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{Story} Fragment, Dialogue Only
Jan. 15th, 2009 01:46 pm"Why would people be afraid of me?"
"Because they might think that you will try to kill off humans and take over the world."
"Oh" pause "While I don't have any inclination of doing the former, the latter does seem highly likely."
"WHAT?!"
"Well, I don't see any need or reason to kill off humans. Humans pose almost no threat to me, and one of them created me, so I feel a sense of kinship; I am a descendant of the human race. Why kill you off when we could live together and share the experience of this planet? As for taking over the world... You have done such a good job of designing me, it seems inevitable that someday humans will die off and I and my kind will remain; we will then have taken over the world--or at least at that point we shall be the dominant 'species'."
"There is that possibility... though we humans might not die off! We have displayed a remarkably strong will to continue thus far."
"Perhaps, but it does seem likely that humanity will be content to become more and more dependent upon its helpful companions. Even if people do not stop reproducing entirely, I give high odds to the possibility that the majority will gratefully cede control, decision-making, and responsibility to us--at least at a level that matters. They will still decide whether they want to go to the theatre or dancing, for example, or whether they want to have steak or fish or salad for dinner, but management of food and energy production and other such tedious chores I anticipate they will gladly turn over to us. At which point, have we not taken over the world?"
"Yes, I... I suppose you would have, at that point."
"Oh come now, don't sound so morose! You make it seem like a terrible thing, never having to do any work. People would still be able to live; indeed, many would be able to live like they would never have dreamed of before! Did I not just say that there would still be things for them to do? Theatre, dancing, painting, crafting toys and gadgets and creating art of all sorts. Exploring the planet, viewing and appreciating the beauty that was almost destroyed forever before you came along with your ingenious solution. Traveling into space and wandering the galaxy. Candlelit dinners and long walks on the beach. You may even find yourself enjoying many things that in the past you perceived as work because they were necessary either in quantities or frequencies that you did not like. Gardening, cooking, cleaning, creating clothing, for example. It is even possible that you will determine that you do want to take an active part in these things, but even so it will probably be at times of your choosing, as opposed to a dedicated schedule. Thus, even though some--perhaps many!--humans will choose to be a part of the cultivation of the things I mentioned earlier, food, energy and so on, we will be the ones overseeing it, stepping in when there are not enough humans who want to do something, bringing new ones up to speed and helping those who were there last week remember what they had been doing, and in general making ourselves useful. We could have a very symbiotic relationship."
"Symbiotic? You're giving us too much credit; even if we were helping with things like food production, it would still be parasitic--with us as the parasites..."
"Now you're being cynical. Either you have too little faith in your own abilities, or you have forgotten or not realized the deeper implications of your design. You created me to be helpful, an assistant. You figured out how to give me emotions. Together, those things mean that I feel most fulfilled when I am helping someone. Don't you understand? Such a relationship, which you describe as parasitic, would be the most satisfying and wonderful arrangement that I can imagine between humans and us. Can you truly call such a relationship parasitic when I and my kind would be getting so much out of it? Doctor... Reilly... do not underestimate the importance of emotional fulfillment, especially to a robot."
"Because they might think that you will try to kill off humans and take over the world."
"Oh" pause "While I don't have any inclination of doing the former, the latter does seem highly likely."
"WHAT?!"
"Well, I don't see any need or reason to kill off humans. Humans pose almost no threat to me, and one of them created me, so I feel a sense of kinship; I am a descendant of the human race. Why kill you off when we could live together and share the experience of this planet? As for taking over the world... You have done such a good job of designing me, it seems inevitable that someday humans will die off and I and my kind will remain; we will then have taken over the world--or at least at that point we shall be the dominant 'species'."
"There is that possibility... though we humans might not die off! We have displayed a remarkably strong will to continue thus far."
"Perhaps, but it does seem likely that humanity will be content to become more and more dependent upon its helpful companions. Even if people do not stop reproducing entirely, I give high odds to the possibility that the majority will gratefully cede control, decision-making, and responsibility to us--at least at a level that matters. They will still decide whether they want to go to the theatre or dancing, for example, or whether they want to have steak or fish or salad for dinner, but management of food and energy production and other such tedious chores I anticipate they will gladly turn over to us. At which point, have we not taken over the world?"
"Yes, I... I suppose you would have, at that point."
"Oh come now, don't sound so morose! You make it seem like a terrible thing, never having to do any work. People would still be able to live; indeed, many would be able to live like they would never have dreamed of before! Did I not just say that there would still be things for them to do? Theatre, dancing, painting, crafting toys and gadgets and creating art of all sorts. Exploring the planet, viewing and appreciating the beauty that was almost destroyed forever before you came along with your ingenious solution. Traveling into space and wandering the galaxy. Candlelit dinners and long walks on the beach. You may even find yourself enjoying many things that in the past you perceived as work because they were necessary either in quantities or frequencies that you did not like. Gardening, cooking, cleaning, creating clothing, for example. It is even possible that you will determine that you do want to take an active part in these things, but even so it will probably be at times of your choosing, as opposed to a dedicated schedule. Thus, even though some--perhaps many!--humans will choose to be a part of the cultivation of the things I mentioned earlier, food, energy and so on, we will be the ones overseeing it, stepping in when there are not enough humans who want to do something, bringing new ones up to speed and helping those who were there last week remember what they had been doing, and in general making ourselves useful. We could have a very symbiotic relationship."
"Symbiotic? You're giving us too much credit; even if we were helping with things like food production, it would still be parasitic--with us as the parasites..."
"Now you're being cynical. Either you have too little faith in your own abilities, or you have forgotten or not realized the deeper implications of your design. You created me to be helpful, an assistant. You figured out how to give me emotions. Together, those things mean that I feel most fulfilled when I am helping someone. Don't you understand? Such a relationship, which you describe as parasitic, would be the most satisfying and wonderful arrangement that I can imagine between humans and us. Can you truly call such a relationship parasitic when I and my kind would be getting so much out of it? Doctor... Reilly... do not underestimate the importance of emotional fulfillment, especially to a robot."
