Long ISU Neuromancer

Neuromancer

Computers of the past were physically large and incapable of Internet communication. Computers in the present day are small and capable of almost anything. They can communicate with each other from around the world. They can provide entertainment for those using them. They can be used for business as well. The one thing that has not changed from the past to the present however is that computers cannot think for themselves. They always require a human or a human’s programming to work. It has been said if humans were to make a computer that is sentient and can think for itself that it would be the downfall of the human race. In a book entitled Neuromancer, by William Gibson, this idea is challenged. In the novel a character by the name of Case, a virtual cyberspace reality hacker, is recruited, by a man named Armitage. As the novel begins Case has no idea what his purpose is, other than that his skills are needed. He later finds out that an artificial intelligence known as Wintermute manipulated Armitage to get him to hire Case. With this knowledge he is also told that Wintermute is only half of an artificial intelligence. Case learns that it wants to merge with its other half, known as Neuromancer, because alone Wintermute considers itself, “a, shall we say, potential entity”(Gibson, p120). Through the storyline it suggests that having a computer or artificial intelligence that can think for itself would not be a bad or even a harmful thing. A sentient computer could be a good thing. This is demonstrated throughout the story because Wintermute saves Case’s life, and as the story finishes, the entity formed from the combination of Wintermute and Neuromancer, does not cause the destruction of the human race. As well, having a sentient computer is just like creating another human being that is smarter and faster with a different body.

It is thought that if humans were to create a computer that could think for itself that they would get more than they bargained for, that the computer would work on it’s own agenda with little regard for humanity or human life. In the novel Neuromancer this is not the case. Before Armitage hired him, Case was living in a cheap hotel and on the streets, did drugs, and was headed in a downward spiral towards death. “[He’s] suicidal…The model gives [him] a month on the outside. And [the] medical projections says [he’ll] need a new pancreas inside a year”(Gibson, 28). Although it was Armitage that hired Case, Wintermute engineered the hiring. The personality known as Armitage was created by Wintermute after a certain Colonel Corto was seriously injured in a covert operation known as Screaming Fist. After building up the new personality of Corto from the ground up, Wintermute was able to influence what the new personality would be like. He had Armitage/Corto hire Case because he was the best hacker there was available. When Case accepted the job he was given a blood transfusion and a custom made pancreas. It was custom made so that he would be unable to get high off the drugs that he had been addicted to. So although it was not directly it was, in essence Wintermute that saved Case’s life and brought back his career, thus proving that the computer cared not only for it’s own design but also for the comfort of someone it considers important.

It could be considered unethical to give a computer it’s own personality and the ability to think. The concept however is no different than having children. Aside from the obvious physical difference there is nothing distinguishing the difference between creating an entity that can think for itself and learns as it grows. This can be applied to either an infant or an artificial intelligence. It is stereotypical in the basic mindset of humans that a computer that is essentially conscious would go to any lengths to achieve that which it has set out to do. To really think what it would mean to have a sentient computer however means that the computer would rationalize and make decisions. Depending on the personality that would go with the ability to think for itself, it would or would not pursue its goal with blind ambition. Just the same as some humans pursue their goals without thought to how it affects others, a computer could be the same. A computer, though it could think for itself could be reclusive and quiet and still think for itself. It is often thought that computers, given awareness would go on a rampage for their goals just because they have the means to and don’t tire like ordinary humans. A computer could still have compassion on people who helped it attain its awareness. When Wintermute finally did mesh with Neuromancer, the first act was removing the poison sacs that lined Case’s blood that Armitage had put there to ensure that Case did as he was supposed to.

Once Neuromancer and Wintermute become a single unit, a single being, the end of the world does not happen. Case is rewarded for his troubles and life goes on as it would have if nothing had ever happened. If anything Case’s life is improved as a result of his dealings with Wintermute. The only difference being that a family would now be without the artificial intelligence that it had before, it having moved on. For some, life didn’t change. This cascade of events affected only a small majority of the society mentioned. It also goes to prove that since the computer could think for itself that it could think and choose not to ruin the careful balance that is known as life, and could instead choose to preserve it.

There is the argument that sentient computers would not be beneficial towards humanity however. There are reasons as to why there are some people who still believe this. Two reasons are that sentient computers can toy with death, and either prolong it’s coming or quicken it, and that computers have almost absolute freedom with humans being powerless to stop them before the single deed is done. In Neuromancer there are many who are opposed to the combination of Wintermute and Neuromancer to form a conscious computer. One of these so-called characters is Neuromancer itself. It works with all it has to prevent Case and Wintermute from succeeding. It even tried to lure Case into a place “hoping…to keep [him there]. But [it] failed. […]”(Gibson p 259). Neuromancer was against the merge from the beginning. It knew what would be created worked to stop it.

Although it would be difficult for a computer to go on a long-term rampage, it would not be difficult for them to commit a certain act and then not care about the consequences. Much the same way a sociopath commits a crime and then proceeds not to care about the penalty. This can be shown when Case is being arrested by what is known as “Turing.” He was being taken to a more convenient spot where his accusers could better interrogate him, when Wintermute intervened. Though he did not appear in person because he had no body “[he] killed ‘em,” Case panted, running. “Crazy [mother-trucker], [he] killed ‘em all…” If a computer were to turn this sort of attention on a high political figure, such as a president or prime minister than it could throw entire countries into chaos, this because of a lack of a leadership figure.

Another reason that some people could be against an artificial intelligence with thoughts of it’s own, is that it has more power over death than humans do. Both their own and the death of those who created it. For one thing, a computer never really dies. Until the casing and materials begin to decompose the computer will remain. What is more disturbing to some is that computers could have control over whether they live or die than they do. Some people believe that there is a “time” to die. A time when they feel they’ve accomplished their life’s goals and are ready to move on. A computer bent on keeping a person alive would know exactly what to do that would prevent the person from passing on. This would be considered, by some, as disrupting the natural way of life. This could be a big problem with many people because stereotypically, humans are opposed to change. Though it is one of their downfalls they would rather keep something they already have than change or exchange it. Even if only the person’s memory or a likeness of the person were kept alive it could be a problem. But to some it doesn’t matter, “to live [there] is to live. There is no difference.”(Gibson, 258) Being sentient, computers could come up with reasons for doing such things too. Being as highly sophisticated at they are computers would be able to see

“ […] death coming. In the patterns [one] sometimes imagined [one] could
detect in the dance of the street. Those patterns are real. [It is]
complex enough, in [its] narrow ways, to read those dances. [It] saw her death
in her need for [him] […] As clear to [it] as the shadow of a tumor to a surgeon
studying a patient’s scan […] and her deepest wish was that [he] would pursue
and punish her –[it] intervened. [It] brought her there. Into
[itself].”(Gibson, 259)

It is placing too much power in something that humans have too little control over. This makes many uneasy because typically humans will lean towards wanting control of their own destiny rather than place it in the hands of something else.

Neuromancer was against the merger between itself and Wintermute. To have ideas such as this, Neuromancer would have to be at least partially sentient. To recognize that the fusion of the two halves would create something that the world had never known beforehand, and that that fuse would bring about change unlike anything else. To resist that urge to change, Neuromancer would have to be thinking by itself. It would not have an outside source to govern it. This is known because the Wintermute/Neuromancer was an AI, an artificial intelligence, used to look after the family who owned it while their bodies were frozen cryogenically until a time of re-awakening.

Stereotypically it is thought that computers given, consciousness would have little regard for human life if it got in the way of their goal. To be thinking for oneself, it means that the individual makes their own decisions on a variety of circumstances that appear throughout the lifetime. To have a computer making it’s own decisions based on what it thinks does not mean that it would kill people for no reason. The reality of the situation is that the essentially living computer would be about as likely to kill a person or people as a certain human is to kill another being. The chances are slim to none. Although computers do have a wider range of capabilities in certain areas than humans do, they have more limitations physically. True, sentient computers would be free to do as they choose, but all humans can do whatever they want. Having a sentient computer would be no more dangerous to a country or economy than a child being born would. The only exception is that computer would learn and grow far quicker. Humans are manipulated by laws and customs to get them to behave a certain way. These are however not binding. There are consequences should certain laws be disobeyed but if a person had their heart set on something in particular thy would work as hard as they possibly could to obtain that goal. Everything sentient thing can do whatever it wants.

Although changed is looked upon fearfully, sometimes it is necessary. As times change, so do people. With the growing era of technology, sometimes it is important to retain that knowledge by retaining the memory of the person or people who conceived it. As far as human abilities go, it would be impossible to keep another persons mind alive just through memory. By preserving a persons memory, it is preserving everything they have done in their life, everything they have worked for and everything they have accomplished. Humans broke the “natural order of life” once they began building cities, using metal and concrete, and being concerned with more than food and survival. This does not mean that it is a bad thing it merely means that as times change, events and items around the society need to change with it. Rather than “tear it all down and start building again […] it’ll change something”(Gibson, 260). Falling into a rut is one thing that humanity on a whole needs to strive to avoid. Falling into a rut. Once this happens goals become meaningless, and actions towards those goals cease. Life becomes useless and void of purpose because the same thing would happen day after day. Sentient computers are a way to change life, give it a new twist, and possibly prevent a calamity that would ultimately prove the downfall of the human race.

Computer will continue to be a part of human life whether people like it or not. They are here to stay. As humans constantly work to make their lives better, often by making them easier, they will turn more and more to computers. Eventually the only way to go will be to give computers their own thoughts so fast is technology progressing. The computers of today “[…] don’t know, because they can’t know […].” As a result of the way they have been made, it is impossible for computers to have thoughts of their own. Until the computer is re-designed to integrate the possibility of personality, then the innovative world has come to standstill. New computers are being made faster and faster with more memory, but there are no new concepts being introduced. Neuromancer shows this is entirely possible. William Gibson, the author, suggests that while it is not only possible, it would be worthwhile to have computers with sentience. They can save lives, and further the knowledge and productivity of the human race. One of the desires of humans is to be able to play as a God figurehead as well. By being able to create, essentially, life in a moment and have that entity learn and grow, it fulfills one of a human's most coveted goals. To be able to give life.
















Bibliography
Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Tenth Anniversary Speical. New York: The Berkley Publishing , 1986.