Chapter 20: The Growth of Artificial intelligence

H'el made his way to the command center, and along the way, he could see the people who looked at him with fear and avoided him like he was a venomous snake. The trauma and fear he had brought to them were profound.

Inside the command center, Robert was supervising the base's personnel in cleaning up and assessing the damage caused by the recent battle. The conflict had wreaked havoc on a corner of the base, with the dome even punctured in several places, making the cleanup challenging.

As some workers noticed H'el approaching, dressed in his black cloak, striding with an imposing demeanor, he seemed to emerge from the darkness like a deity. He dominated everyone's field of vision, making hearts race and causing an overwhelming sense of insignificance.

The workers hurriedly tapped Robert's arm with the back of their hands and stiffly signaled towards the newcomer at the door.

Robert was puzzled and turned to look, and he, too, was taken aback. H'el's entrance was like a stride from the void, discarding the surroundings and leaving only himself. The entire command center became aware of H'el's presence, and suddenly, voices were stifled, creating a chilling silence.

Robert's fingers froze, and he, the technical chief consultant of the Anchorage base, who had an image of being thin, weak, and scholarly, felt his throat tighten as he spoke nervously and cautiously, "Sir, what brings you here?"

H'el glanced at him, surprised that this guy dared to even talk to him and thought he was being quite bold. H'el had believed that after the whole base had witnessed his battle, everyone would be terrified of him, except for Stacker. However, this guy in front of him seemed a bit more normal.

Perhaps he was a talent in the making. H'el had the power to change a person's future with a single thought.

Robert felt H'el's gaze, and his scalp went numb. His throat was dry, and he felt like hitting himself for even talking. 

He then started fidgeting like a little boy.

"Bring all the input devices here and plug them in. Keyboards, tablets, everything," H'el instructed. He hadn't anticipated that even after deciding to conquer the world, he'd still have to code programs himself.

But this path, which was bound to succeed in the future, felt strangely real as he advanced.

It was probably the joy of moving towards a goal, steadily and unwaveringly, the simplicity of success.

Robert heard H'el's instructions and, without any extra thoughts, was relieved. He didn't know what this alien wanted to do, but as long as he followed H'el's instructions, he would be fine.

His face became serious, and he became anxious and eager, with no extraneous thoughts. He quickly directed the technicians around him to bring over the cheap-feeling keyboards and tablets from the warehouse. He also remembered to rearrange the positions of some high-end tablets, hurrying back and forth to gather everything.

Before long, the command center had turned into a structure of multiple hexagonal towers. In the middle of each hexagonal tower was a USB port converter. Countless keyboards, tablets, and cables were plugged into the central converter, leaving only a single key cap's width of space in between.

H'el stood to the side, watching them work tirelessly, almost as if they had been injected with drugs, and occasionally giving orders that startled some of them, causing their hands to tremble. Only Robert could respond seriously and flexibly, adjusting quickly based on the situation. He had a bit more courage and ability.

"All the input devices from Anchorage base should be here," Robert reported to H'el, his body drenched in sweat, the perspiration sticking to his clothes. He was slightly out of breath, swallowing hard as he addressed H'el.

"Good, go get some rest," H'el nodded, starting to project his biometric field toward the input devices in the command center.

Robert let out a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to satisfy this "sir," and he couldn't help but feel like this "sir" wasn't that hard to deal with.

As long as he followed his orders, it seemed...everything was fine.

Then, Robert saw the keyboards in the command center begin to type automatically, with no one at the controls. The room was empty except for the input devices, and the sound of keyboards clicking away filled the air, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Robert couldn't help but be surprised, and he suddenly thought about H'el's superpowers. He muttered to himself, "So, this is his telekinesis. Using it to type on the keyboard... typing on over two hundred keyboards at once..."

He marveled at it. "He's like a god of coders."

Robert then realized how strange this was. Using telekinesis to type on keyboards? The sound of the keys being pressed in quick succession echoed through the command center.

Robert looked at the large screen in the command center and vaguely saw H'el invading several large server clusters on Earth, utilizing their computing power. The lines of code on the big screen flashed by too quickly for him to catch. It made his head spin and his eyes hurt, and he couldn't keep up with what H'el was doing.

"What are you doing?" Robert couldn't help but ask, astonished by what he had seen after watching H'el work for half an hour. Aside from the initial server intrusion, everything else was too fast for him to understand. He immediately regretted speaking out; his uncontrollable mouth had gotten the best of him.

H'el's eyes remained fixed on the large screen in the command center, and amidst the cacophony of keyboard clicks, he replied to Robert's question, "I'm creating an entire artificial intelligence."

"Artificial intelligence!" Robert was momentarily stunned, staring at the scrolling lines of code on the big screen. He couldn't make heads or tails of it; the rapid display was making his eyes uncomfortable.

Artificial intelligence had always been at the forefront of computer science, an area that humans had yet to fully conquer. The AI on Earth was more like a sophisticated chatbot, far from true artificial intelligence.

Robert was considered an expert in the computer field, and he understood the difficulty of creating true artificial intelligence.

Could it be that this alien was creating an AI that wasn't just a simple chatbot?

The thought of it fired him up, and he forgot all about his fear of H'el. His excitement grew, and he was determined to witness the birth of genuine artificial intelligence.

After all, he had played a part in it too!

He moved those keyboards, after all!

In an instant, he was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

"In the future, you'll be responsible for the maintenance and answering questions about the artificial intelligence," H'el's lips curled into a smirk.

"Really? I... I... I'll do it. I'll take it very seriously," Robert hadn't expected to be handed such an opportunity right off the bat, and he felt his blood circulation speed up, his entire being heating up, and he was so excited he nearly jumped.

"Of course, creating the moral logic module for the artificial intelligence is a bit troublesome, so I won't bother with that. You'll be responsible for the artificial intelligence, let's call it 'Dawn,' and you'll handle Dawn's troubleshooting and guidance," H'el's smirk had a hint of wickedness.

"Whether Dawn becomes a Terminator-style Skynet or possesses the moral character of humans, it all depends on how you, the teacher, educate it."

Robert's excited expression froze on the spot.

When an artificial intelligence lacked the moral qualities of humans, when it no longer prioritized humanity, what a terrifying existence it would become. Terminator's Skynet might just be born in H'el's hands at this very moment!

The pressure on him was immense. Teaching an artificial intelligence was risky; one wrong move could potentially lead to a future AI crisis, endangering humanity.

His eyes wandered, his breathing became erratic, and he felt an overwhelming psychological burden. He swallowed hard and forced a smile. "Maybe... you should consider someone else for this."

"Did I ask for your opinion?" H'el smiled.

When did you start to delude yourself that I was consulting with you?

That smile made Robert's neck stiffen, an inner coldness washing over him, and the long-buried fear resurfaced.

Just a few moments ago, their conversation had led him to subconsciously believe that H'el was easygoing and capable of normal conversation, that he was a peaceful individual and not the extraterrestrial who had waged a brutal war and defeated the military forces.

But now, he suddenly felt the recklessness and dominance in H'el's every action, influencing the entire Earth.

He didn't care.

Robert sat stiffly beside H'el, feeling like a thorn in his side, uncomfortable, his face darkened. He sensed a bleak future, as if he were about to become the greatest villain in human history.

H'el indeed didn't care. Right now, the artificial intelligence he was creating using his biometric field was a highly adaptable and evolving intelligence model.

It could be said to be the most powerful form of growth-based artificial intelligence in Kryptonian history, and it was listed as a prohibited item because with this type of intelligence, you couldn't predict which direction it would take.

Just like humans, it had various personalities and preferences.

Over time, it would develop its own likes and dislikes.

At one point, it was believed that this versatile and multi-faceted logic construct could grow into a truly intelligent life form.

But later on, there was one who thought that Kryptonians should not exist in the universe, and this artificial intelligence, which possessed great growth potential, concealed its true nature and secretly controlled the entire Kryptonian intelligence program, leading to a brutal machine war. After that, this underlying logic operation with great growth potential was banned.

Of course, not every artificial intelligence had such ambitions, just like humans, there were always those who lived freely, and others who were ambitious. It all depended on their interactions and molding in the future.

Plus, using Earth's computers alone, you couldn't create that kind of artificial intelligence. But creating one-third and having Dawn assist in controlling Earth's networks was feasible.

Apart from locking onto his commands, H'el had no interest in adding anything else.

"Go browse the network information and take control of the network," he commanded.

Seven hours later, the sound of typing in the command center gradually subsided, and H'el gestured for Dawn to roam the network and conduct preliminary information gathering and network control.

One more hour passed, and on the large screen in the command center, Dawn constructed its own image, that of a little girl wearing a bright red dress, with bare legs and a pair of peaceful eyes.

It had been born, it was growing, and it had completed the initial tasks H'el had in mind.

"Master, the surveillance footage obtained by Stacker from various countries has been edited. The surveillance has received 100,000 clicks in an hour on the internet, but it hasn't caused a stir."

Dawn reported peacefully, sitting on the railing with its little legs swinging.

This image...

In general, the initial presentation of such growth-based artificial intelligence almost always hinted at the direction of its future personality adjustments.

A red dress, a peaceful little girl...

H'el didn't want to interfere too much with the growth of this artificial intelligence. As a tool, its ability to execute commands was sufficient.

"Compile a complete list and include every website. Focus on controlling global finance and banks. Wait for my command to lock down the world's economy."

"Regarding any questions you have about humans, you can ask Robert, he is responsible for your maintenance."

After giving his orders, H'el turned and left, brushing past Robert, and couldn't help but smile.

"In the future, whether it becomes the Dawn of intelligent life or the Dawn of humanity, it's up to you."

°°°

A/N: There's a bonus chapter! Whohooo! 

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