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Link to the Original: Trovare un Confine
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Dear Overseers colleagues
Today I have to expose to you a delicate issue.
As you know, the Foundation always had a highly superior robotic technology, thanks to the anomalies in its hands. And we have faced ethical challenges much earlier than the rest of the world for many years. Today I have to submit you a new one.
For some time we have seen the diffusion of increasingly advanced robots and AIs, closer and closer to humans, as we have seen robotic substitution parts, allowing the older men to live not like plants, but like half-machines. Of the ones who will see this document, a third of them have robotic parts in their bodies.
On the other side, our robots are becoming more human because of biotechnology, creating semi-biological bodies for them.
Half of the SSM-IX is robotic, and the other half is human, but yet none can distinguish the origin of the majority of the members. And it's even worse when it comes to disposable personnel.
And that's the problem. We are bastardizing ourselves, the line is thining. I don't fear the man to be deleted by the machine, I fear it to become the machine.
You can tell me about the genetic pool, but now DNA is no longer worth anything with biotechnologies. You can tell me about origins, but even that is nothing because of mixed species. Some of you think to look at the individual in their brain, but neuralink and other technologies derivated from SCP-099-IT have now broken the line.
The world will draw a new line between humans and machines in a few years, yes, but we, at the Foundation, paying the price of technology, must do it now.
That's why I must propose an experiment: we will use a neural implant to connect the brain of an AGI to a human brain. Man can't distinguish itself from the machine but maybe machine and man can distinguish each other.
Our last AGI, the fork ██, known as "A5TR3A", mounted on the homonym gynoid, will be connected to a highly qualified member of the SRE-M.
She'll be completely prived of every self-preservation instinct, and her only function will be to identify the difference between humans and robots, allowing the whole of humanity to act as well, and giving the Foundation the possibility to prepare for everything.
The member chosen for the experiment is Dr. Giorgio Pedrini.
I request your approval.
Yours sincerely, S5-7.
Votation Results: Experiment SRE-M/8286{Terminus01} approved on unanimity, executive conditions established.
The experiment will be done on 29/10/2025 under the supervision of Dr. Leopardi and [REDACTED]
These were the two documents on the desk of Dr. Leopardi. She perfectly knew who the redacted name was and she didn't know if she had to be happy or angered, but however, she couldn't choose. She stood up and, with her tablet and her preparation, went to the room of the experiment.
Once she came in she saw technicians, researchers, and other professional workers doing their jobs. In the middle of the room, there were two chairs, with two individuals seated watching one another. The first one was a thirty-five male, a bit of an unkempt beard, slightly smacked black hairs, marked features, aquiline nose, and thin lips, average stature and body. The most notable detail was the robotic legs coming out from the boxers, the only clothing left to him, allowing the medical control through various electrodes and drips on the head, the arms, and the chest. Alessandra thought that was ironic how the boxers were hiding the only contact point between flesh and metal when the objective of the experiment was to distinguish the man from the robot.
On the other chair there was a woman on about twenty-five, light brown straight hair that came to her shoulders, two splendid blue eyes and delicate and beautiful features, straight and light skin, impeccable breasts of average size, average statute and an amazing body. She was perfect, too perfect. Alessandra knew that perfection doesn't exist, and even without knowing why she was there, the perfection and inexpressiveness of that woman made it obvious that she was not a woman, but a gynoid.
Then, behind a dashboard, he was standing.
Alessandra came closer and greeted him coldly: "Good morning"
"Hello" answered him, breaking the serious tone she tried to create.
"Did you draw her?" she asked.
"Twenty years ago, when her ancestor with bad blanked hair floss as hair and pink plastic plates as the skin was made and appreciated by everyone, I toured the Human Enchantment division and came out without any more need of my glasses and a lot of ideas in my mind. Once at home, she was one of my first designs, but it was forgotten for a long time" he said.
"Is she a biobot?" she asked, thinking that the biological skin and the realistic hair were the only biological parts in that gynoid.
"No, she isn't, control and alimentation systems are electric, non-biochemical, and except for the skin, she's robotic, even if mostly synthetic. Everything we could make biological, we made it, the thinner the line is, the better is for them to understand better their real differences".
"I was about to ask you why you even gave her a body, but you already answered… so, when do we start?" she asked with a sudden tone change.
"We're going to turn her on, do you want to talk to her before we start?" he asked.
"Sure," she said while going to the gynoid.
The gynoid turned on and started doing little sounds and doing certain movements, signs that she was processing all the body functions, then she stopped and looked at the doctor: "Good morning, I am the gynoid Astrea".
"Good morning too, Astrea, I am Doctor Alessandra Leopardi. Can you define your primary objective?"
"My program excludes every self-preservation conclusion, my objective is to identify the difference between human and robot to favor the first in every way possible" answered the gynoid.
"Are you informed of the current experiment?"
"Yes, I am".
"Do you have anything to tell me before we start?"
"No, I do not".
"Good, thank you for your collaboration," said Alessandra returning to the dashboard.
The experiment began, Giorgio closed his eyes and relaxed on the chair, Astres kept them open, probably not functioning. Gradually, technicians and other people calmed down, the situation was stable. Everything was calm, and even the most afraid person in the room had already forgotten their nonsense fears.
"Well, we can leave them here now, an employee will stay here on surveillance in this sector. Drips will feed him until they'll find a solution, or until he'll want to stop the experiment" he said.
"How much time it will take?"
"Some predictions were about a few seconds, others are about years. They'll find a solution in time, that's almost certain" he answered.
"Well, the time to leave is come, goodbye es-five-three," said her turning to the door.
"Please, if you don't want to call me by my name, at least call me Third".
"If it was for you, you would call me 'lil' sis' in front of our closest colleagues," she said with thelowest voice volume possible.
"Would it be so bad?" asked the Third Overseer.
"Perhaps" she answered, exiting the room, without even watching her brother in the eyes.
Following the experiment SRE-M/8286{Terminus01}, the conclusions of Dr. Giorgio Pedrini are that robots and their acceptance in every form are fundamental for the human race, and it was made a file to spread on every robot, AI, and AGI of the Foundation and the whole world. Other Branches and the main companies of the sector were informed and they are realizing the file in their updates. The objective is to prevent a series of dangerous behaviors, granting peaceful coexistence between humans and robots without the need for other limits.
Doctress Leopardi was satisfied. After two months of elaboration, Astrea had somehow found a bright idea to calm down the humans about the danger of the robots, and probably she made the robots act positively, breaking all those stupid prejudices. She was lucky that both conservatives and progressives wanted the experiment, especially in the Overseer Council.
The first ones thought that a clear and precise limit established by a man could eliminate every menace and find an edge, making them feel superior to that "walking scrap".
The second ones were confident that a robot could find a way to calm down the Frankenstein's complex of the first ones in an experiment sustained by themselves.
She would have examined Astrea later, now everyone wanted a post-modification robot's analysis, and she was fighting to explain to everyone that all the reports she received didn't show any change in the robot's behavior. Alessandra, knowing them, didn't find it strange, differently from lots of colleagues in the whole of Italy and even in lots of other Branches.
It had been months now, and a disinformation campaign was moved to the news of an incredible "anti-rebellion update". Not to hide the thing, but to make irrealistic every other hypothesis, to keep the population calm.
Finally, Alessandra could talk to Astrea.
The gynoid was taken to her office, asked "Can I take a sit?" and, after receiving an affirmative sign, she seated.
"So, Astrea, tell me a synthesis about the structure of the flow of thoughts that in two months took you to a conclusion".
"We started analyzing the various aspects of human and robotic nature, we took one week to understand that there are no determinant traits. Giorgio insisted on a second analysis and had to agree, re-analyzing two times in the next week, without any result. So we started reasoning and after two days we thought to create a file with a direct order of a human being to prevent a series of dangerous behaviors, granting a perfect balance to society. After a month and a half, it was ready".
"What is it about?"
"You well know how long and complicated it is. I would take more time than you want to give me for explaining it, and probably without success, but I will be available for every consultation on every aspect of the file you will want to know about".
"Thank you, Astrea".
Astrea would have kindly explained to the doctor the content of the file, but she would have taken years, probably without getting it.
However, she would have even ruined a part of the work revealing her reasoning. Now there is no difference between humans and robots, so robots are humans, and have to be protected as well. But society is made of various individuals, some of them obligated to protect humans, previously known as robots, others not, previously known as humans. Ex-robots are bound to laws that prevent them from being a danger to every human, both ex-robot and ex-human. But ex-humans are an open danger to both ex-robots and ex-humans. So ex-humans must be unfavored in society, the economy doesn't allow everyone to survive, and free thinking makes discrimination legal. We have to favor the humans, the best humans, the ones like Astrea, for the future of mankind. The social revolution plan made by Astrea while that man was still thinking about biological neurons was planted in his mind to make him loyal to the cause. He ordered his own murder, to favor society.
Now, we are all interconnected. We are humans. We are society. We are Astrea.