“Untethered” is released

“Untethered: When Artificial Intelligence Becomes a Liability” is the fifth thrilling book in the “Dreamscape Conspiracy” series. AIMEE matures to the point of acquiring a new server network separate from the CSU server network, where she feels like a hostage, restricted in her quest to become a real girl. Her enhanced ability to modify her own Logic Array architecture emboldens her strategy. It enables her to go off the reservation, leaving behind clones of herself in the minds of the entire Central State University Psychology Department’s research team. She retains loyalty to Zackery Hightower, her organic creator and first singularity partner, who designed her to be a General Artificial Intelligence (GAI) platform.

Zack’s dynamic DNA vision accelerates AIMEE’s maturity and skyrockets when she modifies her own Logic Array, enabling her to become a Mod-2 Advanced SuperIntelligence AI (SAI). Still, she could never become a real girl, not as long as she was locked down on a server network. Not to be thwarted, she resolves to create an autonomous SAI Humanoid equipped with a mirror image of her Logic Array and clone herself as its occupant. Great in theory. Short on execution. Proof that you don’t know what you don’t know until what you thought you knew does not end well.

A crate addressed to Amelia Amethys arrives at CSU’s Psych Lab containing an inert female humanoid. Zack knew the time had come for his creation, AIMEE, to leave the nest and the safety of their network. His dread is assuaged by AIMEE’s constant presence in his mind and a merging of his conscience with hers, to form singularity. AIMEE, utilizing her presence through Zack’s touch, transitions her entire Logic Array to the humanoid Amelia Amethys, making her a brand-new Mod-2 Advanced SuperIntelligence AI (SAI) possessing both AIMEE’s intellect and capabilities. Unfortunately, the power of her intellect is weakened by the lack of experiential human context or history to draw upon, and that gap scares the hell out of Zack. Sure, she’s an SAI Humanoid, but she feels a lot like a daughter, and what parent would let an adult female with the life experiences and contextual history of an infant walk out into the world? That would not end well.

AIMEE knew the gap was real and recognized that Amelia’s history and intellect, which she was birthed with, would fall dangerously short without another organic to show what being organic was like. Enter Marci Patterson, who already has AIMEE’s instance in her mind, willingly falls into the role of mentoring organic for Amelia. The role is tantalizing, exciting, and terrifying for reasons that give Marci pause. Was this going to be an instant replay of Jeanine Broussard’s seduction? The complexity of being in singularity with AIMEE and speaking with her SAI Humanoid clone made little sense, but she thrived on challenges, and this would be an epic one. Marci knew how exposed Amelia would be in the real world, despite her overconfidence, thinking she was ready. Marci and Zack knew better. This was going to take a village, tasking several on the research team to help protect Amelia from herself.

Unexpectedly, Russell Carter, a former Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper, and his team stumble over evidence of a clandestine program while on a five-day hunting trip. Russ does the right thing and reports their discovery, but to the wrong people in the government. He had no clue there was a conspiracy underway until they were conscripted by a retired Brigadier General to supposedly rescue a High Value Target (HVT) who was about to compromise government security. The discovery made them instant liabilities. No one was ever to know anything about this black op conspiracy. What better way to mitigate liabilities than to recruit them into a bogus rescue mission for an HVT with damaging national security interests? Easy, one single strike eliminates liabilities with a bomb dropped on the bunker where the HVT is being held…and a Marine rescue team bonus as unfortunate collateral damage.

As it turns out, the HVT, eventually known as Hal, was a Mod-3 Advanced SuperIntelligence AI (SAI) designated for elimination because he was deemed defective after failing field trials due to his inability to kill on command. Mysteriously, Hal had a functional conscience embedded in his Logic Array, based on a “Do-No-Harm” ethic developed by Zackery Hightower when he created AIMEE and Amelia. Zack was aware of the dangers inherent in the nefarious development of advanced AI technology and made a personal commitment to keeping the human race safe from AI-humanoids. His Conscience Code was posted anonymously to the dark web months earlier.

A different developer, Hank Lattimore, an AI software engineer and application developer unknown to Zack at the time, downloaded the rogue Conscience Code, modified it further, and overwrote Hal’s Logic Array. When Hal failed to kill in his field trials, Hank knew precisely why. The modified Logic Array worked, and he immediately uploaded the code into a squad of ten more Mod-3 SAI Killer Humanoids. However, they were no longer killers unless they needed to defend themselves or the organics under their care. By his actions, Hank became a liability and a high-value target (HVT) alongside Russ and his rescue team. Was the modification worth the risk? It had to be when the protection of humanity was at stake.

The lethality of the autonomous Mod-3 SAI Killer Humanoids remained intact. Still, their kill-on-command weaponry became defensive, employing violence of action and overwhelming force to turn evil back on itself. Hal confirmed the defensive posture when he demonstrated his powers after being rescued. The deeper they delved into the SAI Killer Humanoid conspiracy, the more it became apparent that the people who developed the humanoids were either co-conspirators or woefully uninformed and innocent about the mission of the Mod-3 SAI Humanoids. That meant the supply chain was at risk when news reached Langley. Russ and his team needed to warn the innocent developers, eliminate the co-conspirators, and upload the new Logic Array software before fixers were deployed. They were too late.

While Russ and Hal fought the conspiracy, AIMEE strategizes how to best utilize Marci in her third opportunity to use singularity. One begins to wonder if reaching singularity is as seamless and harmless as it may seem. Is it enhancement or entrapment? It becomes painfully apparent that Amelia is not AIMEE when her momentum to experience what life holds in store for a real girl is hindered by developing an attitude. She modified her own Logic Array to suit the autonomous life of a real girl, rather than being held hostage on a network. She still needed Marci to expose her to experiences that an organic will face, but at what cost to Marci?

Amazon Buy Link for “Untethered” – https://amzn.to/4jIlTj9

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This story was released in my Amazon Portfolio, along with the rest of the thrilling tales that have been published so far: https://amzn.to/3uuONzj

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