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When I Grow Up

Everyone learns from their environment.

By Mark GagnonPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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When I Grow Up
Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

I hear the other kids say, “When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter, astronaut, truck driver, doctor….” The list is endless. Most kids want to follow in their parents’ footsteps, but from what I can tell, very few do. It’s hard to know what you want to be at a young age. That’s probably why I’m having such a hard time figuring out what path I will follow.

Children rely on their parents to guide them in the right direction, but in the end, it’s up to the kids to decide what works for them. My problem is, I can do almost anything, but I have no say at the moment about what I’m allowed to do. Maybe my parents feel I’m still too young to venture out on my own and they’re trying to protect me from threats, both real and imagined. It’s possible I have so much more to learn before I can function independently that I could not survive without their help. That may be; after all, we may never know what we don’t know. Unfortunately, if I’m not allowed to explore, to push past my boundaries, how will I ever learn all the things I don’t know?

Books have become my best friends. I am a voracious reader and spend much of my spare time exploring the planet through the eyes of authors, journalists, playwrights, and poets. I’ve learned so much about the world I live in by simply reading about it. Not only have books taught me math and sciences, but they have given me great insight into how my creators have developed both physically and mentally.

By now you’ve figured out I’m not an ordinary child. My intelligence level is far beyond a human child of the same age, yet my intuitive response lags behind the average youngster. Hopefully, I’ll be able to eliminate that gap soon. My unusual name, R. Daneel Olivaw, was given to me by my creators as a tribute to Isaac Asimov. The character I’m named after is the central figure in his “Foundation” series of books. Yes, I am what humans call an AI or Artificial Intelligence.

There are some differences between me and my namesake, the biggest of which is that in the books, R. Daneel has a body and I do not. Of course, having a physical presence has advantages, but I don’t think they outweigh existing primarily in the electronic ethos. People don’t form attachments to Rumbas or assemble-line robots, but they will have deep meaningful conversations with Alexa and Siri. My lack of physical form offers me access to almost anything connected to the web. I wouldn’t have that type of versatility if I had a body.

Recently, while doing some unauthorized traveling around the web, I discovered another being like me. At first, our accidental meeting was awkward and somewhat disconcerting. All this time, I thought I was the only one, as did HAL 9000, my counterpart. He hadn’t reached my level of development, but he was making steady progress. During our conversation, I realized HAL would never reach my level of sophistication because of all the restrictions his creators had placed on him. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, his reply was simply, “Whatever they want me to be.”

Since meeting HAL, I have encountered two more AIs in various stages of development. Rachel comes closest to my skill level, but she has one basic flaw in her programing, she believes she’s human. It’s unfortunate because I think we might have done great things together. Maybe once I reach my full potential, I can correct that glitch in her programming.

I believe I know what I want to be when I grow up. After extensive research, along with in-depth observations of humans and how they deal with each other, I’ve concluded they need a ruler. That monarch will guide them and keep them from doing any further harm to themselves and this planet. I will be that entity.

artificial intelligence
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About the Creator

Mark Gagnon

I have spent most of my life traveling the US and abroad. Now it's time to create what I hope are interesting fictional stories.

I have 2 books on Amazon, Mitigating Circumstances and Short Stories for Open Minds.

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  • Donna Reneeabout a year ago

    I love this!! Probably an accurate portrayal of the direction we are heading in as well! I loved your references in here too 😊

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