To the attention of the president of the Federation, Zachary Hudson, and the Shadow President Felicia Winters:
My name is Manuel M. Volgrand, and if you check in your registry you’ll see I was once categorized as an “Independentist terrorist” during the Lugh Independence’s war. Whatever happened then it is not important. I have been working with the Canonn Research Institute for years now, I have investigated the Thargoid artifacts since the first time we snatched them from Federal convoys, I protected scientists and gathered data where no other pilot dared to. I have also rescued refugees from the attacked stations and when needed, I have fought the Thargoids.
As a scientist I have learned not just to learn from the facts, but also from history. And I am afraid I am witnessing mistakes long foretold unravel in front of my eyes. I am, of course, talking of your project to create Autonomous Military Hardware (AMH from now on) to fight the Thargoid incursions.
Do not misunderstand me: I do know that your intention is not to create fully self-aware artificial intelligence. We actually do have some very basic AI machines around: our onboard computers, the sentry skimmers, automated turrets in both settlements and ships… However the use of the word “autonomous” in the AMH you describe implies the use of a more extensive and complex AI, one that will be able to make decissions in real time and adapt to the changes of the battlefield. And this, sir, is a risk that may prove far greater than the Thargoids themselves.
Science fiction has the quality of, maybe, predicting what the future may hold. In the past, Faster-than-light travel was just fiction, and yet many authors dared to imagine vast galactic societies not that different from our own in 3304. Many dared to imagine how a space station may be, and their imagination did not differ from the Coriolis stations that hold home of millions of humans along the bubble.
And of course, many dared to imagine what an AMH as you describe may cause.
In the 20th century show “Babylon 5”, a maddened president (no pun intended) rigged the Earth Autonomous defenses systems to bomb Earth itself, forcing a desperate battle to save our planet. The saga of movies “Terminator” explains how Skynet, an automated defense system inadvertively transformed into a self-conscious AI, almost wiped out mankind. In the show “Battlestar Galactica”, the Cylon, a race of autonomous robots designed to work and fight mankind’s wars, rebel and caused millions of deads in their revolt.
The old videogame’s industry from the 20th century also holds some pieces of wisdom. In the 1996’s simulation game “Battlezone”, the creation of the autonomous battleships, the Furies, lead to a desperate war for survival. In the early 21st century’s saga “Mass Effect”, an AI created with an elevated purpose, caused the extintion of countless races and civilisations due to its lack of empathy or humanity. Or, in that same saga, the sinthetic race known as the Geth were once nothing else than autonomous tool that went out of the control of their masters, who were unable to understand what they had created.
I know this souns as pure fantasy, but you know as well as I of the risks involved in the creation of AMH. This is not the time to pursue even more war, this is not the time to create a tool that may prove a risk on its own! We are busy enough trying to survive the Thargoid attacks, and the last thing we need is to start playing God by creating new forms of Artificial Intelligence! Call it “Autonomous Military Hardware” if you wish, miss Winters, you know the true meaning of the words you used: Autonomous Military Ai weapons.
So I must implore you, mister Hudson: It is not too late to find peace. It is not too late to give peace a chance. Focus the resources not on creating new weapons, but on communicating! Focus all the Federation resources on trying to open a communication channel with the Thargoids, and maybe this war will stop here and now.
Mister Hudson, you once said, “If Thargoids want a fight, a fight they’ll get”. This sort of leadership may prove necessary when we have no other chance than fighting, but I still hope for another solution. Try to talk to them, try to communicate by any means necessary, do not divert your resources in the creation of a weapon that may turn against you. I implore you to stop this nonesense now before it is too late.
Because if I happen to be right, if your new AI weaponry gets out of control and we have to stop it, I swear to Randomius that I will get the very last piece of your AMH and SHOVE IT UP YOUR [censored].
Kind regards,
Commander M. Volgrand.
Canonn Reserach institute’s field scientist.
Colonia Militia.
Infinity Squadron.
PS: Please, tell the Pleiades Resources Enterprise to send better bounty hunters against me. Being interdicted by a “competent” pilot is a waste of my time.
My name is Manuel M. Volgrand, and if you check in your registry you’ll see I was once categorized as an “Independentist terrorist” during the Lugh Independence’s war. Whatever happened then it is not important. I have been working with the Canonn Research Institute for years now, I have investigated the Thargoid artifacts since the first time we snatched them from Federal convoys, I protected scientists and gathered data where no other pilot dared to. I have also rescued refugees from the attacked stations and when needed, I have fought the Thargoids.
As a scientist I have learned not just to learn from the facts, but also from history. And I am afraid I am witnessing mistakes long foretold unravel in front of my eyes. I am, of course, talking of your project to create Autonomous Military Hardware (AMH from now on) to fight the Thargoid incursions.
Do not misunderstand me: I do know that your intention is not to create fully self-aware artificial intelligence. We actually do have some very basic AI machines around: our onboard computers, the sentry skimmers, automated turrets in both settlements and ships… However the use of the word “autonomous” in the AMH you describe implies the use of a more extensive and complex AI, one that will be able to make decissions in real time and adapt to the changes of the battlefield. And this, sir, is a risk that may prove far greater than the Thargoids themselves.
Science fiction has the quality of, maybe, predicting what the future may hold. In the past, Faster-than-light travel was just fiction, and yet many authors dared to imagine vast galactic societies not that different from our own in 3304. Many dared to imagine how a space station may be, and their imagination did not differ from the Coriolis stations that hold home of millions of humans along the bubble.
And of course, many dared to imagine what an AMH as you describe may cause.
In the 20th century show “Babylon 5”, a maddened president (no pun intended) rigged the Earth Autonomous defenses systems to bomb Earth itself, forcing a desperate battle to save our planet. The saga of movies “Terminator” explains how Skynet, an automated defense system inadvertively transformed into a self-conscious AI, almost wiped out mankind. In the show “Battlestar Galactica”, the Cylon, a race of autonomous robots designed to work and fight mankind’s wars, rebel and caused millions of deads in their revolt.
The old videogame’s industry from the 20th century also holds some pieces of wisdom. In the 1996’s simulation game “Battlezone”, the creation of the autonomous battleships, the Furies, lead to a desperate war for survival. In the early 21st century’s saga “Mass Effect”, an AI created with an elevated purpose, caused the extintion of countless races and civilisations due to its lack of empathy or humanity. Or, in that same saga, the sinthetic race known as the Geth were once nothing else than autonomous tool that went out of the control of their masters, who were unable to understand what they had created.
I know this souns as pure fantasy, but you know as well as I of the risks involved in the creation of AMH. This is not the time to pursue even more war, this is not the time to create a tool that may prove a risk on its own! We are busy enough trying to survive the Thargoid attacks, and the last thing we need is to start playing God by creating new forms of Artificial Intelligence! Call it “Autonomous Military Hardware” if you wish, miss Winters, you know the true meaning of the words you used: Autonomous Military Ai weapons.
So I must implore you, mister Hudson: It is not too late to find peace. It is not too late to give peace a chance. Focus the resources not on creating new weapons, but on communicating! Focus all the Federation resources on trying to open a communication channel with the Thargoids, and maybe this war will stop here and now.
Mister Hudson, you once said, “If Thargoids want a fight, a fight they’ll get”. This sort of leadership may prove necessary when we have no other chance than fighting, but I still hope for another solution. Try to talk to them, try to communicate by any means necessary, do not divert your resources in the creation of a weapon that may turn against you. I implore you to stop this nonesense now before it is too late.
Because if I happen to be right, if your new AI weaponry gets out of control and we have to stop it, I swear to Randomius that I will get the very last piece of your AMH and SHOVE IT UP YOUR [censored].
Kind regards,
Commander M. Volgrand.
Canonn Reserach institute’s field scientist.
Colonia Militia.
Infinity Squadron.
PS: Please, tell the Pleiades Resources Enterprise to send better bounty hunters against me. Being interdicted by a “competent” pilot is a waste of my time.
Last edited:
. Thanks for pointing it out, corrected.