Objections
© 2023 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  baroncoon, color by  Major Matt Mason



“Colonel Kamara,” the armadillo said, and his large ears perked at the image displayed on his padd. “Yes, Colonel?”

The kam who was the Kashlanin military attaché at Lalande acknowledged the Terran military attaché and began to speak, the padd giving a simultaneous translation. “Colonel, I am Garqar Kinan m’Dhan. I wish to speak with you, and with a Terran who is familiar with your artificial intelligence systems,” he said, stressing the last three words and grimacing as if the thought made him ill.

It probably did, the armadillo thought. “I’ll check with the staff here, sir, and try to find someone. If there are no experts here, would you speak with someone by a hypercomsat link?”

M’Dhan quirked one corner of his mouth. “That would be acceptable,” he said, and the padd’s screen went blank.

Kamara Lukas flicked an ear, drumming his fingertips on the padd’s glossy surface. He’d been in the room when Balakrishnan had stated the military’s wish to use AI patrol ships, so it made sense that m’Dhan would want to speak with him, as he was the military representative. It was also sensible that the kam would want to speak with an expert on AI.

He opened his padd and began a search of all of the staff on Lalande, a second search for available experts, and finally placed a call to the Embassy’s Political Officer. His briefing on Terra included the information that the Political Officer was also the Intelligence operative among the staff.

The colonel thought that the corsac fox should be kept informed.


***


Two days later, Garqar m’Dhan received a message from Colonel Kamara: “Please come to Conference Room A at the fourth cycle tomorrow.”

The kam considered, and acknowledged the message before relaying it to Ambassador k’Ven.


***


“Zogat, Colonel,” Kamara said the next day, doubtless mangling the pronunciation, as m’Dhan entered the conference room. There were two chairs at either end of a rectangular table, with a holoprojector set on the floor a short distance away to make the third point of a triangle. The projection showed the image of a gray squirrel in a suit.

The armadillo gestured at the image. “This is Renmin Ley, chief designer for Jinshu Xintai KK. He has agreed to answer any questions you may have,” he added, speaking at a pace he hoped wouldn’t give the shlan’s translator any issues. “He has the requisite security clearances, and is one of the scientists working on the patrol ships.”

“That’s correct,” Ley said.

“Very well. I will begin by stating the reasons we object to artificially sophont computers,” the kam said, “beginning with morality.” His ears flicked and his tailspur tapped against the floor. “We believe that life should never be perverted into a mechanism.”

“But you’ve domesticated animals throughout your history,” Ley said.

“As have you,” m’Dhan said. “Perhaps I should amend my statement: We believe that sophont life should never be perverted into a mechanism.”

“But they’re useful tools,” Ley said, his fluffy tail twitching back and forth. “They’re planetary administrators, they help the military with strategic planning – you know they superintend system defenses – “

“And they showed themselves to be vulnerable,” m’Dhan said, “but that is immaterial.” He glanced down at his fingers and his claws retracted. “Tell me: Are the AIs loyal?”

The squirrel looked offended. “Of course they are! Their loyalties and motives are programmed into them at inception.”

“’Programmed’ into them. They don’t learn them.”

“Of course not. Although I’ll concede that learning is a form of programming.”

“Aka. They are capable of learning, of acquiring more knowledge and altering their programming?”

The squirrel nodded. “Yes. They’d be poor tools if they weren’t.”

“I understand. These systems that you and other companies build, are they loyal to your Empire, and prior to that, to the Confederacy?”

“Yes. And we build exclusively for the government, and the military.”

“Several of the older Colonies use these systems. Were they made by your company?”

“Probably.” Ley smiled with obvious pride. “Our company, and its predecessors, have been designing logic systems for over a century – “

“Where do their loyalties lie?”

“What?” Ley blinked, and Kamara glanced down the table at m’Dhan.

“It is a simple question,” the kam said as he straightened one red-striped brown uniform sleeve. “Are systems that are now part of an independent colony world or network still loyal to the Terran Empire?”

The squirrel put a paw to his chin and thought before he replied, “No, I suppose not.”

“Perhaps they learned new loyalties and motives,” m’Dhan said.

Ley swallowed. “Yes, that’s possible.”

“How would you know?”

“Eh?”

“How would you know if one of your systems had decided to learn new motives or loyalties?”

Ley dithered for a full minute before he said, “I’m not sure.”

“Ernnh.” Colonel m’Dhan sat for a moment, his long prehensile tail swishing. His ears perked. “Tell me, Ley-jih, can you tell if Colonel Kamara is lying to you?”

The armadillo looked up, startled, and looked at the squirrel in the three-dimensional display as Ley replied, “I would have to observe him for a time, understand his body language.”

“’Body language,’ yes. Thank you, I was unfamiliar with the term in Terran Basic. If you were familiar with Kashlanin culture and ‘body language,’ and had time to observe me, could you determine if I was lying?”

Another long pause, and finally Ley nodded. “Yes, I think I would.”

“Can one of these artificial intelligences lie?”

“Um, er, that is – “

“How would you be able to tell if the system was lying?”

Ley finally threw up his paws. “I don’t know. Ask them, I guess.”

M’Dhan raised one eyebrow. “You would ask a z’regetin mogshērdjir that you suspected of lying if it was, in fact, lying,” he said. “And you would expect a truthful reply.” He huffed a breath through his nostrils and got to his feet. “I thank you for your assistance, Ley-jih. Garqar Kamara, I would speak to you alone.”

Kamara nodded and turned to the display. “Ley-jih, fair day.” The squirrel merely nodded, and the holoprojector went dark. “Yes, Colonel?”

“I intend to report this meeting to my superiors, and to the Ambassador,” m’Dhan said, his tail twitching. “My conclusions are that these artificial intelligences cannot be trusted because, although their motives and loyalties are initially programmed into them, they are learning systems and can change those loyalties without you or anyone else determining if they had, or whether they are lying to you if questioned. My recommendation is to advise the Terran government to abandon their patrol ship program.”

The armadillo nodded, getting to his feet. “I’ll pass on what you’ve said to Ambassador Balakrishnan.”

“Very well. Narchak, Colonel,” and m’Dhan walked out of the conference room.