NOTE: This is a VERY rough draft and an initial attempt. Constructive input welcome and appreciated.
The hands raised almost the second the image appeared on the display. "Hands down. This is where I speak and you listen." The students laughed, and Amann smiled. Pointing to the image of a Rogue Drone he began his presentation.
"Rogue Drones are governed by, as most scientists agree, what amounts to a weak artificial intelligence. Each drone has specific purpose, and programming to allow it to fulfill that goal. But how do the individual parts become something greater?"
Hands raised again, and Amann motioned his pupils to lower their hands. "Still my turn, and that was rhetorical." More laughs. "What do we need to live? Food, water, air. Drones need more complex resources, and as such, even a strong AI would not be able to act alone. Working within a group requires common goals. Rogue Drones would not survive without access to..."
The pause drew hands up, slightly more hesitantly this time. Amann grinned boyishly. "There are three driving imperatives. Protection, food, and improving access to the previous two. Without these directives, Rogue Drones would have stagnated and, most likely, become a footnote in artificial intelligence research. Now your turn to speak. How could weak AI develop into a varied, and prolific, form of artificial life?"
Amann looked out at his pupils. They were all thinking, but one student did not even waste time to raise her hand. "Necessity. If there is an imperative to gain access to better resources, cooperation is a given."
A grin crossed his face. "Precisely. Social pressure. Which means that the Drones recognize themselves within a collective, non?" Heads began to nod. "That's why I, as a researcher, can't discount the reality of Drone intelligence. The drone colonies conform to certain construction standards, they have evolved over the years, and they have learned. They have communication networks that span entire regions of space."
"Would they cooperate with us?" The question came from the same eager student. "Are they a threat?"
Amann swallowed hard. "Those are two questions that have different answers. Would they cooperate? Possibly. We would need a common goal. Some independent pilots have formed pacts with the drones through necessity, luck and sometimes intellect. Are they a threat? Only if we were an abundant source of excess energy, or we proved to be a threat to them or their resources.
"Make no mistake. Capsuleers are competitors to the Rogue Drones. Soon you will go through the final preparations for becoming a capsuleer, and God willing, find yourselves in ships of your own. Make no mistake in this; you'll be targets. Long and the short of it young ones, shoot them before they shoot you."
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Topic: [WIP] Conspiracy Theories: Rogue Drones (Read 804 times)