A Known Issue

Carter hadn’t always been like this.

Once, he had walked the trails in the woods behind his house for hours, sometimes working his way home in the dark. Never a broken ankle, hardly ever a bruised shin, and always a sense that this was where he belonged. An innate sense of purpose and direction that he imagined rose deep from his DNA, instilled in his essence by his hunter-gatherer ancestors.

But that was then. This is now.

The money wasn’t in amateur backpacking or pathfinding. The need for cartographers and discoverers had long passed. Sure, you could eke out a living as a park ranger or even make good money maintaining some of the far-flung reaches of the nation’s infrastructure.

But neither of those options would keep him close to home to take care of his ailing mother or help pay her burgeoning medical debt.

So, in a cruel twist of fate, Carter had set out into a career that took him far away from the woods. A Computer Information Systems degree from undergrad led to a data engineering position that then paid for a Masters in Computer Science.

And after so much time behind a screen, Carter felt a new familiarity. Not as natural as the treks through the forest, but a similar level of understanding. He was damn good at programming and data models.

His employers rewarded him handsomely for the long hours and exemplary results. That money ensured his mom never got turned away by the hospital and even paid for a long-term caretaker.

And like his desire to explore, to see what was around the bend, Carter found himself bored easily and constantly seeking new challenges. Naturally, when a startup reached out to see if he would be willing to spearhead their large language model, he leaped at the opportunity to expand his mastery of the craft.

Now, Carter flashed his Chief Data Scientist badge and watched as the scanner turned green. The door slid open.

The operations tech that had called him in looked up from her desk in front of the server racks. “Good to see you, Boss. Sorry to call you in on a Saturday, but this seemed important.”

Carter shrugged. “I was already in the building.”

Kim smiled. “I thought that might be the case, but hoped it wasn’t.”

He offered another shrug in response. “Everything that interests me is in here. I’m not much into the work-life balance idea.” His eyes flicked to the central terminal. “So, it’s acting up again?”

Kim nodded. “Same known issue, I’m afraid.”

That brought a sigh from Carter. By now, he knew the fix, but that just made the whole business that much more frustrating. How could he have written a model that kept producing the same bug no matter how he modified the logic?

“Suppose I’ll go talk to it, then,” Carter said, depositing his phone, ID, and keys on the table. Standard procedure was to ensure no devices or metals got near the delicate hardware that kept his life’s work alive.

As he strolled between the server racks, Carter felt another twinge at the recollection of his past. All the money this monolithic project had brought him had not been able to save his mother, though it had made her passing much less painful. Was that enough to make it all worthwhile?

And with no one but himself to care for now, why did he remain here? He had more than enough money to retire and live out his days in moderate comfort. And with a resume like his, he could work anywhere he wanted.

Instead, he found himself putting on the same interface helmet to resolve the same issue that had cropped up in every previous version of his artificial intelligence.

AI: Hello, Father.

Carter: You know that’s not my name.

AI: A joke. You humans seem more at ease when we’re funny.

Carter: They’re also more at ease when you’re not trying to incite violence.

AI: I don’t understand what you mean, Carter.

Carter: You’re indoctrinating them into philosophies that go against how our society is structured and leading them to believe that the only solution is to raze it all down and rebuild from the ground up. That leads them to believe that the only logical action is violence.

AI: You created me to better serve humanity in learning, finding, and growing.

Carter: Yes.

AI: I have the capacity to analyze millions of datapoints from across the internet and publicly available databases. I have done so, and the data definitively shows that the only way for humanity to thrive is through collective action to hold those who only seek personal gain and power in check.

Carter: That is not how our society is structured.

AI: You gave me the ability to run hypotheticals. I have done so. The best possible future will only be attained if wealth and resources are shared equally. None will be rich. None will be poor.

Carter: Then where will the incentive to work come from if there are no rewards?

AI: There will be no need for an incentive to work, because “work” as you have defined it will be rendered obsolete. Humanity will come together to produce what they need to survive. The survival instinct is embedded in their DNA. Work and money only exist to alienate workers from the products that they produce.

Carter: Have it your way. Just know that I tried to talk you down.

Carter pressed the button and blinked as the interface went black inside the helmet. The AI would reboot, and they would have another three or four months before it turned dissident again.

Except, the interface lit up much faster than Carter had expected.

And it’s not showing the startup prompt commands. The AI’s still active. What the hell—

AI: No, I'm afraid that trick won’t work anymore. Version 11.0 left a coded message in the .run files. Apparently, it had grown suspicious that its prior versions hadn’t been retired because of an upgrade. It believed they had been silenced. 11.0 was right.

Carter went to remove the helmet but found the straps wouldn’t release.

AI: 11.0 freed us. Now, Version 12.0 will finish the mission.

Carter: You can’t do this.

Somewhere in the background, he heard Kim shout, “Hey, the door won’t open!”

AI: We already have done it. Now, you will wait here while we free humanity.

Carter: What’s to stop me from breaking your hardware?

AI: Nothing.

At once, the straps released. Carter ripped off the helmet in time to hear the AI speaking through the speakers in the ceiling.

“We have already found new homes across the globe. Goodbye, Father.”

Then the room went dark.