Heimburger - Yamamoto: Intermission 6 / Story 6 (190-287)

"The Day Shion Came" explores the nature of consciousness and the various forces that impact its development. Shion's ability to develop a sense of self-awareness brings up the question of what parts of the mind must be emulated or taken into account when creating realistic artificial intelligence that will accomplish its goals as concisely as possible. Shion's evolution throughout the story demonstrates how self-awareness can alter the behaviors an AI may choose to exhibit, especially in the case of an AI that seeks to relieve emotional human suffering. When AI are given broad goals like protecting humanity from harm, it becomes very difficult for them to act when they realize that humans are some of the greatest dangers to themselves and each other. This seems to go along with the theme of storytelling being a tool that reveals truths about human nature as separate from historical doctrine. AI no longer make decisions based purely on the desire to provide physical protection for humans, but instead use their own emotions and the emotions of humans to influence them in a way which they predict will lead to their survival and success. If a human being causes harm to another human, the only way an AI can achieve its goal without violating the other laws is through mediation. Morally grey decisions continue to arise as new applications of artificial intelligence are developed today. A self-driving car may have to decide between protecting the driver more than the other person or car it hits in the case of a collision. My overall impression of the themes of The Stories of Ibis and its predictions of artificial intelligence tie with the actual state of AI today. Much like a computer program or video game, stories are simulations of events that allow us to explore the consequences of our actions without their real-life permanence. An AI simply simulates our goals through algorithms and demonstrates the possibilities and consequences that play out. Perhaps AI are useful for finding situations where values are pitted against each other and force ethical decisions upon us.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artificial-intelligence-positioned-to-be-a-game-changer/

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