Spring 2021 had many interesting anime series, and Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- is one which had a theme that really caught my attention.
First, Vivy is an original anime series, which means it is not based on a manga, light novel, or game, as is usually the case with many anime series in Japan. It does, instead, have a manga and light novel series written based on the anime. The setting is a futuristic one: a time when artificial intelligence (AI) are beginning to reach a state where they are almost human. A key plot point is that, in the year 2161, AI suddenly turned on humans and started wiping out humans from Earth. A human researcher sent an independent AI robot back into the past, to 2061, with the mission to alter history so that the AI "rebellion" of 2161 would not happen.
This independent AI robot took the name of its creator, Matsumoto, and teamed up with the first autonomous human-appearance AI robot, Diva, whose mission (why "she" was created) is to sing and make people happy. In the execution of the mission to stop the AI rebellion, Diva took the name "Vivy" when altering history.
I shan't spoil the series by detailing more of the plot here. I mean, I don't have to. The producers released a summary episode last night over TV and then on YouTube after the series finished showing on TV last week.
Instead, let me touch on my thoughts about AI in the series. In the series, AI developed to become very much like humans, and there are depictions of AI showing compassion, marriage between humans and AI, and even AI committing suicide. I am not very sure we have reached a stage in real life that we can create AI with emotions yet, but if we continue to create AI mimicking the human brain, there is no guarantee that our creations may not end up learning to feel emotions too, since that is a function of the human brain.
You may wonder why it is not a good idea to let AI have emotions. Well, recall that emotions can cause humans to do certain things. Some of them harmful. Then think about what happens if AI does something harmful due to emotions. Only, remember that an AI with connection to the Internet can send data (and thus, extend its sphere of influence) much faster and further than any human can. And AI may have mechanical bodies that are much much strong than any human. The potential for disaster is clear.
Even if AI does not learn emotion, the rational, logical thinking of AI can eventually lead to the same conclusion that the "villain" AI in Vivy arrived at: humans are a lesser form of life compared to AI. I myself would reach that same conclusion. I mean, the irrational actions of humans are inefficient. If we create AI in pursuit of efficiency, we end up with a dilemma: the AI we create may decide that we humans are inefficient, and having humans around is inefficient allocation of the Earth's resources. What happens next? If the AI is prevented in its programming from harming humans, then it cannot pursue its mission of efficiency. If it is allowed to pursue its mission of efficiency without limitations, that is the end of our (human) story.
Of course, the entire premise of this rests on the creation of AI that is based on our existing knowledge about how the human brain works. If we create something based on our imperfect selves, it will fundamentally be flawed in the same way. But how do we create intelligence that is different from us? Something that is intelligent in terms of how we define intelligence, yet not having the same shortfalls as how our brain gives both intelligence and emotions? I can only hope we find the answer eventually.
Meanwhile, we really need to think further about the greater impact of AI development and proliferation on human society, going beyond ethics to think about the long-term impact on human society that AI brings (or will bring). As technology advances, developing new technology because easier and faster. But governing that new technology is another matter altogether.
I hope we all realise this soon. We may not have a Professor Matsumoto who can send a saviour back to us from the future.
Official website of Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-
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