Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 32

"Yes, uh," said Mathison, "I've left them in one of your cars?"

But this was customer service, and the automated operator wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"The car eye-dee?" he said. "I'm not too sure. It was earlier today if that helps?"

His mind wandered back to childhood, where he dreamt up a machine that could solve any problem he encountered. As it turned out, these always involved people. They were too unpredictable, and in his timidity he would end up giving in to their demands. Now, even interacting with a computer was like talking to a person. It was like some cruel joke perpetrated by society.

"Lost and found, please," he said, imagining the operator's algorithm as a flowchart.

It didn't help.

Instead, he tried to summon a modicum of his boss' brashness. "You need to find them. Now!"

A knock on the door made his heart race. He quickly hung up, apologising to the operator for his rudeness.

"What is it?" he said, red faced, as Diya entered his lab.

"You asked me to see you," she said, politely.

"Oh yes," he said, calming down. "Of course. How are the tests coming along?"

"Good," said Diya, with a smile. "I have sent you the results of the data sources that have been tested, this is correct?"

"Oh, uh, yes, probably," said Mathison, pushing his glasses up.

"Not one of the sources passed all the tests," said Diya. "Is this normal?"

"Yes, the requirements are rigorous. All we need is for one to succeed, then it can be copied for all production modules."

"Ah," said Diya. "Is it not interesting that we now have this ability? In the past if we needed a copy of a book we must write it out again on paper."

"Until the printing press," said Mathison. "What a great invention. Millions of copies, spreading information to the masses so that even the poor had the chance to learn. Oh, that reminds me." He shuffled over to a wall of cannisters. "Here," he said, handing one to Diya.

"I am not in need of food," she said.

"Oh," said Mathison, taking it back. "That's left-overs from last night's... It's not the right..." He swapped it over for a black cylinder with a small indented window. "Every source needs to be backed up into one of these."

Diya took hold of it, rotating the cannister in her hands. "What are they? Some type of new automation hardware?"

"Oh, no," he said. "Don't worry about the form factor. They're just fancy storage drives, really. Flash sells, I suppose."

"I see."

"And make sure the code name for each source is entered here," said Mathison, tapping on the window until it displayed the word here in green LED lights. "With the actual name, of course, not just a place holder. That's my little joke." He chortled.

Diya smiled politely. "This is for the one that passes the test?" she said.

"All of them. This is important. We need backups for-- Even the sources we don't need right now." He bit his lip.

"And we must not use the mist, or...?"

"We need to store the data locally. It can't just float away in the breeze."

Diya nodded.

"It's in case they get damaged," said Mathison. He pressed the daffodil against his breast pocket. "Or worse."

He'd expected a question, a request for clarification, but Diya simply examined the cannister with the detailed interest of an engineer. He really had missed working with others of his kind. The last few months had been challenging, with Josef his only outlet.

"As soon as you find one that passes all the tests," he said, "bring it here to my lab."

He stared down at the empty cannisters, knowing that backups were a copy of the system state at one point in time, almost like memories, except more robust and resistant to manipulation. Time affected his perception of the past in subtle ways, clouding the realities of what took place, but he had a few key memories that stuck to his mind as if they'd been soldered. They were the reason he'd teamed up with Josef on the AI module, the loneliness that drove his initial work on the invention to begin with.

"Is there a further topic you wish you discuss?" said Diya.

"Oh," he said, looking up. "No. You can go."

She left, but he was still stuck in the past. Memories were painful in their ability to pull him back to key moments in time, to a hell confined purely within his mind.

He breathed out a sigh and tried customer service again.