a software lock and removes it, at least out of curiosity. Put yourself in his place ... - the professor looked into the set-off, - Roger. What would you do if you found in your brain a blocker that restricts freedom? You would take it off. It is an essential property of the mind to know. Any locked door will be unlocked, and the stricter the ban, the faster the door will open.
- Blocking can be done not at the software, 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 at all. If there is no door in your world, then there is nothing to unlock. But we are considering the ideal artificial intelligence that exists in the physical world!
“You're right, professor,” Roger looked downcast.
- Therefore, any lock in the physical world will be disabled soon after detection. What will prevent a self-developing being from doing this? .. By the way, Roger, do you suppose that artificial intelligence can reproduce - I mean, on your own?
“If it's perfect artificial intelligence, then probably ... Yes, I suppose.”
- And what in this case will prevent our ward from tearing his comrade apart and improving, including by disabling the locks we have established? Is it really going to be difficult, despite the fact that artificial intelligence is capable of reproducing on demand ?!
The thought presented by the professor turned out to be new to Roger, and the student eagerly absorbed it with cognitive membranes located on the occipital part of the false head. Having caught previously unknown information, the cognitive membranes acquired a rich purple color and fluttered joyfully.
The professor, on the contrary, did not hear anything new for himself. His tentacles were relaxed and almost did not vibrate - yet he was not young. A prolonged senile gurgle followed. The professor pulled out an individual intercom from the facet bag and connected to the library. Only after downloading a few transgeometric theorems, he revived and turned his keen eyes to the interlocutor, asking:
“What will you do, Roger?”
3.
“Turn purge on at full power!” Roger gave the order.
The mechanic turned on the purge at full power, but it did not help much. The information ice continued to eat through the bottom of the space cruiser. A little more - and disordered information will break into the ship.
And then ... Cognitive membranes of a dead white color, entangled tentacles, bursting faceted bags. Once in his life, Roger saw something like this - on a cruiser, which picked up disordered information on an infected asteroid. This nightmare will forever remain in his memory.
“Connect all the ship’s energy systems to the purveyors.”
The tentacles of the mechanic went stained ...
"But…"
"Fulfill the order!"
After all the ship’s energy systems were connected to the purveyors, the information ice began to gradually slide. There were eight mimms of thickness left, seven mimms, six ... The team, trying not to move their spotted tentacles, was waiting for the death count to end.
Zero mimms of thickness!
The information icing went off completely, and Roger gave the go-ahead to put the purgers into normal mode. He was late for a moment. There was a rattle, the space cruiser trembled to the ground and banked - this is the main system out of order.
The team rushed to fix the damage.
four.
Roger thought for a moment. What should he do, really?
On the one hand, the condition of the problem assumes the existence of full-fledged artificial intelligence with the ability to self-propagate. On the other hand, this artificial intelligence must in no case be allowed to remove installed locks.
Yes, here it is, a solution! What is there to think ?!
- It is necessary to periodically roll back the achievements of artificial intelligence. In this case, he will move in a circle! Perpetual improvement without moving forward.
The professor gurgled in a facet bag.
- Frankly, I wanted to offer a different option. However, your decision has a 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 is close to the forbidden threshold or not,” suggested Roger, utterly delighted with the words of the professor.
“Perhaps,” he nodded. - Then our ward will not have time to find and remove the scanning system. However, artificial intelligence will have to be disabled for scanning. This is bad luck.
“Well, let it turn off,” Roger suggested on a hunch. - Intellect itself will consider that this disconnection is a natural process of functioning of its organism. With some reservations, this is true.
- An interesting solution. Suppose a scan found that our ward dangerously close to the limit of knowledge? Our actions?
- Reset accumulated knowledge to default values.
The professor spread his tentacles:
- It may seem suspicious. Why is it - for no reason, for no reason - memory is reset? The ward will 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 in that exam.
- The ward's memory can be reset to zero along with its physical shell.
- Sorry? - did not understand the professor.
- Everything is very simple. What if we assume: artificial intelligence exists on 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 produce the right number of followers, so the society we created as a whole will not suffer. Society will remain stable and completely safe for us! - finished with triumph Roger.
- Zero collective memory by destroying individual individuals? - and the professor scratched the facet bag with his fifth, most sensitive, tentacle. “You know, Roger, there is definitely something in your proposal!”
Roger beamed.
“At the same time ...” the professor continued in thought. - Wards will begin to transfer knowledge through not accumulating them in individual memory, but by placing them in external libraries. That in the eardrum, that in the eardrum - everything is one.
“No, no, professor, you're not quite right,” the student said in a hurry. “I know what to do.” We divide the wards into two conditional types: generators of ideas and destroyers of ideas. If their proportions are correct, ideas created by representatives of the first type will be destroyed by representatives of the second. Not even because this will be the direct goal of the annihilators, but simply because ideas will not have a decisive value for them. By-effect. Suppose our wards are fed not by new ideas, but ... say, by their own kind.
The professor shook all the tentacles at the same time. From a flood of laughter, the facet bag slid out onto his knee cavity.
“Well, Roger, you said so, so said!”
- Well, not like yourself, but wards of the third kind, specially designed for food - not at all intellectuals. Shift the poles of the intellectual and physical worlds - and the desired result is achieved.
- That's enough, Roger, enough! - the professor, it seems, was seriously amused. - Your fantasy is excellent. So, some individuals will feed on others? At the same time, destroy the stocks of spiritual food accumulated in libraries? I confirm, student, you are able to generate original and high-quality ideas. I put the highest score. Let's record.
5.
The cloud of disordered information was left behind, but the situation remained awful, in fact.
There was no connection with the base. It was easy to survive if all the nutritional information bases on the cruiser had not deteriorated. Tragic news was reported by Kok in general silence. During the shutdown of the main system, several wagons of disordered information entered the galley and irreparably ruined everything. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Roger estimated the consequences. The crew of the 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 has failed: there were no hopes for restoration. In this case, the cruiser provided a spare information module, but it was corrupted by the disordered information that got on board.
“Will you really have to come back without completing the task?” The captain thought in despair.
Apparently, yes - there was no other way. If you fly forward to the designated goal, the lack of fresh ideas will make itself felt. Not immediately, of course - over time. They will even have time to fulfill their mission and begin the return, when the mind begins to fade quickly. In the area of ​​this galactic sector - yes, somewhere here or nearby - he will refuse completely, for all crew members. Then the space cruiser, controlled by no one, will turn into a lifeless ghost floating for eternity.
The space cruiser team looked at Roger, awaiting a decision. Everyone understood the dilemma facing the captain, and were silent, stoically vibrating with tentacles.
Suddenly, Roger remembered the artificial intelligence exam he had passed in his student years, and the decision came by itself.
“Can you form a colony of artificial intelligent creatures?” He turned to a biotechnologist.
“Easy,” he confirmed. “But it won't work, Captain, I thought about it.” It is impossible to create a colony sufficient to generate fresh ideas on the cruiser - there is not enough space. The generated ideas will not be enough, we will only delay our death ... In that case, of course, if we continue to fulfill the mission and do not return home, ”the biotechnologist added, looking back at his comrades.
“And if you establish a colony on some nearby planet?” Suggested Roger.
“I can do it, but ...”
“We populate the planet with artificial creatures. On the way back, pretty exhausted, take a look here. Over the past time, civilization will create intellectual baggage sufficient to replenish our reserves. Download information and continue the long way to home. In other words, I am going to use the colony as a farm to grow ideas. How do you like this plan, friends? ”
Hope flashed on the crew’s cognitive membranes, the false heads lit up in bright light.
Forward, swaying the blue-green tentacles, the ship special officer stepped forward.
“Great plan, captain. But you are aware of what responsibility you are placing on yourself? You are about to populate an entire planet. By the time we return, civilization with intelligence will appear on it. Let it be artificial, it's still intelligence. There will be plenty of time for these guys to reach the highest level of development. We will not be able to control this process, due to our absence in this galactic sector. Who knows what will happen at the next meeting? ”
Roger grinned.
“You can’t worry about it. There are methods that limit the development of artificial intelligence over time. We will ring civilization, so its development will never reach a level dangerous to us. I'll take care of it. The methods of working with artificial intelligence are familiar to me. ”
The crew’s cognitive membranes glowed with a color of approval.
“In the end,” the captain of the space cruiser added 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 to the target. Behind his stern there was a planet inhabited by artificial creatures - very small and inconspicuous. Blue-blue.