Evaluative Soliloquies
Liu, Ken. "Evaluative Soliloquies." "[W]ritten as part of Google’s experimental AI Wordcraft Writers Workshop, November 2, 2022." On line, as of May 2023, here.[1]
A contributor to the SFRA ListServ (whom we thank, and where we were alerted to this work by Liu) notes here, relevant to the e-mail thread, "an interesting example of a so-called AI playing itself in a story, its judgments woven into the narrative" (post 8 May 2023).
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1. "Drive"
The on-line version as of May 2023 begins with a quotation and citation (we have added italics to this citation and the two below it).
When the robot engages itself in an evaluative soliloquy, it covertly explains its underlying decisional processes. Thus, the robot becomes more transparent, as the human gets to know the motivations and the decisions of robot behavior.
- Pipitone, Arianna, and Antonio Chella. "What robots want? Hearing the inner voice of a robot." iScience 24.4 (2021): 102371.
The somewhat surreal story itself is largely a soliloquy by the robot driver of a car, with passengers, where the driver is, "feeling overwhelmed. There are too many humans and too many rules. I’m trying my best, but I can't please everyone." We get an image of the driver, as a cartoon, rather primitive-looking robot.
Cf. and contrast Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and succeeding stories — and those of Asimov's successors — for other situations of robots in logical (and emotional?) conflict over instructions.
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2. "Judge" Headnote:
Recently, several technology companies have begun to experiment with using “robot judges” to settle disputes between users on their platforms. Although it is commonly assumed that the decision is driven by cost-saving considerations, the companies have suggested that the move is pro-consumer. In situations where users are unsatisfied with a transaction but the dispute is not serious enough to escalate to the formal legal system, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, with some of the features of the legal system but far more accessible, can be helpful. Using an artificial intelligence to serve as the referee and arbitrator is seen as better than using a human because many people, especially those without experience in technology development, believe machines are fairer. - Tajima, Sarah L. "The Code of Von Neumann: Can Machines Learn to Judge?" Artif. Intell. Indus. & Com. L. Rev. 10 (20XX): 108. (Internal citations omitted.)
What follows is presented (with appropriate formatting) as an internet dialog.
Opening: "buzzbazaar_bot: Hello! Buzzbazaar seeks to connect buyers and sellers of unique goods from around the globe. I'm your automatic dispute resolution specialist. Please give me a moment to look over the case record." — For a mediation session among buzzbazaar_bot, the seller (of shoddy goods) heartbags5star, and the highly-justified in her dissatisfaction dissatisfied customer coollgirl1331. Crux: whether the handicraft work and value added of embroidery is or is not substantially worth more than some stickers with hearts inked onto them. Buzzbazaar_bot also has problems spotting problems with "vegan leather, bamboo silk, and soy cashmere." Coolgirl1331 asks "to file an appeal to a human dispute resolution specialist," but that will take a bit over 14 days, and she ends the sessions with "Forget it. I'm never going to shop here again" (even if — we will throw in — two weeks seems fantastically speedy human response in such a context).
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3. "Rescue" Headnote (with cartoon of robot at ATM cash machine):
VABIN HILL. In the early morning hours of September 5, a robbery occurred at the Hillview Credit Union ATM at 117 Laburnum Avenue. The robbers managed to reduce a wall of the ATM vestibule to rubble and cut through the ATM itself with equipment taken from the local fire department.
Sources associated with the official investigation suggest that a cutting-edge search-and-rescue drone, an acquisition of the new administration at City Hall, was involved.
- Schoenberg, Ellen P. “Machine Robs Machine in Vabin Hill.” The Southwestern Maritime Gazette, September 6, 20XX, A1.
What follows is purported to be an "- Excerpt from the evaluative soliloquy retrieved from “'Bobby,' Model CBDYN-101 search-and-rescue drone, September 6, 20XX."
My job is to rescue people in danger. There is a child trapped inside that ATM. I must rescue the child.
It is 3:00 AM, and there are no human workers around to help. If I wait until the bank opens in the morning, the child trapped inside that machine will suffer great harm. If I try to contact someone who works at the bank at this hour, it may require multiple tries to wake someone and thus will also take a very long time. I must act now.
RDE/GRW, finishing, 8May23
