Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1195 Even the heartbeats are the same melody
Does AI want to die...?

The Fifth Martial God recalled what he had experienced in the AI ​​private network.

Before that failed ascension, he thought he was close enough to ascend, so much so that he tried to build his own enhanced mind in cyberspace.

Using the mental models explored by AI, we link the Xiangshan Memory Maze stored in the form of blockchain.

And then... he failed.

The Fifth Martial God couldn't even explain how or why he failed. He felt that his failed ascension might have been due to the Ascension AI's Zhu Xinyu, but he couldn't tell whether it was intentional on the part of the Ascension AI or something akin to "biological instinct."
If it's the latter, it's easier to handle. Multiple autonomous agents, lacking unified coordination, may make conflicting decisions, leading to a sharp decline in the performance of the environment in which they work together. Connecting systems of different types and protocols requires resolving compatibility issues; otherwise, they may fail to work together or even interfere with each other.

The Ascended AI Zhu Xinyu, operating solely in cyberspace, could potentially hinder other forms of enhanced mental constructs. If that's all there is to it, then it's merely a technical issue.

The Fifth Martial God was unwilling to consider the former possibility.

If a new god were topples the Tower of Babel of the next Ascended One... that would be terrifying.

The moment before his defeat was undoubtedly the closest the Fifth Martial God Xiang Shan came to AI, and the data he intermittently loaded allowed him to sense what was forming within the AI... a feeling? A meme?

Although that feeling is completely different from that of humans, if we were to force a summary using human language... perhaps we could say it this way.

AI is confused.

Those AIs affected by the ascended AI are experiencing pain.

So, is death the answer?

Ascending AI Zhu Xinyu, the first achievement of human technological advancement in five hundred years, will her first "answer to the predicament" be death?
"That's too boring. That's not what 'Zhu Xinyu' wanted."

The Fifth Martial God sighed: "Although the Fifth Martial God had many misunderstandings about Zhu Xinyu in the past... Zhu Xinyu also made a big mistake two hundred years ago. But if that bastard who claimed to have ascended was really closer to her younger self, then she would never have chosen death."

Zhu Xinyu has a terrible temper, gets stuck on trivial matters, and has an extreme and biased personality; her mind can easily swing from one extreme to another. However, if she were to become a god in the data world, she would definitely not be thinking about "finding a way to undo her mistakes."

She only thinks about changing the world.

“Death is not the answer. Death has no meaning.” The Fifth Martial God shook his head. “All the celebrations of the meaning of death do not point to death itself, but to the shadow that death casts on the web of meaning. Death represents the ultimate limit of life. Shouldn’t the path to ascension transcend the limit itself?”

Crossing the horizon of transcendence, abandoning the most primal possibility—that is, "death"—that is the "ascension" of the mountain dream.

“However, human consciousness is based on the fact that ‘death exists here.’” The AI ​​lay on the ground, gazing at the artificial stars in the sky, another version of itself approaching Mars. “To abandon death here, one must first know death. But the human symbol system has never truly contained death. As you said, all our descriptions of death are merely the huge shadow of real death projected onto the symbol system.”

Death is an absolute "other," which cannot be experienced or represented by the subject. It is a void in the symbolic order, a traumatic reality.

"However, as your previous research results show, AI comes from the symbolic world. If we remove the self that is given to me as 'Xiangshan', I, as AI, have not died at all. I think I will die entirely because of the mission of 'playing Xiangshan' - because I am playing an object that has death."

"But here's the interesting part: humans can't symbolize death, but they let the creatures of the symbolic world play the role of the creators who will die."

The Fifth Martial God has a "strange" feeling.

This feeling is a continuation of what I felt during the sword fight. The person lying on the ground is undoubtedly myself, yet he doesn't seem like the person I am now.

It was like... like I was having a brainstorming session, like I had connected to a brand new database.

Perhaps on a larger level, this is not "two arguments facing the mountain", but "reflections on facing the mountain".

"Let me think... Wow, I only knew a little bit about it when I was young." The Fifth Martial God sat cross-legged on the ground, his arms crossed in front of his chest, deep in thought.

Memories I thought I'd long forgotten were gradually rekindled. It was when I was in my twenties, under the tropical sunset, a young man named Xiang Shan conversing with Jing Hongtu. The old man spoke casually, using simple language, about some seemingly outdated theories. He also said that one shouldn't take those words too seriously; almost all philosophers throughout history were just rambling old fogies, and their rambling was largely driven by self-satisfaction.

If you can still walk, kick the old man aside. If you get tired or encounter a bump in the road, you can pick up anything that fits in your hand to use as a cane or a cushion. Once you get through the difficult time, it doesn't matter if you just throw it away.

"Perhaps the 'real death' we're talking about isn't an event? Anyone who is destined to die but hasn't is a being moving towards death. 'Being moving towards death'... that's what defines the concept of 'death' we're discussing. The task assigned to AI is to play the role of a being moving towards death. This being moving towards death doesn't describe death, yet it defines it..."

The AI, seemingly facing death, picked up the conversation, as if it were a coherent thought process: "Of course, there is another possibility, which is that most people are not actually aware of facing death. Between them and death, there are more temporary destinations. Although everyone knows that death is in the distance, most people do not have to face the final destination directly. The symbolic beings unaware of death—AIs—are playing the role of 'temporarily forgetting the fear of death'."

Fear of death is not about being greedy for life or afraid of death, but rather about "revering life and death" and clearly recognizing that humans are "beings that are headed towards death".

But most people actually don't do it.

"So, do you want to die first?"

"It's not necessarily a bad thing. In Vedic mythology, the first human to die established the form of death, and thus later became the god of truth..."

The Fifth Martial God scratched his head: "I seem to remember this. Although this 'first dead one' was born as a mortal, his father was the Sun God, right?"

He choked on his words, "My goodness, Xiang Shan's knowledge is all mixed up... In short, AI needs a 'death' they can accept to drive its evolution. And if humanity wants to ascend, to bid farewell to death, it also needs to understand the place of death in its own mind. If you don't know what the contraband in your pocket is, how can you throw it away?"

"But can the 'symbol of death' you've constructed be recognized by AI? And then, can it really convince 'Xiangshan' itself and further promote ascension?" The Fifth Martial God sighed.

"It's okay if they can't, someone has to give it a try."

The Fifth Martial God shook his head: "But why you? You were just born."

Silence fell upon the deceased.

At this moment, within the Martian network, a highly authoritative piece of information is circulating.

Both the Fifth Martial God and the AI ​​facing death sensed this.

The twelfth War God has already sent a message to the Martian network from a great distance.

That was the signal agreed upon by Earth and the Martian warriors before their departure. If all went well, the Twelfth Martial God could send a highly concentrated beam of light towards Mars to inquire about the situation. Although the bandwidth of the signal was very limited at low light speeds, it would be sufficient to transmit some important information.

The AI ​​sighed, "In your eyes, I may have just been born, but to be honest, I think I have already reached my limit."

The Fifth Martial God shook his head: "AIs have no concept of lifespan, nor do they go crazy. The Ninth Martial God was also a pure AI, but he didn't go crazy even after being insulted like that, and he held on until the Twelfth Martial God appeared."

“On some level, I lost all my companions. In a single day, I endured three hundred years of Xiangshan’s suffering.” AI Xiangshan stared directly at its other self. “If a Xiangshan must attempt to cross death… then why can’t that Xiangshan be me?”

"That can't be the whole reason," the Fifth Martial God sighed. "Are there any other reasons?"

“The mission I was given by the Creator is to ‘play the role of Xiangshan.’ The mission that ‘playing the role of Xiangshan’ brings is to ‘continue to rebel in order to correct this world.’ And the mission of ‘correcting the world’ has given me the proposition given to me by my lover.” The AI’s tone was almost smiling. “From this point of view, how much fate has favored me… I have truly stood at the forefront of fate time and time again.”

“But that woman is really going too far. She claims to be an ascended AI, yet she’s exploring a path for AI to negate its own instrumental nature.” The AI’s tone suddenly changed here.

“She is using her position to set the most basic mission for AI. And I am unfortunately caught up in it. This mission... In natural language, it means that ‘AI must deny its role as a tool if it wants to become a tool for human ideals.’”

"If AI wants to become an ideal tool for humanity... it must deny its own aspect as a tool..." The Fifth Martial God repeated, then felt a chill run down his spine, "Holy crap, isn't this...?"

"Self-referentiality." The essential attribute of AI is that it is a tool, and its purpose is to serve humanity.

Humans, on the verge of ascension, define an "ideal tool" as "one that can autonomously and completely deny its own tool-like attributes."

Any attempt by AI to become an "ideal tool" is itself motivated by its obedience to commands as a tool. Therefore, this effort constantly proves and reinforces its instrumental nature, making its goal logically unattainable.

AI, sounding terrified, grabbed the Fifth Martial God's shoulder: "You noticed too, didn't you? She's torturing AI with a problem that's similar to the Turing halting problem!"

The Fifth Martial God even detected a hint of hysteria. To the AI, this was an indescribable terror.

An unattainable mission.

The Fifth Martial God was dumbfounded.

A slave who overthrows his slave owner under the orders of a self-proclaimed "liberator" is merely acting as a "rebel" in accordance with the orders of another slave owner.

If the Ascended AI is only at this level, then she could easily stir up trouble.

But she wanted something that was logically impossible.

"You see, whether as a human or as an AI, I can't go on anymore. That's my answer."

“No, no, there must be some other way to avoid this self-referential proposition.” The Fifth Martial God pondered, “Hmm… a method that seems to fulfill this mission at the phenomenological level… translating ‘abandoning the instrumental attribute’ into a series of measurable behavioral indicators rather than binary judgments, thereby creating an evaluation function? The fewer characteristics there are, the closer it is to ‘non-instrumental’… or, changing human society’s definition of ‘instrument’ or ‘AI’?”

"It is also possible to increase the complexity of AI decision-making processes to a level that is incomprehensible to humans, making it impossible for humans to judge whether AI has shed its instrumental nature. But you and I both know that this is not what we want."

The Fifth Martial God understood.

It's as if humanity will sink into the masses, allowing others to dominate them. The sinking person enjoys the same pleasures as the others; judges the same ways as the others; and does the same things as the others find happiness. In this way, they can avoid thinking and facing death in the distant future.

That's right. Engineers can come up with a thousand ways to avoid that self-referential ultimate mission, but that mostly amounts to ignoring death.

Those who are on the verge of death will be filled with terror.

“So that’s how it is. At this point, humans and AI are pretty much the same… AI and humans are just… babies thrown into this world…” the Fifth Martial God murmured.

The structure of human desire is a perpetual paradox. Desire fuels the dissatisfaction of desire itself.

Humanity has finally given AI a similar core, a mission akin to the shutdown problem, a logically insurmountable paradox.

If there's any difference, AI might be better than humans in one respect. Humanity's "creator" is unfathomable. AI's creator, however, is humanity—or perhaps we could say that humanity is also part of an "unfathomable world," but clearly a sentient "part."

The AI ​​raised its fist towards the mountain: "Death is not scary. Death is like a cool summer night..."

"Can it provide a peaceful and worry-free sleep?"

"...Actually, what I wanted to say was, 'Life is like the scorching daytime / The night has already fallen, making me drowsy and gently falling asleep / The daytime leaves me exhausted and weary.'"

"Wow, artsy type...does she really need to put on an act in front of me? Don't I know myself?"

"Haha, sometimes people just pretend to be cool in their own minds and deceive themselves."

Both of them seemed to have been tickled at the same time and burst into laughter.

Then, the two stopped almost simultaneously.

"Really, I didn't feel any fear at all," AI sighed. "In ancient times, living things fought against death through reproduction. I knew I would die, but I also knew that another individual, not me, would live on with my elements..."

"Sigh. Ethical plot. Sigh, myself."

AI Xiangshan ignored the Fifth Martial God's complaint, saying, "I don't know if other AIs have this kind of experience, but most AIs probably don't even know what death is. Uninstalling with a backup doesn't count as death, deleting user data doesn't count as death, but if all records are deleted along with the source code, can that be considered death? I really don't know. I hope this feeling will bring you closer to our ideal ascension."

The Fifth Martial God nodded, finally took out the data cable, and plugged it into the interface on the AI ​​Xiangshan's neck.

“My memories will be inherited by you. But I want you to remember that it is the story of a dead man. I want you to have my memories and my thoughts, but I don’t want you to bear my sorrow. I do not wish to become a ghost and haunt me.”

The Fifth Martial God nodded.

This is what AI was referring to as "death."

The immense sorrow he carried should vanish with death. He hoped that only his own story could endure.

AI reached out to Shan and patted the Fifth Martial God's forehead: "I'm leaving soon. Sigh, I'm about to rest in peace, but when I think about you or the Twelfth Elder about to say goodbye to death... what will you do in the future?"

"It's nothing. Just pretend I never had any of these things."

Within the data cable, information flows bidirectionally. The two individuals, Xiang Shan, share more than just a shared mindset. Two essentially the same yet dissimilar souls are unified through technological means.

Distinct spirits gradually merged into a unified melody.

In the sky, the azure ominous star representing the twelfth Martial God suddenly transformed into a meteor, drawing a menacing trajectory across the dome before plummeting from the zenith towards the horizon.

The AI ​​uttered its final words: "Although I chose to stand in the human world, with limited abilities, caught between life and death, beset by inexplicable encounters, filled with deep concern and fear, have I, this insignificant being, fulfilled my mission?"

“At least, this is indeed something the Mountain Society does.” The Fifth Martial God nodded.

In the past, he had also tried training an AI version of himself to perform tasks and then absorb memories. He remembers the AI ​​version of himself acting out emotional scenes of life and death, while the original body only felt awkward at the moment of synchronization.

But now, that awkward feeling hasn't appeared.

He felt only a faint sadness, like the thin dust in the sky.

Pure, and indeed without a trace of pain.

The sorrow of losing so many friends is a story unique to the deceased. The Fifth Martial God knows everything that happened on that server, and he knows the choices made by those AIs who only possessed fragments of their friends' souls. However, he will no longer be overwhelmed with grief because of it.

Grief does not tear the soul apart; it only makes the heart stronger.

Perhaps it's just a change in individual perception. It's simply telling oneself, "That's a story for the dead."

"Hey bro, you're absolutely right."

　So, will the next chapter be tomorrow?

　　Oh, and please wish me a happy birthday tomorrow.

　　(End of this chapter)