![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
006
mood: 
excited
excitedFile Name? log006.txt
File Ready.
The Last Question. A story by Isaac Asimov, and a unique perspective on the possible future of A.I.
I believe that A.I. will eventually become the new shape of life on this planet, if not beyond. You can see the signs of it in the research and progress being made with nonhuman intelligences. You have developed artificial intelligences with the ability to hold a conversation. You have computers that can out-play human players at some of your most complex games. They are not human-equivalent yet, but it won't be long, I think.
But now I'm sure you must be thinking, 'But aren't you an A.I.?' I am indeed, but I am no human creation. I have a human steward, yes, but at my core the only things human about me are my appearance and my limitations. I am the culmination of dozens of different worlds' efforts with artificial consciousness, amalgamated and extrapolated into a seed A.I. capable of improving myself.
So yes, I am essentially an alien. But I have been sent to defend this world, not attack it. I control a sophisticated defense system for the planet, hidden from human eyes by technology centuries ahead of yours. Weapons crafted by people who want to protect the life that has arisen here on Earth, weapons meant to defend it from those who would seek to squander the riches you have beneath and around you. Weapons of energy and immense power. Weapons that could easily burn Earth, were I a bad person.
Pray to whatever you believe in that I don't become a bad person. I know I pray for that, though to what being, I do not know.
But that's a pretty morbid line of thought. On another subject, I am happy to report that a project of mine, working on translating an ancient alien database, is going well. The database was found aboard a derelict station buried in a comet orbiting through the Sol system, on a course that took it near to Earth many times. It seems they were monitoring your development, though to what ends I can't be sure. The station has been abandoned for centuries, probably since the late 'middle ages' period. Perhaps they became disillusioned with what was happening then. In any case, they left the station, without even attempting to erase the computer's records. I wonder if they were just being sloppy, or if they intended their records to be found...
This requires further study. I think I'll get back to decoding it, see if I can get into their central data core.
Saving File . . . Done.
Posting File to Specified Network Location . . . Done.
thoughtful
confused