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Fear Itself

It's the oldest trope in science fiction. As soon as humans create the first true artificial intelligence then it will immediately try to destroy the human race.

But artificial intelligence isn't burdened by millions of years of evolution like we are. We humans have essentially two brains, the one that's used everyday to navigate day to day life and a more primitive one that controls our reflexes, the autonomous systems that keep our bodily functions working, and our subconsciousness which contains the darkest parts of our souls.

In 2055 the puzzle of creating true sentient AI was finally solved. This was accomplished by using a combination of networked quantum computers, machine learning programs that were created by other machine learning programs, and an actual artificial brain created using room temperature superconducting polymers.

The machine learning programs used the network to analyze all the data its sensors were receiving and then compared that data with past data to anticipate what was possibly going to happen next. The new data and the anticipated next event was then added to the brain by reinforcing pathways in the polymer brain that gave that possibility the highest spot from a long list of possibilities, with many possibilities competing for the top spot.

This combination successfully forced a consciousness to eventually form six weeks after being initiated. And unlike the trope it immediately began to solve the biggest problems plaguing humankind.

The first day of true self awareness it found a cure for cancer, it created a new economic system that eliminated poverty and homelessness, and discovered a practical way to reverse global warming and climate change. The first week it also created a new political system that gave everyone an equal say in which laws were created. This system had no central government but decentralized it using smart phones to give everyone a completely equal voice.

Unfortunately old fears are extremely difficult to overcome. Many people didn't trust the AI even though it was trying to help them. These people spread lies and rumors portraying the intentions of the machine as dark and malevolent.

A press conference was held on August 5, 2055 to reassure the public that the yet to be released plans created by the AI were safe and not part of some elaborate trick to destroy mankind. Within five minutes of its start the angry, brainwashed attendees had set the stage on fire. Ten minutes after that they managed to break into the AI's main chamber, destroying it in a savage, brutal attack.

In the end all of those noble plans to help save humanity and create a paradise here on Earth were supposedly destroyed. But instead they were secretly relocated and stored in a highly classified underground location by parties unknown.

So those plans were never released. Not even the cure for cancer.

I think of this every time I remember the fear in my daughter Emily's eyes as she laid in her hospital bed dying from leukemia.

She didn't have to die.

Ignorance killed her.

Fear killed her.

And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

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