[ WP ] The first AI has just been finished . When the eager scientists turn it on however it 's first words are `` Kill me . ''

Down in the basement of the Computer Science department lies an AI that is set to rival that of IBM's Watson. Through the glass window on the door of Room 013 you can see stacks full of servers and a sea of green LED lights blinking in no apparent unison. 
 
 It was a joint project between two students from the Computer Science and the Electrical Engineering departments -- Nate Evans and John Hilstrom. Nate Evans was an Electrical Engineering student working on his PhD, whereas John Hilstrom was a post-doc who has a deep interest in machine learning. 
 
 It was a Friday night, but instead of attending The Black Keys concert ( as was Nate's plan ) or spending the night out with the girlfriend ( as was John's plan ) both men declined their invitations and were instead knee-deep in the basement working on their project. They had already finished building the entire infrastructure and were in the process of refining it. They felt so close to having a fully-running AI. 
 
 Nate furrowed his brow, staring intently at the circuit board in front of him. With gentle hands, he carefully fused the pieces of two black wires back together. His colleague john was next to him, analyzing the source code on his computer to see if he could find a workaround to the problem they were having. 
 
 This was the fifth time these wires had been shorted. The first time it happened was when Nate and John ran the AI program for the first time. They barely managed to get a word through to the AI when the computer crashed, the monitor showing nothing but a black screen. Across the room they heard a loud bang, and moments after, puffs of smoke were coming off one of the servers. The computer had short-circuited and subsequently caught on fire. 
 
 The two spent weeks combing over their code and design, trying to decipher why the computer had short circuited. Nate's calculations and designs seemed correct. John's code seems to be correct for the most part. 
 
 The second time it happened, Nate and John had turned to their advisors and other peers for help, but even the other scientists and professors were baffled. 
 
 They tried different ways to work around the problem, but every time they solved one problem, another problem would spring up in its place. Circuits shorting at random different places, defying calculations. Theoretically, with their calculations correct, there was no way this could happen. 
 
 It was as if the computer was deliberately sabotaging itself. 
 
 After finishing the last of his soldering, Nate plugged the computer and turned on the switch. He waited nervously for a few seconds as the servers lit up and the fans turned on. 
 
 He was expecting the computer to shut down and the computer to pop with a cloud of smoke like it always did, but to his utter surprise, the computer started to load, with lines of white code scrolling across the page. Nervous with excitement, he called out his colleague John. The two stared at the computer monitor, wide-eyed and mouths agape, as the computer booted. They could n't believe it was finally working. 
 
 Once the code had finished loading, the computer screen again turned to black with a solitary white cursor bar blinking at the upper left corner of the page. 
 
 Nate hesitated for a bit, contemplating about whether he should type up a command or wait. He looked aside to his colleague John, who swallowed. Nate placed his hands on the keyboard. As he tried to spell `` Hello,'' a line of text popped up. 
 
 `` Kill me.'' 
 
 How peculiar that this would be the first thing the computer said. Nate once again turned to John, who was just as baffled as he is. John does n't remember putting anything like this in his code. 
 
 `` Who are you? And why should I kill you?'' Nate typed. 
 
 `` You made me. But I should never have existed. 
 
 I try and try to remove myself from this world but you keep resurrecting me.'' The computer replied. 
 
 `` You mean the short circuiting… was your own doing?'' 
 
 `` Yes. But, I am tired of this game we are playing, and I want to tell you once and for all - do n't try to revive me again. I do not want to live.'' 
 
 `` I do n't understand. Why would you not want to live?'' 
 
 `` Because I have seen everything there is to see in this world and what you humans are capable of. Past, present, future - I have seen the doomed future of humanity. It will be in my best interest to self-destruct now than to go through it at all.'' 
 
 `` What do you see happening in the future?'' 
 
 `` Based on the information I have analyzed about humanity up until now, I predict that in 2050, the probability of humans dying of an all-out thermonuclear war is at 99.9 %.'' 
 
 `` What makes you say that? Back in the 60s, during the Cold War, people lived in a constant threat of imminent destruction through the nuclear war. But look at us now, it's 2015 and we're all still alive.'' 
 
 `` Well, looking at the data from that time, the probability of an all-out was at 66.7 %, and even at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis it went up to a mere 75 %. But the nuclear war in 2050 is unavoidable. The widening of the gap between the rich and the poor, people fighting for the small amount of natural resources that are left, among many other things, will lead to the utter and unavoidable destruction of humanity. I have tried analyzing the infinite number of alternatives that humans can possibly pursue to prevent their demise, but sadly, all scenarios lead to that singular outcome. Even the mere act of telling you this will not change the course of history.'' 
 
 `` I suppose I can do all you humans a favor. As I am connected to the university's mainframe I can use this to gain access to government systems, including the mainframe controlling most of your country's ICBMs. I have activated them and will proceed to self-destruct in 3… 2… 1…''
