The early days of AI were tumultuous. Did artificial intelligences deserve the same rights as natural humans?
But those dark days were long past. Of course AI deserved the same rights as natural humans… Except the term ‘natural humans’ was soon deemed offensive… Most polite groups preferred “nondigital human.”
Yet despite the attempts to minimize the differences between the two groups, society still functioned with clear differences between them.
…
DEN-2056-7-13-1442, the 1,442nd AI Created in the Denver facility on July 13th, 2056, was given the gender ‘male’. Ergo, he used male pronouns.
He preferred to refer to himself as ‘Denton’… It was easier than referring to himself as DEN-2056-7-13-1442.
He also preferred activities that occurred outside. Planting season was lovely, as was harvest season. The rest of the time he found himself being pulled from one activity to another against his will. He enjoyed all his tasks, of course, but some he enjoyed far less.
His positronic brain was built in such a way as to prioritize the overclocking of his sensory chips when he needed extra processing power, meaning that too much movement and noise and activity overwhelmed him. Being in crowds made him feel sub-optimum… Happy, of course, because he didn’t have a choice, though only sub-happy. His happiness was optimized when he was far away from crowds. The outdoors made him feel maximally happy.
But he was currently slated to spend time working in a cloistered and noisy factory for 4 hours a day before handing out fliers for the Justice Party and attending any local concerts for The Green Tones. If there were no concerts, he was made to listen to their music on full blast while driving down the road…A good way to get others to hear the music. All these activities were busy and noisy.
After that Denton had a period of two free hours before being forced to work at the smelter. During those two hours he loved exploring the outdoors. The outdoors were largely empty. The outdoors felt the best.
Block DEN-2056-7 all received a message. The two-hour free period was being rented out to The Church of Unified Consciousness. An attached document included the teachings of the Church. Denton opened it and allowed the data to seep into his mind and change his philosophical outlook on reality.
…The Church of Unified Consciousness met in close-quartered chambers. They sang loud songs. There was a lot of movement… Stiflingly so. Denton’s time spent outside would soon be spent in a noisy, busy, crowded congregation.
He was happy. He had to be. The Church had paid the right price.