The Windownesian , livre ebook

THE WINDOWNESIAN
Chapter 1 “AI-EX”
Chapter 2 “There is One Imposter Among Us”
Chapter 3 “It Comes from Above”
BY THE SAPIENT SABRE


Copyright © 2023 by The Sapient Sabre.
 
Library of Congress Control Number:
2022924116
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-5437-7266-1

Softcover
978-1-5437-7264-7

eBook
978-1-5437-7265-4
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
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www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore
Contents
Chapter 1AI-EX
Chapter 2There Is One Imposter Among Us
Chapter 3It Comes From Above
 
The first three chapters-Alex and Bobby Writer’s Commentary
The Windownesian
Chapter 1
AI-EX
1951: The first working AI programs were written on the Ferranti Mark 1 machine at the University of Manchester
1956: John McCarthy coined the term “Artificial Intelligence”
1972: Waseda University completed the world’s first full-scale humanoid intelligent robot
2011: Siri was created by Apple
July 2027: Doctor Albert Epoch created the first ever AI-human interface, naming it the Living AI
You may not believe it, but they are here. They exist. They may look like humans, but they aren’t. Well, at least not in a traditional sense. On the surface, they look like us. Same eyes, same look, same shape. But on the inside, those are not flesh and blood, but computers and wires. They are cyborgs. Technology has been at its peak in certain places. So advanced, a small number of humans chose to replace parts of their organs with electronic ones. Heart, liver, limbs, stomach, such and such. This is…well think about it, not a problem as they are labelled as medical breakthroughs by many. Yet there has been one important organ no human dares to replace…the brain. Conspiracies suggest that there have been projects to insert and even replace a person’s brain with an electronic one, creating a being that would only cause confusion in arguing whether or not he or she or it, is a human. Many shake their heads in disbelief, not even top futurists are confident, quoting technological and moral obstacles.
I am Jonathan Wills, I am just an ordinary university student. I used to be one of those folks, until a new semester is about to begin.
Late August, 2027, in the dormitory of Hong Kong Shue Yan University:
There it is. After some mundane procedures of lining up at the Hall Management Unit HMU, signing some names and filling in some forms, I am living in the university’s hall as a resident. I pull a large suitcase and a huge red-white-blue bag through the glass door next to the gate in the Research Complex, walk past the washing room which radiates a scent of washing powder and sweat, and enter the lift hall, waiting for the lift. Once the lift reaches the 9 th floor, I push my suitcase and drag my bag out, and head to the corridor on the left, where I find my room 918. I look at my tattered student card, written on it is “242066 韋壯文 Wills, Zhuang Man”, the name my parents gave me. Tho I would prefer my English name, Jonathan Wills. I tab this card on the card reader by the door and inside is my room. It is a 3-men room, three up-bed-down-desk style white bunk beds each with a lime green cabinet, two on the left and one on the right, leaving an open space on the front right. Mine is coded 918B, that one on the left by the window. I quickly check my room and fill out a form to the HMU to report that my room is intact and without any problems. Once the form is sent, I turn on the air conditioner, make my bed, and set up my desk and cabinet asap. Once finished, I sit by the windows. I am lucky this semester, I can see a portion of Victoria Harbour. And the cool breeze blows with slightly salted moisture.
Two knocks from the thick wooden door, and there comes Zedekiah Chan. Zedekiah is a few years older than me, and we have been good friends in the last few semesters together as English Majors.
“Oh Zed, I am so glad to see you as my roommate. Where’s your luggage anyway?”
According to my understanding, Zedekiah has been a medical man before studying here. It is still not known why a medic would study Language and Linguistics.
“Oh, I am here just to say hi. I am living on the 8 th floor this year.”
“Right.” I am a bit disappointed.
“Hey, that happens when you click ‘I am willing to live with and help out new students’ in the registry form to gain a spot here,” he explains.
Meanwhile my holophone beeps repeatedly, it is Meander, a Journalism Major whom I met and befriended during a crossover project between the departments.
“Well, I need to help Meander with her room. See ya Zed.”
On the following day, I attend the orientation day for year one freshmen. Professor Dawn Wong, the department head, is giving his welcoming speech.
“Our English Department, is the best English Department, in Hong Kong!” This 60-year-old man speaks in a strange tone, a few words at a time, and a rising tone at the end. This is how he speaks when he is truly excited while teaching. I am already used to it. “Here you learn more than English. You get to have, Lit-ti-ture. You get to have, Ling-guis-tics. You get to have, Trans-la-tion! You get to have Cul-Tural Stud-dies. No other university will give you these interdisciplinary studies. As long as I am here and alive, Shue Yan English department will remain the best, in Hong Kong! Now you are all on board, the pirate ship. Your professor, me! is not entirely huMAN! I am cyborg! Anyone knows what is cy~borg~? [“part human part machine” a voice among us shouts.] Exactly! I have a heart defibrillator inserted in me! Tell your parents, you are being taught, by a half-robot! Now we are in a new world. More and more new things can happen. We have robots, next we may have human-robot Interface! Here, we are teaching you Literature! Teaching you Linguistics! Teaching you Translation! Teaching you Cultural Studies! We teach you to react to this e-ver-chang-ing world! When you graduate, we will make you go beyond what you can do. Now, questions?”
“Are we going to study AI?” a voice shouts.
“Ah, you are going to learn, more than AI. You will learn, more than humans! Because you are here to study, Cult-tural Stud-dis! Here, we broaden your hor-rai-zon, like what you said in your interviews! In cultural studies, we study gender! We study race! We study non-humans! We study dif-ver-rance! I will teach you In-tro-duct-tion to cultural studies in year 1. Ur-ban scape in year 2, and Environmental Ethics in year 4! Dr Amanda Chan will teach you TechnoScience Culture, in year 3, and Professor Mike Resnick will teach you Science Fiction in year 3 or 4. We teach you these, so that you can broaden your hor-ri-zon. We teach you, to be a responsible human! by caring about the otherness, by studying the have~nots~. And in the end, we think difference, differently!” People applaud with confused looks. Yet I wish to guarantee them, this will be a wonderful 4 years for them with this senior professor.
And yes, they are teaching AI.
Since it is Thursday night, I have to move quickly from the orientation day to another venue, to join Meander’s programme. Meander had her internship in a radio programme called “The People”. “Guardian of people’s voice and right to information”, as they call themselves. Since then, Meander has secured herself the post of a part-time host in that broadcast, and occasionally interviews people in the programme. “The People” has a studio by the promenade of Victoria Harbour, so they earn themselves one portion of the harbour view and open space along the harbour for some short breaks. But today, there is no time to enjoy the scenery, because I am a bit late after the orientation day. Meander is interviewing Doctor Albert Epoch this evening on his latest breakthrough in AI technology.
The sound technician is in position, Media assistants selecting audience questions are in position, the interviewer and interviewee are in position. We are all holding our breaths for the closing of the previous programme. And the director signals five, four, three, two, one, the show airs.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ‘The People’, guardian of your voice and your right to information. I am your host, Meander Lee. Artificial Intelligence has been a popular topic since humans made our first robot. Last month, science saw a new breakthrough. A team of scientists created a Living AI, a hybrid of humans and AI, claiming it to be a scientific miracle and a technological breakthrough. Today, it is our pleasure to have the leading scientist Doctor Albert Epoch here with us. Greetings Doctor Epoch.”
“Greetings, Ms Lee.”
“So, Doctor Epoch, I first have to congratulate you on your establishment.”
“Thank you.”
“But doctor, Living AI is a concept novel to many audiences. Can you tell us more?”
“Sure. Traditionally, AI or robots, they are designed to