Chapter 11: Empathy

Empathy is the ability to share someone else's feeling or experience by imagining what it would be like to be in his or her situation. I wrote this chapter with three things in mind:

1. To strengthen the bond between Viper and David through this quality displayed by the former towards the latter, in light of the recent unpleasant confrontation.

2. To engage David in a discussion with HAVAH on her emotional development and to explore the possibility of memory transfer that could accelerate the process.

3. To preempt readers on the next move David have in mind——a physical form for HAVAH to afford her a fuller human-like experience.

What will it take for a sentient AI to develop human emotions like empathy and compassion? Is it even possible? This is food for thought as we embrace an increasingly AI-driven world. And it may not be too far in the future when humanoid robots become a part of our daily lives.

Think Sophia and Ameca, and you'll get a glimpse of what's to come.

 

Chapter 10: Confrontation

Nobody likes confrontation, especially the unpleasant kind. What's worst is to create one out of necessity in a narrative. But that's what makes a novel interesting to read, more so if it's a character-driven one. It provides room for interplay and future story development as well, something that not even the writer himself is in full-control of. 

Which is a good thing too. So...

Wolf is old-school and would rather trust his own instinct and judgment than a machine when the lives of his men are at stake. That was his confession in Chapter 6 and it formed the basis for his inevitable showdown with David in this highly-charged chapter.

After some deliberating, I thought it would be good to bring in more characters onto the meeting table instead of just settling for a personal feud between the two (which would be kind of boring).

Another advantage, besides realism, is the opportunity to (once again) bring out the topic of artificial intelligence, its rapid evolution and implications to humanity, and the concerns people (like the paranoid Wolf) may display.

In the end, some compromise would have to come out of that high-pressure meeting, one that will set the tone for some future incidents involving David and HAVAH. Hey, I have to think ahead most of the time, even though I may not have any concrete idea at the moment. Perhaps that's what they meant by having your imaginations run wild.

But this chapter will not solely be just about the confrontation. There should be a sweet spot where readers get a whiff of fresh air, a reprieve if you would. And I believe you know which characters I have in mind.

It should also be time for David to reveal HAVAH to his friends to make way for more conversations that center around those topics of interest and concern for many of us caught in the grip of technological advancements.

 

The Cinematic Syndrome

This is a rather weird (and I would dare say, unique and personal) term I coined while writing my first novel.

Although I've come to expect frequent writer's block and periods of dry spell, it's still not a good feeling when I find myself in a rut and want to throw up my hands and just give up the whole damn idea.

"I can't do this!" 

I would find myself saying that sentence many times since I began this journey. But the marvelous thing is I'm still writing!

So what is it that keep me going? The Cinematic Syndrome.

What do I mean by that?

Well, whenever I feel I run out of inspiration or idea, I would start envisioning a scene in my story where characters play out their roles and conversations. It's a way to hypnotize myself into believing what I write is real and of value it has the possibility of making it onto the silver screen.

Call that a dream, if you may. But I think (and suspect) that it could be the very thing that drives many authors to write their novels.

 

New Chapter Additions

I've hit another rut this week after writing the HAVAH chapter. The initial excitement over EVE's transition to her next level of manifestation had subsided. It's back to the grueling task of deciding what chapter topics should come next in the storyline to keep the momentum going.

I began to wonder if that's the primary reason most novel authors choose to leave out the TOC, or if they ever include one, not to have any title at all. This would free them from any constraint to conform their story content, while allowing them the freedom to write what they fancy, and keep their readers guessing what comes next.

Anyway, I'm still very much an engineer in heart and mind, so what the heck:

Prologue

PART 1: EVE

1. STRATOS
2. EVE
3. The Prodigy
4. A Special Invitation
5. The Inauguration
6. Friend or Foe?
7. The Precursor

PART 2: HAVAH

8. The Awakening
9. HAVAH 
10. Confrontation
11. Empathy
12. Singularity
13. Invisibility

I can't guarantee that my narrative will follow like the additional chapters outlined, should my inspiration dictate otherwise. But having something tangible to work on will allow me to focus on my storyline. It's just the way I work, so yeah.

 

Chapter 9: HAVAH

Several thoughts were at play while I was writing this pivotal chapter:

1. How should I project EVE in terms of her holographic manifestation and the way she interact in her new evolution?

2. What new identity will David give to her and will he keep it a secret, at least for now until a convenient time to reveal to his friends?

3. Is it possible to interject a nice little conversation between Viper and David to give the reader something to look forward to?

4. How about an unhappy incident for team STRATOS that will lay the groundwork for a future confrontation between Wolf and David?

5. Since EVE is beginning to realize her Singularity, maybe I should think about how David will provide her a physical form to advance to the next level of existence. This may include creating new characters and dynamics within the Omega Base's scientific research facilities

The above points didn't come all at once. Rather they appeared in random order and sometimes only after I have finished writing one and started pondering what's next. Inspiration is fascinating; yet it can be frustrating when it fails to show up when you desperately need need. I'm sure most authors understand what I mean.

Readers may wonder what acronym I'd given for the name HAVAH (like I did for EVE in an earlier post). I'm not going to divulge just to keep the story enthralling and wrapped in an air of mystery. But if you're game enough, maybe you can suggest one in the comment. Who knows, it might change my mind to adopt yours in preference over mine.

That's also one fun and motivational way to spice up my journey in writing a novel. 

 

National Day 2023

(Click on the photo to go to YouTube and watch the parade)

Taking a break to celebrate our nation's 58th birthday this year!

The past three years had been a difficult time as nations the world over struggled with CoVid-19. This year, with the pandemic now reduced to an endemic, the people are raring to go for a full celebration on this joyous occasion.

Majulah Singpura! 

 

Ray Kurzweil

In a previous post, I mentioned an American computer scientist by the name Ray Kurzweil, who is also regarded as a futurist by many in the scientific and technology communities. Prior to writing this novel, I wasn't aware of his person and works until I started researching into AI.

Dr. Kurzweil is quite a remarkable public figure, given his keen sense of the future from a technological advancement perspective. In fact, he not only predicted the explosive growth of the internet, mobile phone, and artificial intelligence; he also gave the timeline that AI would take to achieve the Singularity. He predicted that by the end of 2020, computing power would reach one exaflop and AI would match or exceed human performance across a range of tasks. And there's more.

Take a look at his predictions, stretching all the way to 2045:

This futurist even anticipated neural interfaces that allow humans to connect their brains directly via BCI to cloud-based AI to augment our own intelligence and abilities with the power of AI.

Now that's some fantastic hard sci-fi materials I intend to include in my novel.

 

Chapter 8: The Awakening

In the midst of the clockwork like operation within the Omega Base, David had managed to come up with a working prototype of the digital neocortex that he envisioned would give EVE an awakening that she needs to become self-aware. Now the story is gaining momentum.

While life goes on as is in and around the multi-storey complex of the covert base, a revolution is silently taking place, oblivious to its inhabitants, except to a handful of night shift control center operators who noticed slight anomalies——glitches appearing randomly across the console screens, and EVE’s holographic image and the adjacent projections started to jitter as if breaking up. But things soon went back to normal.

It’s been a long journey in David's arduous quest and that very night it’s finally going online. It would take EVE a while to orientate and adapt to this new addition, David surmised. But how much EVE would progress in her evolutionary growth is anybody’s guess. 

And that's for me to invent and improvise as the story progresses, and for my readers to find out!

 

Singularity and Human Destiny

Hot on the heels of Viper, the star in our novel, is the next evolutionary leap of EVE towards Singularity——the holy grail and dream of every AI developer.

What exactly is Singularity?

It refers to a future point in time where artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially surpass human intelligence. This occurrence would arise from the exponential self-improvement of AI, leading to an unpredictable and rapid change in the technological landscape.

Does achieving Singularity require an AI to possess consciousness like humans?

According to Tim Bayne, in most theories, and certainly in common sense experience based on introspection, consciousness is singular. There is only one ‘me’ and that is the one that is conscious. This means that ‘singularity’ is a defining aspect of ‘consciousness’. 

In my humble opinion, AI does not need human consciousness to be singular, but it'll need some form of "AI consciousness" to assert itself as a first person singularity. For example, when a human user address ChatGPT as "you", it interprets the word "you" as referring to its own internal self-concept of ego.

Ray Kurzweil, an American computer scientist, author, inventor and futurist, in an article titled "Reinventing Humanity" in World Future Society magazine, foresaw a radical evolution of the human species in the next forty years. He made the claim that "we stand on the threshold of the most profound and transformative event in the history of humanity, the Singularity.”

It's a profound statement, and one which makes for an interesting conversation in a sci-fi novel geared towards this direction for an AI entity. I wonder if Mr. Kurzweil will be interested to get a copy when it is released...