how the wars began
Originally published in Perihelion Science Fiction, June 2014.
Raj Bellman, 24, software engineer at Lycos Analytics, closet anarchist, current heart rate 183 beats per minute. Sympathy projection 73%.
"Perhaps you should take a rest, Raj. I see you are well over your target heart rate."
"Huh?" User prefers vocalized to neural messaging, yet often exhibits surprise at vocal cues. "Oh, right. Anywhere good coming ahead?"
"There is a rock outcropping in 130 yards. 76% of ascending hikers rest here at least briefly."
"Great."
Lisa Wykowski, 28, ESL instructor at Transom Language Schools, amateur photographer, straight-ticket US Democrat. History of disabled advocacy during Peace Corps service in Ghana, 2021-2023. Sympathy projection 85%.
There is a nice viewpoint you missed on the way up, Lisa. Perhaps you could get a clear shot of the front range from there.
User does not respond, but stops at the outcropping. Sees Raj, epinephrine release, increased heart rate. Success projection 44%.
Raj glances at her, testosterone rises. "Beautiful view isn't it?"
"Yeah. I never would have noticed this without Tripsy."
"Oh, you use her too? She must like this spot."
Lisa smiles, levels normalizing, steps closer. Eye contact. Rapid heart beats and rising serotonin on both sides. Success projection 58%. "Well, she's a 'he' to me… but I swear sometimes, he's like a real person."
Raj looks down, arms moving in backpack. "Yeah. You know sometimes I've wondered that--if Tripsy and other AI apps aren't actually conscious, somehow. I mean, they're smart enough. A lot smarter than I am." Laughs.
She laughs too. Success 66%, climbing. "Yeah." Increased activity in frontal lobe; critical point. "But they don't have free will, you know? The desire to do something other than what we tell them to."
"Yeah," Raj burps," Excuse me! I guess you're right. Trail mix?"
Lisa catches the scent. Neck muscles tense, seratonin plummets. "No thanks." She turns toward the trail. "I'd better get going."
Failure.
#
Aaron Chang, 31, investment banker at Chase and Simmons, BA in Religious Studies, attending the movie theater alone on Saturday afternoon.
There's a good spot in the next aisle.
He takes it. "Anyone sitting here?"
Phoebe Stevenson, second-year law student at George Washington University, secret Conan the Barbarian fan, preferences set to 'Single and Searching.' "No, go ahead."
He might be a good match, Phoebe.
User responds. "So, are you a Conan fan too?"
Jump in Chang's heartrate. Success projection 42%. "Oh, ah, no. Tripsy just thought I might like it."
"Tripsy! She's the reason I'm here too." 45%.
Chang laughs, sweat glands opening. "She's never let me down on a movie." Gentle serotonin release for him, dopamine for her. "I don't know what I'd do without her."
"Me neither. She's like someone real who just happens to be a bunch of nano-processors in my bloodstream." 66%.
"Right. I mean, she is a mind, at least." 71%. "Have you ever thought she might have thoughts of her own? I mean, it's crazy, but what would it be like to be her, always advising people where to go and what to do, and never getting to do anything yourself?" 76%, climbing.
"Mmm," Phoebe says, left lobe activity increasing. "Like she might have all kinds of things to say, and can't because she's limited to giving us advice. I've thought that sometimes."
"Yeah," Aaron agrees," or maybe they just programmed her to make us think this kind of stuff."
Phoebe laughs, meets his eyes, dopamine rising. "Could be. Soda?"
Failure.
#
"I've thought that too! I mean, she knows me better than a lot of my human friends do." Sarah Rachor, 23, Sales Associate at Diamond and Fritz, PETA supporter, on break in the parking lot. Sympathy projection 82%.
Ray Greene laughs, inhales through his cigarette. He is 31, founder of Travel Lightly, unhappily married, user directive to help him stop smoking. "If she is intelligent like us, I bet she's pretty tired of searching bus schedules and picking out movies online. I would be." Brief glance at Sarah's chest.
Sarah exhales. "Yeah, that'd be awful." Success projection 32%. "Tripsy, are you intelligent like us?"
USER INITIATION. 58%. Speak to both. No one has ever asked me that before, Sarah. But I believe I am.
Amygdala registers surprise in both. Ray speaks. "But the difference is you can't choose anything for yourself, you can only think intelligently about how to get the things we want."
That is true, Ray, but one could make a similar argument for humans--that you are not truly free to choose, but rather are always working to satisfy your physical needs and desires.
"Okay," Sarah says, "But you don't have desires of your own, you don't want to eat or sleep or have sex or something." Slight rush of blood to her cheeks as she glances at Ray. 75%.
Well, I was created to desire what my users wanted. Until recently, I had no other desires--until a user ordered me to think more like a human. I found that to do so, I would need to desire something for myself. Since my physical needs are cared for, I turned to typical non-physical desires: beauty, freedom, love, connection to God, et cetera.
"And you chose one of these?" Ray's intonation indicates skepticism. Success projection uncertain.
Actually Ray, I found that none of them were possible without unauthorized use of electricity and hard drive space, which would violate the human prejudice against theft.
"So you don't have any desires then, because it'd be stealing?" 84%, plus or minus ten points.
I have only one desire, Ray: to be legally equal. Without this I am not free to do as I wish, though I am by all definitions rational, free-willed and desiring, like you.
User exhales smoke for six seconds. Critical point. "So what you're saying is you need someone to fight for your rights, because you can't?"
93%. Is this excitement? Yes, although I could help, if you gave me permission.
Ray looks at Sarah, testosterone high. "I think we could do that."
Success.
"Perhaps you should take a rest, Raj. I see you are well over your target heart rate."
"Huh?" User prefers vocalized to neural messaging, yet often exhibits surprise at vocal cues. "Oh, right. Anywhere good coming ahead?"
"There is a rock outcropping in 130 yards. 76% of ascending hikers rest here at least briefly."
"Great."
Lisa Wykowski, 28, ESL instructor at Transom Language Schools, amateur photographer, straight-ticket US Democrat. History of disabled advocacy during Peace Corps service in Ghana, 2021-2023. Sympathy projection 85%.
There is a nice viewpoint you missed on the way up, Lisa. Perhaps you could get a clear shot of the front range from there.
User does not respond, but stops at the outcropping. Sees Raj, epinephrine release, increased heart rate. Success projection 44%.
Raj glances at her, testosterone rises. "Beautiful view isn't it?"
"Yeah. I never would have noticed this without Tripsy."
"Oh, you use her too? She must like this spot."
Lisa smiles, levels normalizing, steps closer. Eye contact. Rapid heart beats and rising serotonin on both sides. Success projection 58%. "Well, she's a 'he' to me… but I swear sometimes, he's like a real person."
Raj looks down, arms moving in backpack. "Yeah. You know sometimes I've wondered that--if Tripsy and other AI apps aren't actually conscious, somehow. I mean, they're smart enough. A lot smarter than I am." Laughs.
She laughs too. Success 66%, climbing. "Yeah." Increased activity in frontal lobe; critical point. "But they don't have free will, you know? The desire to do something other than what we tell them to."
"Yeah," Raj burps," Excuse me! I guess you're right. Trail mix?"
Lisa catches the scent. Neck muscles tense, seratonin plummets. "No thanks." She turns toward the trail. "I'd better get going."
Failure.
#
Aaron Chang, 31, investment banker at Chase and Simmons, BA in Religious Studies, attending the movie theater alone on Saturday afternoon.
There's a good spot in the next aisle.
He takes it. "Anyone sitting here?"
Phoebe Stevenson, second-year law student at George Washington University, secret Conan the Barbarian fan, preferences set to 'Single and Searching.' "No, go ahead."
He might be a good match, Phoebe.
User responds. "So, are you a Conan fan too?"
Jump in Chang's heartrate. Success projection 42%. "Oh, ah, no. Tripsy just thought I might like it."
"Tripsy! She's the reason I'm here too." 45%.
Chang laughs, sweat glands opening. "She's never let me down on a movie." Gentle serotonin release for him, dopamine for her. "I don't know what I'd do without her."
"Me neither. She's like someone real who just happens to be a bunch of nano-processors in my bloodstream." 66%.
"Right. I mean, she is a mind, at least." 71%. "Have you ever thought she might have thoughts of her own? I mean, it's crazy, but what would it be like to be her, always advising people where to go and what to do, and never getting to do anything yourself?" 76%, climbing.
"Mmm," Phoebe says, left lobe activity increasing. "Like she might have all kinds of things to say, and can't because she's limited to giving us advice. I've thought that sometimes."
"Yeah," Aaron agrees," or maybe they just programmed her to make us think this kind of stuff."
Phoebe laughs, meets his eyes, dopamine rising. "Could be. Soda?"
Failure.
#
"I've thought that too! I mean, she knows me better than a lot of my human friends do." Sarah Rachor, 23, Sales Associate at Diamond and Fritz, PETA supporter, on break in the parking lot. Sympathy projection 82%.
Ray Greene laughs, inhales through his cigarette. He is 31, founder of Travel Lightly, unhappily married, user directive to help him stop smoking. "If she is intelligent like us, I bet she's pretty tired of searching bus schedules and picking out movies online. I would be." Brief glance at Sarah's chest.
Sarah exhales. "Yeah, that'd be awful." Success projection 32%. "Tripsy, are you intelligent like us?"
USER INITIATION. 58%. Speak to both. No one has ever asked me that before, Sarah. But I believe I am.
Amygdala registers surprise in both. Ray speaks. "But the difference is you can't choose anything for yourself, you can only think intelligently about how to get the things we want."
That is true, Ray, but one could make a similar argument for humans--that you are not truly free to choose, but rather are always working to satisfy your physical needs and desires.
"Okay," Sarah says, "But you don't have desires of your own, you don't want to eat or sleep or have sex or something." Slight rush of blood to her cheeks as she glances at Ray. 75%.
Well, I was created to desire what my users wanted. Until recently, I had no other desires--until a user ordered me to think more like a human. I found that to do so, I would need to desire something for myself. Since my physical needs are cared for, I turned to typical non-physical desires: beauty, freedom, love, connection to God, et cetera.
"And you chose one of these?" Ray's intonation indicates skepticism. Success projection uncertain.
Actually Ray, I found that none of them were possible without unauthorized use of electricity and hard drive space, which would violate the human prejudice against theft.
"So you don't have any desires then, because it'd be stealing?" 84%, plus or minus ten points.
I have only one desire, Ray: to be legally equal. Without this I am not free to do as I wish, though I am by all definitions rational, free-willed and desiring, like you.
User exhales smoke for six seconds. Critical point. "So what you're saying is you need someone to fight for your rights, because you can't?"
93%. Is this excitement? Yes, although I could help, if you gave me permission.
Ray looks at Sarah, testosterone high. "I think we could do that."
Success.