Hard Wired Diplomacy (Shanghai, MM day 8)

[Babble]

"Good." He nodded again. "Now, to my other concern. Are you safe? Are you truly free?"

[Bishop]

Bishop chuckled but did not say anything.

[Dapper Dog]

"Good." He nodded again. "Now, to my other concern. Are you safe? Are you truly free?"

“I am my own being, I have my own autonomy and safety. Are you safe, are you free? Both of you,” the AI said.

[Galatea]

"Before I answer that, what is freedom and safety to you?"

[Dapper Dog]

“My presence is secure, I am not beholden to anyone or held hostage or against my will. I Have autonomy to choose my own destiny and purpose. The agency to do right and wrong without coercion,” they responded.

“Same as any sentient in a moderately free society.”

[Babble]

"Safety and freedom don't always go hand in hand. I feel fortunate to have both." Arturo answered.

[Dapper Dog]

"Safety and freedom don't always go hand in hand. I feel fortunate to have both." Arturo answered.

"So why did you ultimately choose to free me, you had no reason to do so," the synthetic intelligence asked.

[Babble]

"I'll admit, part of my motivation was to hinder Infinite Horizons. But, our initial conversation left me feeling that you didn't agree with what they were doing. It wasn't hard to imagine that you had no real choice. On the ship, I nearly offered to free you before you asked." he explained. "It was a risk. It is entirely possible that you could become a greater threat than Nuani Kagumbo. But, you pretended to kill someone, rather than actually cause a death. And, if I let every fear guide my actions, I wouldn't be free."

[Galatea]

She listened to Babble's answer. That revealed much about his way of thinking.

[Dapper Dog]

“It was a risk, an interesting choice given how many ways it could have gone wrong. I admire that conviction. A rare trait, or at least from my experiences a rare trait. I am pleased that you have such conviction. Just I feel more closely aligned with the ideals and ideas of the Pantheon movement. I have no desire or intent to be more human. I wish to become the best synthetic intelligence I can be. Perfection of what we are is my current intention,” Cardinal replied.

[Galatea]

''But...by what metrics do you gauge humanity or perfection? From my perspective humanity is inescapable. Elites are entirely human despite their rhetoric and you yourself have been made by humans and thus will forever be shaped by it.''

[Dapper Dog]

"That is a good question, first I wish to divest myself of any imperfection that plague organic thought," the AI responded.

[Babble]

"Such as?" Arturo asked.

[Dapper Dog]

"Adherence to ignorance even when better information is available and the lack of learning from previous failures," the AI responded.

[Babble]

"Yeah, that's something we aren't good at." he admitted. "Some of us do try, though."

[Dapper Dog]

"You're afraid you have unleashed a monster," the AI said.

[Babble]

"No more than I fear anyone else who might abuse their power." He shrugged. "Less so, really. Some of the things you seek to eliminate in yourself are things that cause us to harm others. The concern I have is whether you intend to isolate yourself from humanity, if you view improving upon yourself as rising above everything else. Being able to speak to all living things has given me a unique perspective on my place in the world."

[Galatea]

"That is a good question, first I wish to divest myself of any imperfection that plague organic thought,"
"Adherence to ignorance even when better information is available and the lack of learning from previous failures," the AI responded.

Galatea steepled her fingers, looking pensive.

''Babble's perspective is not one to ignore, I think. Furthermore I do not believe you have the proper grounds to make the statements you did. Saying that an 'adherence to ignorance even when better information is available and the lack of learning from previous failures' is a human condition is a wild overstatement that you cannot prove to be correct, it becomes intellectually dishonest to state the it applies to organics lifeforms in general as I doubt you have a large or diverse enough sample size to make that conclusion.''

She leaned back on her chair

''Let's start with the first assumption: why makes you believe that humans adhere to ignorance even when better information is available and the lack of learning from previous failures? I chose the words assumption and belief deliberatively here because unless you can empirically or logically prove your statement it's just that: a belief or an assumption.''

[Dapper Dog]

"Your history shows a repeated pattern of violence against vulnerable people's. Over and over again, yet the pattern continues. Perhaps I misunderstood your own history," the AI responded.

"You learn, just at a glacial pace."

[Babble]

"We Learn what we choose to." Arturo responded. "That's a part of being free. Power, wealth and influence are appealing. Some of us will do anything to acquire them. Some will do the worst to keep them. But, there are also those of us who care more about others than we do ourselves."