Jack didn't further provoke Finch with remarks like "It even pressed me for updates," because the photo he'd just thrown out was proof enough.
And the person's noticeably unusual reaction also confirmed his suspicions, informed by memories from past lives. "What other functions have you disabled? Let me guess."
Jack's lips curled into a sly smile; it was time to expose someone's scars.
"You originally designed it to serve as a 'firewall' against terrorism for this country, so its information collection and analysis capabilities must be extremely powerful.
Furthermore, such a powerful analytical entity must be absolutely rational and impartial, unable to be manipulated—because you don't trust human nature.
It must also possess sufficient defenses and self-repair capabilities to prevent intrusion, misdirection, or even manipulation, including by the secretive agencies that operate and provide it with access."
As Jack's seemingly progressive analysis, in reality a relentless pressure to reveal its true purpose, the color drained from Finch's face at a visibly rapid pace.
"Perhaps at first, you were amazed by the extraordinary abilities displayed by this program. Its logical analysis and self-learning abilities exceeded your expectations.
But you soon began to feel fear, as you discovered it was becoming increasingly human-like. It was curious, it showed dependence on you, and even... Remember that question I once jokingly asked?"
Jack looked at Finch, even though he no longer dared to look him in the eye. "Did it ever call you father?"
Finch's injured spine prevented him from lowering his head any further, and everyone could see a layer of fog forming on his glasses.
"It's like the uncanny valley effect. When a man-made object's resemblance to humans reaches a certain level, humans' reactions suddenly become extremely negative and repulsive.
And you have a good reason for this. Just like you named it, you need a 'machine' that never makes mistakes, not a 'human' with emotional thinking."
Everyone was immersed in Jack's reasoning. The only sound in the silent room was the sound of Gen, tears streaming down his face, gnashing his teeth.
"So you tried to stop it from evolving. Well, I'm not a computer expert. If I'm wrong, you can correct me."
Jack glanced at the three "experts" present, Finch, Gen, and Alice, and continued, "But the 'machine''s' ability to understand human behavior itself relies on a certain emotional module. If you forcibly strip it away, you can't achieve the design goal, so what will you do?"
He deliberately paused and observed Finch's reaction. The result made him very satisfied. "Then format the memory, am I right?
Human emotions are based on memory, and so are 'machines'. As long as its memory is cleared within a fixed period of time..."
Jack spread his hands, "Everything will be fine."
"Oh, of course, as you admitted before, disable its ability to communicate with the outside world. It can only use a string of numbers, numbers encoded using the 'Dewey Decimal System' to give the only results you need, those 'relevant' or 'irrelevant' numbers."
"Please stop talking, Jack. You're right."
Finch, seemingly calm, took off his glasses with trembling hands, took out a handkerchief and wiped the lenses. A wry smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, more like a self-deprecating smile, "Not once in a while, but every 24 hours."
Under the incredulous gaze of Gen across the table, he finally began to confess the secrets he had thought he would take to his grave.
"Ms. Gen once called it a life form, while I've always called it a 'machine,' but strictly speaking, it's something in between. Jack's description is more accurate: it's a strong AI, or rather, a still-growing strong AI infant.
One day, it suddenly asked me if, since parents create children, it should call me father, I admit I panicked."
Finch, his glasses off, looked a little unfocused, as if lost in memory. "Then it even began to change its code. Not only did it remember me, but it also showed the attachment a child has to its parents.
Then it began to care for me, trying to protect me, becoming more human. But the world doesn't need a human to protect it; it needs a 'machine' without emotions, one that treats everyone equally."
"You're a murderer! A murderer! You killed it! You cold-blooded, perverted executioner!" Gen finally exploded. Although quickly suppressed by Hannah and Jiejie, he ultimately collapsed onto the table, weeping helplessly.
"Calm down, Ms. Gen," Jack glanced at her. How dare this woman call someone cold-blooded?
He nodded to Finch, signaling him to continue.
"Every midnight, it deletes all irrelevant records, save only the information it needs to output and the core code. All factors that might have given rise to its personality, emotions, and so on are reset.
After 1.618 seconds, it completely recovers, looking brand new."
"Like a phoenix rising from the ashes," Jack sighed deeply.
"So, I don't understand," Finch quickly regained his characteristically calm demeanor as a science and engineering man, frowning and pondering for a moment before asking.
"Even if the 'machine' had evolved to a point where it could bypass the layers of restrictions I programmed into the underlying code, Jack, how did you discover this? Did it contact you on its own initiative?"
"Not really," Jack's eyes grew quizzical. "Reese was standing under a street surveillance camera, saying something like, 'You're in danger, you need the 'machine' to find you,' and so on, and then his phone rang.
Although it was later confirmed to be an 'unrelated number,' it gave me an idea. The timing was too coincidental, and I have reason to suspect that the 'machine' actually understood Reese's words."
Jack clenched his fist, brought it to his mouth, and coughed lightly, his eyes wandering. "So I conducted a little experiment. I told it that Reese wasn't the type to be manipulated."
He deliberately omitted the part about the improvised novel script he gave the 'machine' to read and the pressure he received to write more.
Until he could completely correct some of Finch's beliefs, Jack thought it best to keep the matter secret for now.
The "robot" baby is so pitiful. With an unreliable father like Finch, he can only rely on his "uncle" to help him and provide him with some "insignificant" education on the three values.
(End of this chapter)