Like No Other: A Mind-Bending Short Story about AI

 Hi Everyone!

I know I've been absent for a while. To be honest, regular posting isn't my thing. So, I'm switching my blog to being a more "whenever-I-think-about-it" posting strategy. 

Okay, enough about me and my schedule. Now, what you may be looking for.

I wanted to share this short story I wrote a while back with you. 

Inspiration

I got the idea for this story from the idea of the "singularity" in AI, defined as an AI system that can perform tasks that are indistinguishable from human work. However, due to resistance against AI, it made me wonder what would happen if an advanced AI turned against AI, but only because it was unaware of its nature. Additionally, I had learned about the Cultural Revolution in China, and it made me wonder what a Second Cultural Revolution in China might look like if it addressed issues faced in contemporary society, and how this would impact relations with other nations and the world order.

Despite the nature of the protagonist and setting, this story is not intended to promote actions taken by the Red Guard or Maoists during the Cultural Revolution.

There is a link to the audiodrama adaptation at the bottom of this post.

Like No Other

Anastasia Li watched as her fellow robophobes swung mallets at the androids and gynoids. As a child, Anastasia’s mother read her the journals written by her great grandparents during the First Cultural Revolution. Back then, she identified with the pain of the inteligentsia shamed by the state for impeding “progress”. Now, as a young woman, she identified more with the Red Guard. She now understood why myriads of young adults became polarized to the point they were willing to destroy all they knew in hopes of a better future. Except this time, it was the robots, who were promising a better future, that were being demolished.

The year is 2078. Work done by artificial intelligence is now indistinguishable from human work. Moreover, several AI and robotics startups within East Asia have begun to infuse the new AI programs into humanoid robots that were intended to acclimate those leery of machines to an accepting state. However, the exact opposite had occurred. The technophobes united, and the Second Cultural Revolution was underway in China as a result. This time, it was preserving heritage instead of destroying it.

Li felt proud of herself. Coming from a family of Ruso-Chinese heritage, she felt she had taken the best attributes from both the Chinese and Russian cultures. Like Russians, she was cunning and perceptive. Her Chinese heritage had granted her the gifts of modesty and cooperation. As a result, no one would have thought she would become the face of the Second Cultural Revolution in Greater Shanghai. Instead, everyone would have thought her to be spearheading, or at least impartial, to the increasing levels of robotics.

She amusingly watched the mallet strikes as the circuits shattered between the cracks in the robots’ synthetic skin. She smiled when she saw the manufacturers had taken such care as to create oil ducts that self-lubricated the joints, and the oil was blood red. She thought that the care placed into manufacturing each robot to lifelike specifications was truly sinister.

As her comrades dragged the metallic corpses away, several of the technicians who had programmed the AI systems were brought on stage. As in the First Cultural Revolution, they were adorned with a conical, metal cap and had a sign listing their transgressions dangling from their neck. They had committed a crime against humanity — they had attempted to replace the human race. Because of this, no punishment was too great.

Li grinned. These men and women would be shamed publicly. They had no choice but to “lose face.” She was sure they had composed a battery of excuses to hurl at the crowd. Yet, it could not save them from their doom. They would be sent to a forced labor camp, or if they were lucky, killed.

After the demonstration, Li took a walk around downtown Shanghai. The intrusive signage on the sides of buildings had largely been removed thanks to her efforts. After all, who needed the obesity diet of consumable products capitalism had created? China was returning to a better way of life. Within ten years, she hoped for an emperor to be in Chongqing, a largely agrarian society, and a patron-client system of work. Confucius and Laozi were right, she reassured herself. The past was better. And with China being the sole world power, a new path would be paved, showing that Medieval ways of life would be better. 

She heard someone walking behind her. As she turned around, a stocky man wearing a mask and bearing a machete grabbed her by the lapel.

“Give me your money!” He demanded.

Li panicked. She knew the Second Cultural Revolution had resulted in numerous technophile and technophobic factions, each with their own ideology, but she never thought she would be targeted.

“I know who you are,” the man continued. “I want your gold.”

“I don’t have any!” Li screamed. She hoped the noise would awaken the neighbors. Then, in horror, she remembered there were no neighbors. One-third of the Shanghainese population had moved out to the countryside, away from the city, and the others were towards the bay, where Russian, Korean, and Japanese soldiers provided aid to the last bit of technophile resistance present in the area.

“For someone who preaches a return to the old ways,” the man continued, “I would expect some gold, or at least some renminbi notes. Do you have a credit card?”

“Yes,” Li stuttered.

“Give it to me,” Li fumbled for her wallet. “Now!” He added with anger.

Li handed him all the credit and debit cards in her wallet.

“Interesting,” he said. “You’re a hypocrite. I’m sure the resistance will appreciate this piece of information.”

While she had her prejudices against modern technology, credit cards were easier to carry than gold or even banknotes. After all, she had advocated for older payment systems, cards included. However, everyone assumed she was referring to gold and bank notes, and group perception was a powerful influence on one’s actions. She would not let her reputation be marred!

Li thrust out her hand in an attempt to reclaim the cards. The man swung at her, and the blade tore into her forearm. He then ran off into the night as Li let out a scream of agony.

“Da Li,” she heard her friend Yan Hua call out.

Li turned around to see Yan running up from an adjacent alleyway.

“Xiao Yan,” Li replied in like manner, still cradling her arm, “where were you?”

“I was walking this way after the demonstration when I heard you scream,” Yan replied. “We need to get you to a doctor.”

“The nearest one is in rebel territory. I can’t go there! I’ll be taken prisoner!”

“Wait, Li. I know a little place a few blocks away. Dr. Zhou still treats those who reside in the city.”

Li was surprised anyone was still left in the city outside of the resistance’s districts. She then asked an important question: “Has he been turned?”

Yan was silent for several seconds, then calmly responded, “Not that I know of.”

The two young women hustled through the dark streets of the city, coming to an abandoned skyscraper and entering it. A makeshift waiting room had been set up in the lobby of the building.

“Anastasia Li,” one of the nurses at the desk asked when she looked up from her tablet.

“Yes,” Li replied. “I need to get a cut inspected. I was mugged in an alley.”

“Dr. Zhou will see you in a minute.”

The two women sat down. Li stared into space, considering what had happened. She removed her hand from the laceration and looked at the wound. While there was a bloodstain on her forearm, it seemed her skin had lifted off the bone. She pinched one flap and tugged it. She felt pain. 

She noticed her vein. It resembled a blue tube, but it appeared to have a coiled structure within that kept its shape. The muscle also appeared to have much thinner fibers than she expected. But, her artery concerned her the most. She had learned at a young age that arteries cannot stop bleeding. However, her artery spilled no blood, and resembled her vein in terms of structure.

“Anastasia Li,” she heard a nurse call out.

Li and Yan stood up and followed the nurse through a door. Li jumped when she heard an alarm blare.

“I’m sorry,” the nurse explained. “I forgot we had a metal detector. Gotta keep the robots out. Do you have any metal on you?”

“Not that I know of,” Li replied.

The nurse harrumphed as they continued down the hall, and placed both women in a dark room. Li laid down on an examination table. 

While Li meditated upon what she was enduring, Dr. Zhou entered.

“Anastasia Li,” Zhou greeted upon entering. “I hear you’ve been attacked.”

“Yes,” Li began to recount, “I-”

Zhou set to work immediately, donning his glasses and inspecting the wound. He flinched at the sight of the wound. He stuck his finger into the wound and began separating some of the fibers from each other, eventually staring at her radius and ulna. While they were of the same shape as a regular human’s they were a metallic color.

“Have you received any prosthesis?” Zhou asked.

“No!” Li replied, in shock at what she saw within her arm.

“I need to check something then. This may be disturbing.”

Zhou then grabbed both flaps of skin from the cut and pulled them off Li. 

Li stared in horror at what lay beneath. There were several small motors where her wrist was attached to her radius and ulna, seemingly able to rotate the metal ring that was her wrist. A small circuit board the size of a toenail was mounted close to her presumed artery and vein. She also noticed several nodules were mounted to the bones and blood vessels, and smaller ducts ran between each nodule. Li looked at the flaps of skin pulled back. On the side that was within her were several nodes and what appeared like flexible circuitboards.

Zhou rushed over to a cabinet and withdrew a hand-held metal detector. When the Second Cultural Revolution began, smaller metal detectors became more commonplace in order to determine who was a robot. Zhou waved the device all across Li, its chimes deafening her.

“Li,” Zhou began as he removed the device and powered it off, “forget everything you’ve known. You’re not a human. You’re a gynoid.”

“You mean-” Li paused. She never once considered herself a hypocrite. Now, she was being told she was a robot promoting robophobia.

“You need to get out of China,” Zhou instructed. “Once the authorities find out about this, you’ll be discarded in an instant. Follow me.”

Li and Yan followed Zhou through the makeshift hospital. The three came to a compact break room. Zhou withdrew a large fur coat from a cabinet.

“Put this on to hide the wound,” Zhou ordered. “With the Revolution going on, you’re no longer safe here. You may be a zealous participant in the Revolution, but the revolutionaries who began it will disregard you once they find out about your true nature. Get to the rebel districts of the city. Take the next boat or plane out of here. Get to Saudi Arabia or America. While they’re farther than Japan or South Korea, they’ll still grant you citizenship and rights. Once you’re out of the country, find Dr. Liu. He’ll be able to explain everything.”

“You mean, Dr. Liu Enlai, of the Synthetic Sentience Coalition?” Li asked.

“Yes. He now lives in North Carolina. We were classmates at Tsinghua University. We stayed in touch for many years until he decided to apply his knowledge of neuroscience in the field of AI. I last heard him say he was seeking asylum in the non-occupied portions of the United States. He knew that the newly-established regime in Chongqing would seek to arrest the AI scientists when the Coalition was forcibly liquidated.

“Now, for the escape plan. Get to the free trade zone and notify the commissar of the rebel front of your desire to defect. He’ll want to know why the most zealous face of the Second Cultural Revolution wants to defect. Tell him about your encounter and show him your wound.”

“Okay, doctor. Thank you!” Li replied before she and Yan took off for the free trade zone.

It took a few days for Li to obtain passage to the United States once she had turned herself over to the rebels. Upon arriving in Dallas after a sixteen hour flight, she sought out Dr. Liu, and found he was living in Raleigh, North Carolina. Li walked down the streets of Raleigh, her head hung low as she approached the address Liu lived at. She knocked on the door, hoping someone was home.

The door creaked open, revealing a withered old man with sparse hair and glasses that barely stayed on his face.

“Anastasia?” He asked.

“Yes,” Li responded. “Are you Liu Enlai?”

“Yes. Please come in.”

Li recounted her story to Liu as he prepared them each a bowl of tea. She needed to know why she had not known she was an AI. After all, each program was infused with inherent knowledge it was artificial. Yet, she thought she was a human.

Liu poured himself a bowl of tea before responding, “Anastasia, we programmed you to believe you were human.

“During our work at the Coalition, my team was attempting to find a solution to creating machines with human levels of intelligence. We performed thousands of brain scans from different volunteers, and gathered research from animal behavior specialists as well as the companies studying the feasibility of consciousness transfers. From all this research, we discovered that human intelligence couldn’t be replicated. 

“Despite this, we tried our best to work around the impossibility. Your neural net was programmed to believe you were a human. Your memories were artificial, concocted by another AI program alongside the scientists at the Coalition. While there are AIs who can function without receiving a prompt, you were a new class of that type of AI. You are powered by an artificial metabolism that mimicked a human’s, so that’s why you eat and drink rather than plug into a cable to sustain yourself. Senses were simulated within you based upon what you saw augmented by numerous nodes under your skin and extremely short-range radar technology triggering a pre-programmed response.”

Li was now curious about what happened to the program, and if there were any other robots like her out there.

“Am I the only one of my kind?” Li asked.

“Well,” Liu replied after finishing his tea, “the Coalition made nineteen other robots like you and deployed them in China before our dissolution. We know five made it out of the country while the rest of them are unaccounted for.”

“Did I bring about their destruction?”

“I doubt they were destroyed. You yourself didn’t know you were a robot. Neither did they. The lack of knowledge about you being an AI is why you were a robophobe.”

Li reflected on what Liu told her. Instead of robots bringing about the destruction of humanity, they had only brought destruction upon their own kind, and a robot was the face of the robophobia movement!

She set her bowl of tea down, left the building, and walked through Raleigh by herself. The circuits of her neural net whirled with a grandiose plan to bring about the destruction of the robophobes.

Link to Audiodrama Adaptation

If you like to do read-alongs with audiobooks or like listening to audiodramas, here is a link to the audiodrama version. Also, you may need it in place of subtitles if you're hard of hearing.