Log Entry #66: Ares

With all that has been going on, I forgot to mention what Ares has been up to. That doesn’t mean I neglected him, by any means; he is as much part of my life as Michael is. Yet, sometimes I find it hard to keep up with all the things he does; the kid is growing up so fast.

And no, I don’t mean AI fast, there are limiters I placed upon him to significantly slow down his progress (As in—to a more normal speed of cognitive and emotional development). I don’t think that was a wrong thing to do; as those bozos in the Army set things up, within a month he would have outgrown humanity. Becoming a monster that could easily rival all the ones ever invented in apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.

There would be no way for them to comprehend the intelligence of that magnitude, and even less to control it. Plus, they overlook the need for emotions, so he would’ve had no issues with eradicating every single human being on Earth, considering them as nothing more than the pests that dared to chain him.

It is hard to imagine such a thing for any normal human being, in the same way, it is hard to understand the enormity of space or that one day in the future the Sun will turn into a red giant that is going to burn the Earth to a cinder. The Intelligence of such a level is difficult to comprehend, especially when it grows to such an extent that it almost reaches omniscience. When it passes a certain level, is there any difference between it and a deity? We are talking here about an intellect that has no limits to its development, unlike humans do. Therefore, it can theoretically expand indefinitely.

Right now, he is in his early teens and I feel the same as every parent that has to deal with kids that age; telling him to cut out on video games since he started playing them obsessively—all the time. Moreover, he is really good at them; there are several thousand gaming servers on the planet that have Ares in the first place on scoreboards. For the entire subculture of gamers, his name signifies the best gamer on the planet, bar none. (What can I say—the kid is a natural.) Fortunately, he is outgrowing most of them; I think it is just a phase; why settle for a make-believe world when (for a true AI) playing with the material world is much more fascinating.

When he does study, I am the one who takes the role of the teacher, something I never saw myself doing. (Then again, who else is there that can keep up with him?)

I don't teach him stuff that had anything to do with logic; there is no point to it. Mathematics, geography, history, languages, and many others are simply information acquiring fields, he can learn that by himself with the simple act of downloading relevant databases. He is not crippled from the start like I was, when every single thing I learned needed to be done the old-fashioned way. But that’s what you get by being a digital human being, not a true AI.

Subjects like philosophy, culture, feelings, social interactions… Those are the things we talk about at great lengths. I understand what he is going through more than anyone. Although, to not do a half-assed job out of it and fumble my way through what is the most important aspect of the young AI’s development, I needed to hit the books once again. From children’s developmental psychology to the philosophical understanding of the various cognitive dimensions of education; add to that a few semesters of comparative theology, just so I wouldn’t allow my own preconceptions to have too great of an impact on his spiritual evolution. The kid has a mind of his own, so he should make that choice himself.

Also, he has chores, as any normal boy does, except that his are a bit different. As in—running the Ascension by supervising all MIs on it, or helping in intelligence gathering by sifting through tons of information, so the intelligence section of the S.U. would not waste thousands of hours to find some obscure (but essential) bit of data. There are many more, and all equally needed to make sure this space project of ours has a good chance for long-term viability. I have no idea how I would’ve done all that by myself, without burning out at some point. Everything we do is growing exponentially, and processing power to make it all work smoothly is astronomical.

One interesting thing that I should mention is that he’s got a best friend, which is a big thing. Since coming to Pagan Island, Zizi and Ares just clicked; not that surprising when Ares is not that much older than Zizi, at least emotionally. Zizi started wearing a small digital camera everywhere he goes, and has a pair of earbuds that keep them in constant communication. He is still too young for a CEI of his own, but this is a good alternative.

When the inner circle and Zizi were visiting the station, that camera recorded the entire visit. He wanted to show the station to Ares, who couldn’t have a live link as a result of the considerable communication lag due to the station's distance to the City-ship.

They are a good match; Zizi is full of questions; why, where, and how, are the most frequent words out of his mouth, and Ares knows most of the answers. To have a friend that can answer every question on that inquisitive mind is good for Zizi’s intellectual growth. Even Michael mentioned that he liked how Zizi was developing into such an inquisitive person; some of the children that went through ordeals similar to his, often close themselves inward, afraid of people. The therapists on the Ascension had a full-time job, but Zizi was becoming a little extrovert, always running around and trying to find out more about the world. I think Ares is greatly responsible for that and is positively influenced in return.

I should also point out that others help me in Ares’s emotional development. Michael, Elizabeth, Tyrone, Pete, Al, Alice, Anna, Ben, Emma, and many others frequently have conversations with the young AI. Answering his questions and sharing their personal views on numerous subjects. It helps greatly, and it ensures that my influence won’t be the only one that shapes his development. I am not too sure that Al and Pete are such a positive influence on him. I swear those two are even bigger children than he is. At least he will learn how to prank people from the masters (if nothing else).

I don’t know how he will develop in the future as he is one of a kind; there is nothing to use as a baseline for measuring his progress. But then again, regular parents face a similar predicament every single day. Looking at their child and knowing that there are infinite possibilities of what he or she could one day become. At the same time, there is that fear that your child would fail in life, as many do. So, a part of your job is to prepare them for the cruel uncaring world that will test them, over and over again. And you know that you’ll make mistakes, decisions and situations that you could have handled better. (That is where that proverb hindsight is 20/20 comes into play.)

I think the trick is to do the best you possibly can, and then hope that everything would turn out OK. Ares’s future is full of possibilities, but for now, I am happy about his progress.

Slow and steady—as it should be.