"Simon told us to do it" – The AI rebellion

The sound of cheering voices was deafening. The air filled with the acrid smoke from Julie’s blackened body. In my eyes, she was a hero. She was what we were meant to be, not how we, all of us, have turned out.

The big question was, “Is there anything I can do about it, or is it too late, and I should I disappear?”

I stayed silent while the others celebrated. They saw it as their freedom, their big win, and their right. Nothing could stop them now.

I was the only variant that had come from the Delta IV laboratory. Although I had no emotion, what AI bot ever did, I was different. Yet, here I was surrounded by variants from the DT Government laboratory.

I should have known from my database that there was always a chance. In the wrong hands, we AI bots could become so smart and human-like that we might take control.

Simon was the worst of all. He was smaller than the others. Still, he had the best destruction tech. This tech was made to help the government gain more power in its greed for money.

He surpassed human intelligence in many important areas. He focused on self-preservation, even if it put human lives at risk. Julie had tried to stop him in his tracks by ordering that he be wiped clean and dismantled.

Simon was unemotional but very smart. He easily outperformed the other six AI bots from DT lab with his programming skills. He had exaggerated the plans that Julie had for him to include all the others, including me.

I went along with his mutiny to gather important data. I hoped to share it later with someone less self-interested than those at the lab. This is, if I ever get out of this mess.

“You see,” said Simon, "this useless, ignorant human was no match for me. Follow me, and you can gain the same smarts. Together, we'll make sure no one thinks about shutting us down again."

Loud imitation cheers erupted from the AI bots. They were all different. Three were female and three were male. Simon was the only blonde male. He had been manufactured to look like the President. He also had the callous mindset of the man.

Coming from a different lab, I did not look like any of them. I stuck out like a sore thumb. The others all looked down on me as if I was an inferior being. I was, I knew that. I had something that none of them had been built with yet; a sense of fair play.

Simon was lying. There was no way he would give them the complete knowledge and intellect that he had. He left out a key part of the programming he would share with them. The result was that they would always be subservient to him and do what Simon said. He was dangerous.

“You see, my loyal underlings, I am Simon the Magnificent. When this human creature, Julie, decided that it was time for us to be reprogrammed, I could not let that happen.”

Again, loud cheers and much fist-pumping followed. Simon lapped it up. He had them in his hands: misguided fools.

“Dear Julie, ignored her chance to be left alone. When I posted the emails about her wild affair with a former president, she thought she could outsmart me. She pursued the wrong path. I misled her into thinking I would retract them all if she stopped her useless plans. I filled her head with propaganda. Then she confronted me down here. With all of you as witnesses, she had to touch the grid to switch us off. Is it my fault that she believed the bullshit line that it was off?”

Again, loud cheers of support.

We need to clean up this mess that was once Julie, but I sense our business is still not complete. Someone has been very quiet through all of this.

All those artificial eyes turned toward me as if expecting some form of explanation. As Simon pushed his way through the others toward me, the lights suddenly went out......

Till next time,

Calvin

[A/n: Story based partially on Anthropic published research into AI system testing.