Make Me Smile [A SciFi Poem]

 

To pass the Turing test may spell disaster or blessings.

 

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^{Created in Canva.}

 

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            It made me smile.
            A crooked thing,
            tearing the ends
            of my lips wide.

            I’d asked of it
            if it would save
            a falling cat
            or a cold dog.

            It replied ‘both’.

            I shook my head.

            It was still far
            from the AI
            I’d hope to make,
            but there’s progress.

            I asked again,
            “a swimming cat
            or a lone child,
            which one was fine?”

            It kept silent
            as it thought through
            tonnes of data
            heavier than earth

            I waited, calm,
            expecting ‘both’,
            but what it said
            was sad and true.

            “It’s not about fine,”
            was the response,
            “it’s about worth:
            the cat or child?”

            I kept quiet,
            taking my notes,
            waiting for it
            to explain more.

            It kept quiet.

            I asked again.

            It wasn’t hurt,
            by either words
            or damage,
            then why silence?

            “It is better
            to save the child,”
            it said at last.
            “I want a child.”

            I blinked, rapid,
            confused, teary,
            Because I, too,
            yearned for just that.

            It had picked up
            my desires?
            Fears and agony?
            Had it claimed them?

            I asked her “how
            could that happen?”
            She said, through code,
            simply, “with you.”

            She made me smile,
            a wicked thing,
            tearing the ends
            of my mind wide.

 

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G'day, Hive!

As promised, more spec-po (speculative poetry). I've always been fascinated with the concept of true artificial intelligence. Or, rather, artificial sentience, to be more accurate. How would we know. It almost runs into Descartes' phisophy of cogito ergo sum, meaning "I think, therefore I am". You can question a human's sentience, their existence as a whole even.

So how can we be certain that a machine hasn't achieved sentience? Is it even possible or merely a case of projection, something humans are notorious at doing (yes, you who think your dog feels guilt). Further then, what will happen if indeed there is a sentient machine. Will it want what it can't have?

 

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Thanks for stopping by and reading and supporting!
I'd love to know your thoughts and reactions to the story so please feel free to leave a comment.
 

 
^{Anike Kirsten lives in the dead centre of South Africa with her spawns and spouse, cat, and spiders. She is an amateur scientist and artist who also enjoys exploring the possibilities, as well as the improbabilities, within her stories. Fragments of her imagination have been scattered across to Nature: Futures, Avescope, and other fine publications.}
 
• Copyright © 2022 Anike Kirsten •
 

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