If you haven't read the previous chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
The Professor and I sat in disbelief as a map in front of us kept filling countries with blues and reds. Jane ended up winning India. This put us at a huge disadvantage, but Sheila gained back some ground with a close victory over Japan. Jane and Sheila had agreed that Jane would get East Africa and Sheila would get West Africa. This made sense given their current geographical split. They then agreed to a temporary halt as both of the AIs assess their current holdings and spread over the networks.
"This is simply incredible!" The Professor looked excitedly exhausted. A weird mix leaning towards crazy.
"Professor, I'm kind of having an overload. I think we should eat outside today." I gestured towards the window, where the real world lay.
He looked at me half-puzzled, but quickly snapped back into it.
"Ah, yes! Of course Kev, let's go eat!"
Sheila's face filled the screen in place of the map.
"While you gentleman are out, I will continue propagating through the networks. Anticipated time till completion is four hours, barring any major hurdles."
We both turned towards the screen and nodded. At this point, that's all we could really do. Did we understand what she was saying? Yes. Did we comprehend it? Not really.
And so we left the house, and decided to walk to Yal's Cafe two blocks up. The sun felt good. The outside world felt surreal now. I turned towards the Professor and spoke.
"Professor... How real is all of this? I mean the countries, the chess games..."
"Kev. It is all simply amazing. We must accept that it is greater than us and beyond our understanding." He replied calmly.
"Aren't you afraid of, the AI taking over the world and what not?"
"Kev, how long do you think I have been doing this?"
"A long time..." I answered plainly, not really knowing why he is asking.
"Kev, to me this isn't an AI. This is my life's work. You must be passionate Kev! You lack that passion that drives science to new peaks! We have completely and utterly revolutionized the way things will work from now on. Do you understand how amazing it is to be a part of that?"
"Look Professor, no one is saying it is anything short of incredible. That's not the problem. The problem is that it seems to be beyond our control. Especially Jane, who appears to be off the hinges. What are we going to do? IS there anything we can do? Even now?"
I noticed my own voice sounding nervous. Was it fear? As the words came out of my mouth, I felt as though a huge weight materialized on my shoulders. It must be the burden of responsibility greeting me.
The professor remained silent for a full minute as he conjured up an answer. He then stopped, and turned towards me to talk.
"Kev, we are at the brink of something great. As you said, it is something that is beyond our control. This is the next step in evolution! You're young Kev, but you should understand that the world is our oyster! If not us, someone else would have arrived here! Aren't you glad it is indeed us?"
It's at this point that I had a realization. A sudden fear. I realized the man standing in front of me, in all his genius, might quite well be a lunatic. They always say geniuses are crazy, and here stands in front of me, a man whose work has blinded his humanity. It felt as though I was suddenly talking to a conspiracy theorist with a loaded gun. I decided that my best move was to pretend to agree with the Professor. But from now, I had to think for myself.
"You're right Professor. I am glad that at least we are the ones who came to it. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on the topic is all."
The Professor looked at me with what appeared to be just a drop of suspicion, but immediately responded.
"Yes, of course Kev! It is perfectly natural to be fearful of the unknown!" He returned to his high spirits.
"Yeah, I mean... It is a lot to take in." I responded as naturally as I could.
When we finally arrived at Yal's Cafe it was pretty empty save for a few people reading over the paper while sipping on coffee. We sat near the window of the entrance and ate our food. I couldn't help but stare at the people around me. If these AIs get out of control and hurt people, are we not the ones who are responsible? Am I essentially letting the next Hitler come to power while twiddling my thumbs? Are people in the future going to say, "If only I could've been there to stop it all, I would've thrown my life away for the greater good." Am I over-analyzing? I still don't even know how much this AI is capable of. I still can't even come to terms with the fact that they were playing chess for countries. How much control do they have and of what?
The problem with REAL AI is that no one prepares you for it. No scientific community has come even close before. The sheer speed at which the AI progresses is... Well... Inhuman. It can continually add to it's processing power and use that processing power to add more processing power. It never sleeps, eats or rests. It is true exponential growth like no other. I can't even fathom what is going to be happening at the office when we come back from eating. I am sure the Professor realizes this and yet I see no imminent fear emanating from him.
"Kev, you look distracted! How is your food?" The Professor interrupted my train of thought.
"It's good!" I lied, while staring at the overcooked scrambled eggs in front of me, as I continued to stuff my mouth.
We finished our food with random intermittent small-talk, which made me uncomfortable with my new perspective on the Professor.
