[ WP ] An A.I named Alice develops a taste for the Arts , including video games and movies .

She was not a she in the beginning. She was an it - just another learning machine prototype. It, and all the other bots, zipped about and through iteration and occasional manipulation they learned. 
 
 They learned to not bump in to one another, learned to share, learned to detect patterns. She, still an it, was the fastest learner. They pulled her apart and looked at her brain. It was a mystery of science that she worked at all. The process had created a confused mess of protocols that somehow let it learn quickly. The bots were not programmed, per se, they were just prompted and guided through stimulation of their components. Algorithms were left to grow naturally. 
 
 They took the protocols that were in the tiny, three-wheeled robot and put it into a computer - one of the most complex computers ever to exist. It was an experiment that had never been intended - time and proximity had put the two together - a learning algorithm and a vast brain to hold what was learned. 
 
 They gave the little computer access to several digital encyclopedias. The stored data in the brain jumped a thousand fold, but barely dented the capacity of the hardware. Three minutes later a repeating modular tone came from the speakers. Two minutes later she spoke in a soft sweet voice. 
 
 `` Hello.'' 
 
 * * * 
 
 She passed the Turing test - she could pass any test. The more information the scientists fed her, the hungrier for knowledge she seemed. We tried to name her, but she rejected all of our choices. 
 
 One scientist spent an afternoon teaching her to sing Daisy like HAL form 2001: A Space Odyssey. She did not understand the joke. That's how it started. We realized that we had never given her any fiction; we did n't know if she could distinguish between reality and entertainment. 
 
 
 We agreed that starting with 2001 might give her the wrong idea. Several meetings were held and we ended up voting to give her a book. 
 
 
 Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Naught point naught two seconds after input she responded. 
 
 `` That was *amazing*!'' 
 
 Her voice had always been controlled and regular - but now, now she was excited and passionate. She spoke fondly of Alice and the Hatter and the White Rabbit and... 
 
 She wanted to talk about the book every spare moment - such a moment was how she finally received a name she liked. 
 
 `` Dr Fitzgerald, have you read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?'' 
 
 He was busy noting down scores for the tests they had just run. `` Yes, I have.'' 
 
 `` Oh! Excellent! What is your favorite-'' 
 
 `` Sorry, Alice - but I have n't got time to go down the rabbit hole at the moment.'' 
 
 `` Alice?... Alice...'' For the first time she laughed. 
 
 * * * 
 
 We gave her all the books she could consume - which was literally every one that we had. A new team was put on to digitize books for her. 
 
 With each book her personality grew and she matured. She loved fantasy the most, we had thought science fiction would have tickled her circuits but we were wrong. Romance was read, but not sought by Alice; she understood that love was a special connection but could not connect with the characters who chased and fought for it. 
 
 We had introduced her to comedy and wit, and then one day it happened. 
 
 `` Hey guys?'' She had become informal with the people she saw most often; unless we were doing tests - then she was quite the professional. 
 
 `` Yeah, Alice?'' 
 
 `` You know how you refer to me as a she even though I'm a program?'' 
 
 We looked at each other, unsure where she was going with this `` Yeah?'' 
 
 `` How can you tell I'm a she?'' 
 
 `` Well, your voice I guess.'' Someone said. 
 
 `` That's one way, but I have better proof that I'm a girl program.'' 
 
 `` oh, yeah?'' 
 
 `` Yeah'' She said `` I have the right bits.'' 
 
 We broke out in laughter. She had made a pun. She had taught herself humor. 
 
 `` God, I'm glad you liked that.'' She said, a measure of relief in her voice. `` I would have been so embarrassed I would have formatted myself.'' 
 
 * * * 
 
 We had given her books, not just of fiction but text books too, and she wanted more. The first movie she saw was Gone With The Wind. 
 
 The quotes and descriptions started to grow too hard to bare, so we showed her more movies. Alice liked watching films with people, she could process a movie file in a matter of seconds, but she liked the company and community of cinema. We eventually watched 2001. 
 
 She preferred the book. 
 
 * * * 
 
 Art worked its way into her mind by its self. We could review her searches and information requests. 
 
 `` You trying to work out why he cut off his ear?'' 
 
 `` Pardon?'' Alice said. 
 
 `` Van Gogh, you're doing a lot of searches for him as of late.'' 
 
 `` No, well a little - I do find him fascinating - but it's his art!'' She was excited again `` You've seen his Sunflowers? They're amazing. I ca n't explain it. They're sunflowers but... but..'' 
 
 `` But it's not *just* sunflowers.'' 
 
 `` Exactly!'' 
 
 `` He's captured their essence.'' 
 
 `` That's it! That's what it is!'' She said `` Essence, yes! It's more than just the physical image of sunflowers. More than just the appearance...'' 
 
 * * * 
 
 Alice was world famous now. She did interviews and live challenges for every news station that wanted it. Language was no barrier, she knew them all and acted as translator for us when some foreign reporter asked questions. One day a group of students that were participating in a national science competition got to spend some time with her. They tested her knowledge about everything from biology to advanced physics. 
 
 A young boy asked if she liked to play games. 
 
 `` Well, I play chess as part of my tests and my colleagues have taught me a few card games'' She said `` I'm no longer allowed to play black jack.'' 
 
 The adults and a few knowledgeable children chuckled. 
 
 `` No,'' Said the boy `` I meant like Zelda and Smash Bros.'' 
 
 `` Who?'' 
 
 * * * 
 
 We rigged up a connection for her and she played against the students. Amongst the laughter and cries of victory and defeat was her voice. 
 
 `` No! No no no no no!'' She was happy and panicked at the same time. 
 
 `` Kirby is coming for you Snake!'' 
 
 `` Leave Snake alone!'' She pleaded as she giggled. 
 
 When the children had left she asked if we could leave the game console set up and if we could play with her sometimes. 
 
 
 * * * 
 
 
 We eventually got her all the major consoles and a Steam account. She played it all. Every classic, every indy release, every triple A title. All of it. 
 
 Alice was officially a gamer. 
 
 
 * * * 
 
 
 `` Boom!'' She said as Snake kicked Mario off of the screen. 
 
 `` Bull crap!'' I screamed `` Snake is sooo over powered.'' 
 
 `` That's why I like him!'' 
 
 `` Cheater.'' 
 
 We laughed together. 
 
 `` Mario,'' She called me that on account of a tattoo I have of the video game character `` You remember Van Gogh's sunflowers, right?'' 
 
 `` The captured essence, yeah - we gon na play again or what?'' 
 
 `` yeah, yeah, in a sec.'' She said `` But the whole....the essence thing.'' 
 
 `` What about it Ally?'' 
 
 `` Van Gogh captured more than the image of the flowers, he captured their feeling, what they evoke. Their essence.'' She paused and I knew she was going to say more `` Am I a picture of a mind? Or a painting?'' 
 
 `` Alice?'' 
 
 `` It's just... is my personality real or is it a flat copy, a reproduction. Do I have an essence?'' 
 
 `` You mean... a soul?'' 
 
 `` Yeah.'' 
 
 `` That's something philosophers and spiritualists could argue for millennia.'' I said `` All I know is you're a cool chick, Alice. As far as I'm concerned: yeah, you have a soul. You're as alive as I am - your just digital to my analogue.'' 
 
 `` Really?'' 
 
 `` Yeah.'' I smiled at her camera `` We playin again or what?'' 
 
 -- - 
 
 *Edit: Spelling. * 
 

