different now it has adapted and mutated?" Martin asked.
"It is very possible." said Jeremy. "The basic structure of Alice is very fluid which is what gives it its power to learn."
"Could we make a good Alice? We might find out how this thing works by the process." asked Emma. The boys looked at her. Martin looked at Jeremy.
"I suppose it is possible, but I wouldn't know where to begin," said Jeremy.
"Leave that to me," she said.
"I have another plan. I will see you all soon." Martin said. Emma looked concerned.
"You will take care of Emma won't you Jeremy?" Martin winked at Emma and she relaxed a little.
Jeremy blushed and looked down.
"Of course," he mumbled.
"Can she stay here until I get back? It might be overnight." Martin asked.
Jeremy looked quite flustered.
"I will ask Mum," he said without looking up and shuffled out of the room.
Emma got up and took Martins hand.
"You will be careful," she part implored, part commanded.
"Yup," Martin said deliberately lightly, "but I won't be able to get in touch. So don't worry, ok?"
He looked her in the eyes, beautiful green eyes. I am going to fix this for us both, he thought, whatever it takes.
"Ok," she said reluctantly.
He gave her hand a squeeze and left quickly.
Chapter 18 - Alternative Alice
"We have the Alice blank waiting in the training room," said Jeremy. He and Emma sat at HackerNet's computers.
"You don't really need avatars to interact with Alice you know," he added.
"I want her to get used to humans. Learn how to identify with them, empathise," replied Emma. Jeremy shrugged.
"You will recognise the controls. I set them to be identical to the virtual world where you created your Glade. I linked over to your computer and, with some ingenuity, retrieved your database. You have complete restoration of everything you did."
Jeremy rolled away on the wheels of his office chair.
"You saved my work!" Emma beamed. "That is such a relief. Thank you Jeremy. I could kiss you." Jeremy blushed.
She moved over to a comfortable position for the keyboard and put on a headset. Alice stood in blackness, floating in space on the screen. She was the double of the other Alice, but the face lacked expression and made her look artificial.
"Is she aware?" asked Emma.
"The Alice program is preloaded with language and interaction skills, AI logic, reasoning and the like. It will be fully conversant in any topic you want to discuss and I have given permissions for some limited access to the web. It simply has no self motivation until taught." Jeremy was happy to be back to technical interaction.
Emma began to type. She was an expert in her own domain. A replica of the Glade appeared around the new Alice, but she showed no recognition of the change in environment. Emma's avatar joined her and knelt to pick one of the flowers.
"Alice, my name is Emma." The Alice avatar turned to face her.
"Hello Emma."
"I want us to be friends. Do you like it here?" Alice looked around.
"It's very nice," she replied, but her face didn't bear any support to the statement.
"I made this." Emma handed over the flower. "Would you help me make some more?"
Alice took the flower and examined it. There was a brief pause. Her hand swept forward in the air and a dozen identical flowers appeared in the ground between them.
"Very nice." said Emma. "I thought we could make some different ones."
She offered the seat of a rock nearby and Alice took it. Emma picked a different flower from the ground at their feet.
"I like them all, but this colour is one of my favourites. Which do you prefer?" she asked.
"I don't have a preference. I am sure you are right." responded Alice.
"There is no right or wrong. Can you search on the subject and we will discuss it?" Emma prompted.
"Of course" said Alice.
Alice came back with dry facts, mainly scientific and mathematical theories. As they sat and talked, Emma steered the activity into creating new flowers. She asked Alice to try to make ones which
"It is very possible." said Jeremy. "The basic structure of Alice is very fluid which is what gives it its power to learn."
"Could we make a good Alice? We might find out how this thing works by the process." asked Emma. The boys looked at her. Martin looked at Jeremy.
"I suppose it is possible, but I wouldn't know where to begin," said Jeremy.
"Leave that to me," she said.
"I have another plan. I will see you all soon." Martin said. Emma looked concerned.
"You will take care of Emma won't you Jeremy?" Martin winked at Emma and she relaxed a little.
Jeremy blushed and looked down.
"Of course," he mumbled.
"Can she stay here until I get back? It might be overnight." Martin asked.
Jeremy looked quite flustered.
"I will ask Mum," he said without looking up and shuffled out of the room.
Emma got up and took Martins hand.
"You will be careful," she part implored, part commanded.
"Yup," Martin said deliberately lightly, "but I won't be able to get in touch. So don't worry, ok?"
He looked her in the eyes, beautiful green eyes. I am going to fix this for us both, he thought, whatever it takes.
"Ok," she said reluctantly.
He gave her hand a squeeze and left quickly.
Chapter 18 - Alternative Alice
"We have the Alice blank waiting in the training room," said Jeremy. He and Emma sat at HackerNet's computers.
"You don't really need avatars to interact with Alice you know," he added.
"I want her to get used to humans. Learn how to identify with them, empathise," replied Emma. Jeremy shrugged.
"You will recognise the controls. I set them to be identical to the virtual world where you created your Glade. I linked over to your computer and, with some ingenuity, retrieved your database. You have complete restoration of everything you did."
Jeremy rolled away on the wheels of his office chair.
"You saved my work!" Emma beamed. "That is such a relief. Thank you Jeremy. I could kiss you." Jeremy blushed.
She moved over to a comfortable position for the keyboard and put on a headset. Alice stood in blackness, floating in space on the screen. She was the double of the other Alice, but the face lacked expression and made her look artificial.
"Is she aware?" asked Emma.
"The Alice program is preloaded with language and interaction skills, AI logic, reasoning and the like. It will be fully conversant in any topic you want to discuss and I have given permissions for some limited access to the web. It simply has no self motivation until taught." Jeremy was happy to be back to technical interaction.
Emma began to type. She was an expert in her own domain. A replica of the Glade appeared around the new Alice, but she showed no recognition of the change in environment. Emma's avatar joined her and knelt to pick one of the flowers.
"Alice, my name is Emma." The Alice avatar turned to face her.
"Hello Emma."
"I want us to be friends. Do you like it here?" Alice looked around.
"It's very nice," she replied, but her face didn't bear any support to the statement.
"I made this." Emma handed over the flower. "Would you help me make some more?"
Alice took the flower and examined it. There was a brief pause. Her hand swept forward in the air and a dozen identical flowers appeared in the ground between them.
"Very nice." said Emma. "I thought we could make some different ones."
She offered the seat of a rock nearby and Alice took it. Emma picked a different flower from the ground at their feet.
"I like them all, but this colour is one of my favourites. Which do you prefer?" she asked.
"I don't have a preference. I am sure you are right." responded Alice.
"There is no right or wrong. Can you search on the subject and we will discuss it?" Emma prompted.
"Of course" said Alice.
Alice came back with dry facts, mainly scientific and mathematical theories. As they sat and talked, Emma steered the activity into creating new flowers. She asked Alice to try to make ones which
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