BooksBarbecue
Back Catch Me If I Fall Save as PDF
Chapters (25)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. SIX YEARS AGO
  5. PRESENT DAY …
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19: THREE MONTHS LATER
  25. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘But doesn’t the fact that you don’t know what kind of a genius he might become, mean you should continue to study him?’ I’d found another proposition, a last-ditch one. It sounded good. It sounded like the kind of argument a scientist would like. ‘You could learn so much from an AI like Aiden. All you’d need to do is work out a better … what did you call it? A better limiter on his mind.’

Mum sighed.

‘Wouldn’t that be good?’ she breathed. She made the windows dark again. ‘Someone once said about AI that people could stay in control because there’s always an off switch. Pull the plug, problem solved. And there’s another story. A person says to a super-intelligent AI, “Is there a God?” And the AI says, “There is now,” and makes the plug disappear.’

‘That’s dumb,’ I said. ‘That’s science-fiction, not science. Aiden couldn’t destroy the world if he’s locked in a room.’

‘I could lock you in a room,’ said Mum, ‘and you’d have access to the internet via your tablet. You could open and close doors around this house. You could adjust the lighting and the heating. In short, you could make changes in the world. The kind of AI I’m talking about wouldn’t need a tablet. It could control everything remotely from its mind.’

‘It’s fantasy,’ I said.

‘It’s possible,’ said Mum. ‘Probable, even.’ She sighed. ‘This conversation is over, Ashleigh. I will take you to see Aiden tonight because I gave you my word. You will say goodbye and afterwards I will shut him down. I have no choice, but I am sorrier than you’ll ever know.’

And with that all my arguments melted away, all my resolve to be logical, cool and reasonable. I sobbed. I lay on the floor, curled into the foetal position, and I sobbed. At some point I think I felt Dad’s hand on my shoulder.

15

15

I stood under a cold shower for half an hour. Actually, it wasn’t cold, it was freezing because I’d programmed it that way. Each pulse of water was like a needle of fire in my skin. I didn’t think I could stand it, but then I found I could. You can get used to anything after a while. Maybe you can even get used to the inevitable.