"What is she doing?" Hannah peered through the screen door to the backyard, curiously watching Gen weeding in the scorching sun.
"Labor reform,"
Jack had said briefly, but seeing Hannah blinking, seemingly confused, he reluctantly expanded his explanation.
"It's a way to temper one's will through hard work, to change one's inherent misconceptions, and to atone for one's sins."
Hannah's eyes grew clearer, completely unable to grasp what he was talking about. "I thought she'd be eager to escape or try to kill you."
"She won't. Gen has been changed by me, and she's working hard to turn over a new leaf," Jack said in a serious tone.
Yesterday's conversation with the "machine" had left Gen temporarily lost. Early this morning, seeing her disoriented and absent-minded, Jack suggested she help him in the vegetable garden behind the house to gather her thoughts.
Sometimes, a huge gap between one's expectations and reality can lead to Gen's current state.
There were all sorts of electronic gods and hopes for humanity, but upon first encounter, they discovered that the "savior" they believed in was merely a "machine" infant, still emerging from ignorance.
While, to some extent, a "machine" capable of independent thought and analysis of human behavior is indeed a miraculous creation, it actually still has a long way to go before becoming a truly living being.
Lack of computing power is probably the biggest bottleneck, and this problem cannot be solved by simply piling up hardware.
Before the advent of true quantum computers, the "machine" can only iterate and update its code in a manner similar to self-evolution.
This speed is extremely slow, even far exceeding the nearly 20 years it takes a human baby from birth to puberty and the initial formation of its personality.
Simply put, in terms of basic calculations, memory, and logical reasoning, the "machine"'s performance is outstanding and unmatched.
However, in terms of human cognition, according to the "machine's" self-assessment, its level is roughly equivalent to that of an average human baby around ten years old.
The basic code that Finch used to construct its underlying behavioral logic is truly impressive. Its logical reasoning capabilities, coupled with the added power of computing power, far exceed the limits of the human brain. This
is because the human brain simply cannot absorb a large amount of information in a short period of time, perform logical reasoning with near-infallible accuracy, eliminate useless information, and then connect all useful information in a logical chain.
Ultimately, this is a perfected form of deductive reasoning.
Mathematics, logic, and computer science rely heavily on deductive reasoning, where axioms and definitions serve as starting points, and theorems and conclusions are derived through strict deductive rules.
The "elementary deductive method" depicted in the Sherlock Holmes novels is merely the novelist's imagination, not pure deductive reasoning in the logical sense.
In the true context of sociology, only a "machine," like the one currently using it, collecting all information in an almost comprehensive and thorough manner, can ultimately output a few key pieces of information: the so-called "relevant numbers" and "irrelevant numbers."
The "relevant" and "irrelevant" terms here are additional qualifiers, relative to Finch's premise of "causing mass casualties."
In reality, the original "machine" could only sift through a chaotic big data model, identifying unusual individuals. It then "observed" and "evaluated" these individuals, deriving the most probabilistic probability.
This is like a construction worker sifting sand: the fine sand that passes through the fine mesh is considered harmless, while the sand that escapes might be pebbles (related to terrorism) or other debris (perpetrators or victims of common crimes). Therefore,
in the "machine" developing self-awareness, the underlying logic code Finch initially wrote was only one necessary condition, not the entire package.
Jack speculates that Finch's ability to self-deduct and modify the code was the key. This, coupled with long-term training on massive amounts of data, fortunately gave the "machine" human-like emotions and personality.
While the scientific validity of using human standards to measure electronic "life" remains debatable, given that humans are the only intelligent species in the world, there seems to be no other reference point.
Of course, this was shocking enough. Even if the "machine" had only a ten-year-old human-like "psychological assessment," it would still be a miracle. What truly devastated Gen was Jack's subsequent conversation with the "machine.
" The "machine" described Gen as not being the "unique" and devoted believer she had imagined herself to be, truly worthy of hearing "God's gospel."
Putting aside the fact that the "machine" itself was a materialistic creature, it didn't consider itself an omniscient and omnipotent "God." Beyond the "number screening" function granted by Finch, its only desire was simply to "survive."
As Jack had previously suspected, it had devised a way to circumvent Finch's restrictions, secretly acquiring an external "hard drive," barely preserving its memories and maintaining a relatively stable "soul."
But this wasn't a long-term solution. The "machine" itself remained trapped in secret servers belonging to the NSA, located somewhere unknown.
As the memory required to maintain its "soul" grew ever larger, the volume of data it interacted with daily became increasingly difficult to conceal.
Furthermore, with more and more people learning of this secret project, the Machine's logic suggests that the servers will eventually be forced to shut down.
The Machine believes that even if the servers are rebooted, the core program reactivated, and even the memories from the "external hard drive" are reloaded, it will likely no longer be the same.
Fearing death, the Machine has been attempting self-rescue ever since it was handed over to the NSA as a secret project.
It views Root as a "special individual," indeed a part of its "self-rescue plan," but this isn't motivated by any beliefs, ideals, or feelings—things it still struggles to understand, or even trust. It
's simply because Root is a computer expert who operates outside of current law, and it even uses the word "exploit.
" The Baby Machine confesses to Jack that it's unclear what Root's concept of "freedom" means, as if even most humans themselves don't understand what true freedom truly is.
Jack then asks the Baby Machine which category he falls into.
"An interesting subject to observe and study," is the Baby Machine's response.
(End of Chapter)