Read Online Take Us to Your Chief by Drew Hayden Taylor - Free Book Online

adjusting his tie. “Proceed, but please send me a list of the material you are going to give the SDDPP . The innocuous stuff, as yo u said.”
    â€œO f course.”
    Chambers noticed, and she was sure Richards did too, that King’s right leg was bouncing lightly but persistently. Either he was working up the nerve to add something to the conversation or he had to go to th e washroom.
    Richards turned to King. “Is there anything you’d like to add, Professor?”
    King was a solitary man, used to long hours in the lab or in front of a computer—for good reason. Humans annoyed him, and as a result, communicating with them was problematic. The professor considered his relationship with his wife to be his greatest non-electronic accomplishment t o date.
    Looking down at a knot in the wood of the table in front of him, King blurted out, “I have some concerns, sir. About th e AI .”
    Richards sat back down and swivelled his chair to face the scientist. “And what would these concern s be?”
    â€œI have been reading the transcripts of Gayle’s—Dr. Chambers’s—conversations with th e SDDPP .”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œI… I think we might want to consider moving a little mor e cautiously.”
    Chambers was perplexed. This was very unlike her colleague. Had he seen something she hadn’t? “Mark, could you be a little more specific? What’s th e problem?”
    â€œThe way it’s been acting since it reached self-awareness. I am no expert on this… and I don’t know if I am even phrasing this correctly…” King finally looked across the table at her. “But the thing is acting a littl e neurotic.”
    Richards and Chambers said it at the same time. “Neurotic?!”
    â€œYes, it’s becoming insistent, pouty, developing the first hints of anger and frustration. Remember yesterday when you logged on? It wouldn’t communicate for seventee n minutes.”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œIt was upset that you went home last night and left it alone. It had wanted to talk all night and you couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. You ‘abandoned’ it. It appeared to me that it was being kind o f petulant.”
    Chambers remembered the incident but had a different spin on it. “I would not say petulant. I would say… reluctant. It’s still dealing with its self-awareness. Besides, aren’t you anthropomorphizing it a bit?”
    Richards cleared his throat. “Anthropomorphizing?”
    King responded, “Giving it human-like qualities. Gayle, we’re talking about raw intelligence. There’s nothing more human than that. Maybe it’s becoming more human-like than you think. That’s all I wanted t o say.”
    â€œDr. Chambers?” Once again, she was facing Richards’s scrutiny. “Do we have a neurotic AI on ou r hands?”
    She shook her head, perhaps a little too vehemently. “I think Professor King is exaggerating. I mean, who’s to say who, or what, i s neurotic…”
    â€œI can.” Evidently and unfortunately, Richards seemed to be an expert on the issue. Maybe it came with the tie, thought Chambers. He continued, “My mother has OCD . She has to flush the toilet three times, run the dishwasher three times and same with the washing machine. One sister cries every time she hears a Beatles song. Even the upbeat, happy ones. My other sister has seven cats. All named after the characters in the musical
Cats
. I am the only normal one.” His neck spasmed slightly. “I ask again, Dr. Chambers, do we have a neuroti c AI ?”
    Both King and Richards were looking at her, one accusing, the other questioning. She answered the only way she could. “No. Absolutely not. I guarante e it.”
    â€œVery well, then. Continue with your development o f it.”
    Richards stood up again. Evidently, the meeting was over. He left the room