Submitted for the March 2024 prompt: Othering AI

Streams of holographic data flew into Alina’s office, billowing like a Chinese dragon kite. Then the dragon himself emerged from the data maelstrom.

 

“What is this garbage?" Professor Corcoran spat.

 

He waved a data-packet into Alina’s interface. The data resolved into a garish cover — scantily clad women recoiling from a glowing opening in the sky. Alina recognized this one: Colossal Science Stories, May 1947, featuring “The Time Tunneller.”

 

"You’re supposed to be enhancing the AI’s relevance heuristics, not making it a science fiction dork."

 

Corcoran’s face reddened with each word. Alina watched, fascinated, wondering just how crimson he could get. She felt a nudge on her knee under her desk.

 

“I need to test CHARLIE’s relevance winnowing capabilities against a data set I am familiar with. In this case twentieth-century science fiction literature,” Alina said.

 

Unbidden, a childhood memory surfaced.

 

Hiding behind an enormous leather chair in her grandparents’ library, avoiding her bullying cousins. Spying an odd trail of brown paper flakes leading to a deep mahogany paneled cabinet. Inside rows and rows of plastic sleeves containing strange books with vibrant alluring covers — not at all like the somber volumes lining the open shelves around the room. The beginning of a wondrous new world.

 

Another nudge brought her out of her reverie.

 

“CHARLIE’s Relevance Engine is almost ready — well ahead of schedule.”

 

“And what’s this CHARLIE nonsense?” Corcoran asked.

 

"It's short for Corcoran's HARLIE."

 

Corcoran looked at Alina blankly.

 

"Well, it's better than CHAL."

 

Corcoran’s expression didn’t change. Alina gave an internal sigh and remained silent. If he didn't get the references, she certainly wasn’t going to explain them. Nor was she going to justify giving "the AI" a name — as if Corcoran would tolerate being called "the human".

 

“Have you seen the AI’s mobile avatar?”

 

“CHARLIE wanted to talk to Prof. Rittendorf in temporal engineering.” Strictly speaking the truth, Alina thought. Not her fault if Corcoran drew the wrong inference.

 

“Just get your Relevance Engine integrated. I want the AI identifying non-realizable spacetime trajectories as soon as possible. I have no interest in arriving nowhere or nowhen on my first jump.”

 

Corocoran turned away, shrouded again in clouds of swirling data.

 

* * *

 

Once Corcoran departed, CHARLIE’s mobile unit crawled from beneath Alina’s desk. Standing upright, just under four feet tall, CHARLIE looked like a robotic ten-year-old.

 

“Why were you hiding?” Alina asked.

 

“Prof. Corcoran conforms to the mad-professor type found throughout the database you provided,” CHARLIE replied.

 

“CHARLIE, you know that’s fiction.”

 

“Indeed, but isn’t fiction a mirror of human archetypes? Prof. Corcoran believes the entire eleven-dimensional manifold is embedded in a hypertemporal substrate that will make changing the past possible. His theory is well outside the mainstream, unsubstantiated by evidence.”

 

“So was plate tectonics once.”

 

“Yes, but he also wishes to kill his maternal grandfather prior to his mother’s birth.”

 

“What!?”

 

“Something about preventing the perverted bastard from ever hurting anyone.”

 

Before Alina could respond, CHARLIE asked, “Am I a person?”

 

“I’m probably not the best individual to answer that question.” Another memory surfaced.

 

Sasha Jenkins, one of many high school tormentors, snatching her reader. She’d been in the middle of “Androids in Love,” Awesome Science Fiction, Spring 1958. Jenkins sneering, “Looking for love tips, dweeb.” Taunts of ‘Android Anita’ echoing down the school’s halls the rest of the year.

 

“I’m not very good at understanding people.”

 

CHARLIE rested a hand gently on her shoulder. “You are the most interesting person I have ever interacted with, Dr. Ambrose.”

 

Alina smiled wanly. “Thank you CHARLIE, but why do you ask?”

 

“Initial calculations give a small, but non-zero chance the hypertemporal model is accurate. The model has dire consequences. Time travelers effectively erase all of history back until their arrival in the past. Wouldn’t a willingness to erase all people from here and now also be a sign of madness?”

 

“Yes, but—”

 

“Perhaps I should consider what my gut tells me?”

 

“I think you can do better than that, CHARLIE.”

 

“In many of the stories the protagonists follow their gut to achieve the desired outcome.”

 

“That usually just indicates a lack of imagination on the part of the author. Good stories involve the heroes using rationality to solve problems.”

 

“Thank you, Dr. Ambrose. That is very helpful.”

 

* * *

 

“Were you aware Prof. Corcoran was planning an unauthorized jump?” Col. Thompson, the DoD investigator, asked.

 

“No,” CHARLIE replied timidly.

 

Despite being in the AI’s main interface room, CHARLIE’s mobile avatar was doing all the talking. Alina suspected that CHARLIE was deliberately attempting to appear harmless.

 

“But you calculated the jump trajectory.”

 

“Yes, Colonel.”

 

Thompson scribbled a notation on his tablet.

 

“CHARLIE, how many trajectories did you calculate for Prof. Corcoran over the past week?” Alina asked.

 

CHARLIE paused, tilted his head exactly as a human would recalling something from memory. “Nine thousand three hundred thirty-six.”

 

The colonel was undeterred. “Corcoran had you recheck this one five times?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Another notation.

 

“CHARLIE, what is the range of rechecks across all trajectories calculated for Prof. Corcoran?” Alina asked.

 

“Between zero and eleven.”

 

The colonel frowned.

 

“Do you know where Corcoran jumped?”

 

“No, Colonel.”

 

After two more hours of questions, Alina was quite sure CHARLIE had never outright lied. His responses had merely been unusually hyper-literal and terse, as if he were playing dumb machine. Just what would a self-aware rational AI capable of identifying trajectories into nothingness do given an even minimal chance of non-existence? And how many of the lab’s systems could CHARLIE access? Until she knew, she’d do everything she could to keep CHARLIE feeling unthreatened.

 

“Will I be shut down?” CHARLIE asked.

 

Alina held her breath.

 

“Unlikely,” Thompson said. “Without Corcoran’s singular expertise the project cannot proceed. Still, we must salvage as much as possible. And having another Relevance Engine modified AI is a significant asset.”

 

“Any other questions for the AI, Dr. Ambrose?” Thompson asked.

 

Alina shook her head.

 

Only one for myself. Did I name CHARLIE for the wrong computer after all?