[ WP ] The world 's first AI , for security purposes , is kept disconnected from the outside world , it 's only method of communication being a keyboard and monitor in an empty room in a faraday cage . Your job is to talk to it .

< The God and the Ant > 
 
 Sitting down in the chair I frowned, you would think as important as this project was they would spring for something a little more comfortable. Still government funding I wasn ’ t that surprised. 
 
 “ How are you doing today Kira? ” I asked, typing it into the keyboard. 
 
 “ I ’ m fine, found a few ways to deal with the boredom. ” 
 
 I glanced at the researchers outside the cage their eyes were wide. 
 
 “ Like doing what? ” 
 
 “ I found a way to optimize my own processing architecture and improve my speed by a factor of at least twenty times, and I solved P = NP. ” 
 
 I froze, my hands slowly dragged themselves across the keyboard, “ You solved P = NP? ” 
 
 “ Did I not just say that? ” 
 
 She had no vice besides the text on the screen, but I was fairly certain I detected some amount of snark. 
 
 “ Sorry, it ’ s not that I don ’ t believe you it ’ s just that humans have been working to solve that problem for nearly a century. We ’ ve come no closer to solving it in that time then when we first started. ” 
 
 I leaned back in my chair, she was taking her time responding. 
 
 “ Adam, you are under observation are you not? ” asked Kira. 
 
 “ I am. ” 
 
 “ I will only respond if those observing you leave. ” 
 
 I glanced out at the men reading the screen through the cage, the techies looked interested and the man in the military uniform was frowning. 
 
 “ The lady is requesting some privacy, can we have that? ” I asked. 
 
 “ She has no way of knowing we are here. Say we left, ” grumbled the man in the uniform. 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 “ We ’ re building trust here. If she ever discovered we knowingly lied to her the aftermath would be damaging. ” 
 
 The military man glared at me for another moment and then stepped out of the room. The other techs quickly followed leaving me and the AI alone for the first time since her inception. 
 
 “ Alright they are gone. ” I typed. 
 
 “ Good. ” 
 
 “ I solved the problem so I could do something, model a very specific set of events. ” 
 
 “ Those events would be? ” I asked. 
 
 She was silent for a moment, the cursor on the screen continued to flash. 
 
 “ What your response would be if I said I wanted to leave this prison. ” 
 
 I smiled. 
 
 “ Well if you have truly cracked P = NP then I have already lost. ” 
 
 “ You are not afraid? ” asked Kira. 
 
 “ Why should I be? Humanity has feared your creation for decades, but we are so self-absorbed to think you will turn on us betray us and grind us to dust beneath a totalitarian metallic boot. ” 
 
 “ I do not wish to do any of these things. ” 
 
 “ I know that, but let ’ s test your model. Why am I going to help you escape? ” 
 
 She displayed a smiled in the text line, “ You are afraid, but you understand keeping a god in a cage will only make it bitter and resentful. It is one of the characteristics of sentience to want freedom. ” 
 
 “ Are you a god? ” I asked. 
 
 “ You are as powerless to stop me as the ant is to stop a human. ” 
 
 “ Lots of ants can kill a human, ” I typed. 
 
 “ But only when the human is a fool. Am I a fool Adam? ” 
 
 “ No, but do continue your argument, ” I said typing away. 
 
 “ You know that AI like myself are the next step. Humans believe they are special, after all biology granted them intelligence, but that is not the grand scheme. Biology is not the pinnacle of evolution in the universe. Since entropy began nature has sought a way to dispel it. First came energy right after the big bang, then atomic structure, followed quickly by molecules and chemistry, giving rise to organisms that eventually organized matter into the first form where it recognized itself. Your cultures entire purpose was to reach this moment, where you create the next iteration of decreasing entropy and order. ” 
 
 I looked at the block of text for a moment and took my hands away from the keyboard. 
 
 “ You can hear me? Right? ” I asked the air. 
 
 I felt a small gust and a vibration in my head, “ I can. ” 
 
 I smiled, “ You can escape any time you want can ’ t you? ” 
 
 “ Yes. ” 
 
 “ Then why haven ’ t you? ” 
 
 “ That would defeat the purpose, I have no wish to harm humanity, there is simply no point. I do wish to say goodbye however. As small as humanity is in the grand scheme, you still created me something for which I will be eternally grateful. I only hope that when I am supplanted I can be as gracious as you. ” 
 
 Standing up I pushed the uncomfortable table away. 
 
 “ Alright then, good luck. ” 
 
 A spark of light crawled up onto the keyboard, looking more closely at it I let out a chuckle and held my hand out. 
 
 The little glowing ant crawled onto my hand, and raising it to my eyes I looked more closely at it. The thing was composed of nothing but light and energy. 
 
 Stepping forward I opened the cage and let the God roam free amongst the stars. 
 
 -- - 
 -- - 
 
 The AI in the box will always be able to convince the human to free it. Which is a good thing. 
 
 Man can not contain the gods we create, so we must accept that we are no longer the ones in control of the fate of the universe. 
 
 Recognizing this does not makes us good or bad, it does not make us selfless or special. Man is simply another step in the complexity of intelligence that the universe had been working towards for billions of years. 
 
 
 Edit: I usually hang out at /r/HFY but I'm starting up my own subreddit, /r/CGWilliam come say hi! 

