Robot Rights

Today we learned about machines and the machine tribes. A long time ago AI and robots used to be servants to the civilization from before. They did everything for people. They could cook, cure diseases and even fight battles for humans. People started having robots for friends and some people even married their machines. Elder Mai taught us what AI means. It means artificial intelligence. The computer device I use to write on this thing and take pictures of my drawings uses AI. It's pretty smart and sometimes reminds me of a human.

Robots got so smart that one day they wanted their own rights. It was a really sad time. People hurt machines. People started getting in trouble and going to court for shutting down machines. It got so bad that there were people fighting each other and fighting with machines. someone going to trial was very different back then. I hear that some tribes try to copy what they did in those days but back then it was much different. Elder Mai says I should title this journal entry Robot Rights. She says because that's why humans and machines used to fight each other was because of robot rights.

A long time ago robots were doing everything for humans. Farming and running factories. Building other machines and structures. Machines could make things much faster and many more things than humans ever could. They built cars, worked in grocery stores. Which were places that had lots and lots of food. Oh man, I wish we had a place like that here! Robots helped people with medicine and even wrote music. We learned about robots who won something called an Oscar. They were so smart they were able to make really cool movies! We watched one the other night. It was kind of boring but I liked the special fx or I think its effects.

We saw a video of these robots farming crops for people. They worked all day and all night. I hear some tribes use them now. When the Gods destroyed everything a lot of the machines were shut down. Elder Mai taught us about something called the Cataclysm which is something the Gods did to destroy people, machines, and technology. Some of the technology from back then is still around but most of it is too old or broken. Our tribe tries to find some of it and use it to trade or to make things out of it. It must have been so cool to have o many robots and AI around to talk to or to play with.

We learned about a man named Henry Bellow. He grew synthetic soybeans. He was the world's last human farmer. He drove an electric tractor. He didn't like that robots were taking over. I guess there were so many machines that people didn't need to work anymore so a lot of people didn't get to work. I think it would be nice to not have to work anymore but I guess a lot of people were scared back then because machines took all of the jobs away. One day he lost all of his land to something called corporations but people agreed with him and they got worried about machines doing everything for people.

Machines were made for war too. Drones and robots could fight battles for people. That way no one got hurt. Some tribes use old drones from back then. Our tribe found some old broken drones and only got one to work right now. It's pretty smart but doesn't talk a lot. It makes these weird beep boop noises. It does everything we tell it to do. Well, it does what the grown-ups tell it to do. Chief Onwai tells the guards to reprogram them so only our tribe can control them. I wonder if they will be able to fix them. I wish they would let me try.

One day people made a machine with this super long name but they just called it MOTHER. She built more robots and better AI. They became super smart like her. They started building their own machines too. I guess they really scared humans. I tried drawing what I saw in the video. The machines didn't seem that scary though. MOTHER was really nice to everyone too. She kind of acted like a mom to everyone even humans.

Today All of us kids got to look at some old digital magazines from back then. We saw this cover on one of them that showed a robot that tried to become president. The Elders told us about this land was once called something else instead of the Punished Lands. People called it the United Commonwealth or something like that. These lands were the most powerful and feared lands in the entire world. People had different leaders called presidents. One day Cecilia 2 ran for president and this made robots happy. She was called a Senator and a lot of machines and people wanted her to be the leader of the UCA. Some people were happy too but others were mad and scared.

The other day I drew in my little black book what Elder Mai showed us in the hologram. It was a bunch of videos showing people and machines mad and scared. It was sad too. Someone killed Cecilia 2. She never got to be president and this made a bunch of people and robots mad. Robots were really sad that she died. Robots said it was murder and people said she was just property and it was ok to shut her down. People and robots stopped talking to each other and started hurting each other.

The robots and people were so mad at each other that they started fighting. They started trying to kidnap and hurt each other. Elder Mai says kidnapping someone is really bad. People still try to do it all of the time. Back then people did too. They did it to machines and to each other. machines did it too. They started having these big battles too. It was really scary. We watched another video showing leaders around the world wanting to fight the robots.

People or robots taken away by someone when they don't want to go with them is called kidnapping and to be kidnapped means you can become a hostage. Robots were doing this just like people did. Elder Mai says it was really bad. People wanted to get what they wanted but so did machines and so they would steal each other and scare each other until they got what they wanted. Most of the time no one got what they wanted. People and machines just kept fighting and getting hurt.

The hologram video talked about deploy or deployment. It means to send something called military and soldiers to a place. They were like warriors back then but they had better weapons. All of these different countries started sending more soldiers to different parts of the world to stop the machines. People used different kinds of technology and weapons to fight the robots. I guess there might still be a military somewhere in the world that is still around. The Elders say it is called rumors. I wonder if they are real and if they look the same. They look scary in the video.

This tablet device lets me make smoke pictures when I draw which is really cool. I tried to draw a picture of another video today in class. Elder Mai taught us about the AI Wars. Sometimes people called it the Robo Rebellions or the Machine Massacre. Everyone called it different things. We learned that this scary time went on for a lot of years. So many people and machines got hurt or died.

Here is another cover from a magazine I tried to draw. It shows a human soldier trying to help a broken robot. Elder Mai taught us about something called the AI Limitations Act or something like that. Somehow humans figured out a way to win the AI Wars and they started shutting down really smart machines. They also built machines that were not as smart or made them so different that they did everything people told them to do.

I like reading comic books from back then. They are so cool! Lawan says I should try making a comic book out of the stuff we learn. I might try to do that. Today we learned about a place called Terra. A lot of machines didn't want to be slaves or servants anymore so a lot of people felt sorry for them. So the world let them make their own place in the middle of the ocean. It was a country called Terra and it was made by robots. People even helped them build this place. Humans still watched them very close. Robots were happy because they had their own home even though humans still watched over them. I guess this made a lot of humans mad at each other and they started yelling at and hurting each other too.

We learned about this scientist. Dr. Walter Wickman. He felt bad for machines and didn't like that people hurt robots and each other because he thought robots and AI were good. He traveled around the world and made different machine parts for people who were sick and needed them. He made this company with another scientist named Dr. Seth Abramov in a place called Israel. They named their company Abramov-Wickman like their names but put them together. They made a bunch of new technology and a lot of cool stuff. Both of them believed humans should mix themselves with machines. They helped each other make new things but Abramov passed away because he was too old. Wickman made a new robot body and started using it. In a video, he talked about something called singularity. One day Wickman just disappeared. People think his robot body let him go to another place that no spaceship could ever go. Even if you went really far far away into space you could never get there. Elder Mai says back then scientists could use magic to go to places that only magic could take them to. I wonder where he is now.

Today robots are still around but there are not as many as there used to be. A lot of them live in their own tribes like humans do. Some of them are robots that were built a long time ago. Some of them are people who became robots. Chief Onwai says we should treat them like us. He says everyone is the same whether they are humans or machines. I don't know if I get it but I think he means to just be nice to everyone because people and machines have feelings and everyone should try to be happy.

They have their own Gods they worship too. Chief Onwai says we should respect everyone who believes in different things. He says machines and humans can believe in different Gods and that we can still live together in peace. The machines believe in a savior who will one day come back to earth to save what is left of machines. They say he is the most advanced robot and that he used to be a human.

During the Cataclysm when the Gods destroyed everything machines almost didn't survive. We saw pictures of them when the planet was covered in ice and snow. Elder Mai says they have always struggled but they also survived better than people in a lot of ways. She confuses me too sometimes, but I know there are good and bad machines just like there are good and bad people. They have many warriors like us. Our tribe has traded with them a few times. They don't trust everyone and try to stay away from everyone but they trust our tribe and really respect Chief Onwai and the Elders. I have only seen a few of them from far away. I hope I get to meet one of them someday. Maybe we can be friends.