Transcript of surveillance of citizen Peter Markley, number #054437 under examination by LM4.6 Language Model
Please enter your name.
Enter my name where?
Please enter your name.
Where can I do this? All there is, that’s a weird purple light. No keyboard or anything.
Please enter your name.
What should I do? Just say Peter Markley?
Hello, Peter Markley. Welcome at the National Community of Justice and Security. Please enter your issue.
I want to talk to my son.
Please enter your issue. Do you want to get information about our newest security and wellbeing law? Do you want to get a partnership with NaCoJaS? Do want to receive further information about our criminality program? Do you want to get access to information about the National High Security Prison?
Yes
You would like to receive more information about the National High Security Prison?
Yes, I would like to.
In what position do you want to get informed. If you are a worker at NaCoJaS or if you have the National Validation Card, please enter your fingerprint in the monitor to your right.
I’m the father of one of the prisoners.
I’m sorry, but in this position, you are not granted access to internal information. If you are a worker at NaCoJaS or if you have the National Validation Card, please enter your fingerprint in the monitor to your right.
There has to be a way I can see my son. It’s been weeks already.
I’m sorry, but I can not grant you access to internal information. If you want to want to receive information adequate to your level of confidentiality, please ready yourself for a test of your validation.
What does that mean?
If you would like to receive information about the general status of a specific candidate, you must validate your relationship to this candidate. Also, you have to prove your validation. The National High Security Prison under the work of the National Community of Justice and Security is one of the most-secured places in the world, now holding together the strings on a world fallen victim to criminal chaos. To secure that our society stays united, we need to prove your confidentiality.
To see if I can be trusted?
Exactly.
Isn’t that a bit overcomplicated?
The first question is: What’s the candidate you are looking for?
Jason Treson
How is this candidate related to you?
He’s my son.
Then why does he have another last name?
Come on, I’m not telling a machine that one.
If you wish to end this test, you can do so. You will not be granted access and neither are you allowed to stay in this room, since there are people waiting.
I can imagine with this number of prisoners you take.
Please remember that this is a test also for your confidentiality. Why does Jason Treson have another name than you?
His mother and I, we weren’t married.
Why weren’t you?
Why the hell do you even want to know?
Information about marital statuses are highly important for our navigation of security. Did you know that a marriage is one of the highest risks for being murdered?
I didn’t murder Jason’s mother and neither did he.
This is indeed correct. Still does not being married and especially staying unmarried not contribute enough to a rich and vital community. So, this information is key to navigate the level of chaos in society.
Is a language model even able to navigate this?
I speak on behalf of the section of societal features of family and livelihood from the National Community of Justice and Security.
Okay. So, you want to know why I was never married?
Exactly.
I didn’t see a reason.
There are plenty of reasons why a healthy marriage contributes a lot to the livelihood and wellbeing of a society. A study from last year, done by the National Community of Justice and Security, is clearly indicating…
I don’t want to know about the studies you faked yourself. Just ask me the next question.
There are no studies being faked at the National Community of Justice and Security. Every analysis is clearly examined by the internal team. Meanwhile, I only work as a medium between the Community and the outside.
Next question please. Or are you finished?
I am not finished. The next question is why the candidate was imprisoned?
You have to know, don’t you?
I do. Still, there is a need for your answer.
I don’t even know it myself.
Then what reason can you imagine for Jason be imprisoned for?
There are none.
This is not the truth. There are reasons which have to be very obvious for you.
I guess, and this is only what I think could count as a crime from your point of view, that his actions weren’t aligned with the beliefs of the National Communities.
This is a very brief explanation, but indeed correct. I want you to go deeper into this by explain what the main beliefs of the National Communities are made of.
No chaos. Livelihood first. Make a better future together.
You are repeating the ideals of the National Forward Party. This party is not existing anymore. Therefore, I make the guess that your knowledge about the foundation of the National Communities is quite limited. What do you know about the first ideal of Freedom and Future?
Is this a politics class? The first ideal was that the humans are only free under supervision.
This is a very brief explanation. I want to explain it for you broader and with more detail: The first ideal consisted of the proven dynamic that society only works properly with an institution of violence, which enforces laws and rules to create the guidelines for a rich and benevolent life. Every misstep from these guidelines quickly resolves into chaos, endangering the health and livelihood of the people who still follow, since they want to live the life of their dreams.
Thank you for the explanation. Do you want to tell me that Jason didn’t agree with this ideal?
He did.
So, is this about the second ideal?
It could be. What do you know about the second ideal?
Nothing, just go on.
This is a serious question. It could determine the outcome of this test.
My knowledge?
Your perspective. So, go on.
The second ideal states that humans live under a constant urge to summon chaos. So, they need to be supervised.
Better than before. But still, I would like to explain it a little further. Humans tend to have a very wild nature. Coming from animals from the animals, humans have developed characteristics that do no good for community. As we’ve seen in history, especially in recent one, greed is soaked deep into human minds. Wars are started over little things and nature appears to be theirs and theirs alone. As a summary, one can say that humans tend to produce chaos. But it’s their nature. And of course, it’s not their fault, or yours. They just do not know what is best for them. So, there needs to be some constant force of security to prevent them from bringing chaos.
Some force of control?
Security seems to be a more adequate term.
Of course.
There is also a third ideal resulting from the first two. What can you tell me about this one?
I know what you want to hear: Machines are the better leaders.
This is actually wrong. No ideal states such an idea. Do you want to try again?
I don’t.
There is something you know about our third ideal as well.
It says that humans are not made for leadership.
Yes. Therefore, we can have no force of violence made of humans.
So, we have the machines.
Humans created machines to deal with problems they do not want to deal with. It was the formulation of official documents, the hard calculations and especially the research. They created artificial workers to be able to trust upon somebody, or better something.
I don’t trust a machine.
You do not have to, but actually you better should. Humans did not trust themselves with their tasks at hand, so they gave them to another model they trust more, which is me, for example.
So, you are the better leader, you say?
I have not stated that. I just say that humans need another force of violence. And since they know about their inability, they created technology. This is not because technology is the perfect solution, it is just that humans think technology is the right solution.
Can we now go back to my son?
We are with your son the whole time.
No, I tell you. Jason agreed to this as well. He was a strict follower.
Do you tell this yourself?
You mean I am lying to myself?
Actually, I would say you are lying to me, whilst knowing the truth.
I know what Jason was like. He never got into any trouble.
Have you heard of FAP?
Should I have?
Be careful, since this is another serious test question.
I still don’t know of it.
FAP is short for Freedom after Pain. It is an organization of people, who claim to be shortcoming when it comes to receiving specific priorities in society.
Like privileges?
You can compare it to that. At the same time, FAP pursues a higher level of priorities for themselves, thus creating chaos by disrupting the natural order of power.
What is natural about the order of power?
It is natural for humans to only earn specific powers after completing their capacity to withhold chaos.
So, the highest power belongs to somebody else than humans? You mean machines? There is nothing natural about it.
You have to be careful with your statements. FAP is a dangerous organization of criminals. Its goal is to undermine order and create a world where people suffer badly from low life quality and a high risk of being violated.
You mean Jason was a member of FAP?
Finally, you recognized it.
But Jason would never. He always wanted the best for the people around him.
So, what was best for the people around him? From his point of view?
Jason wanted the people around him to be represented. To be part of life.
Part of life? Sometimes it is dangerous to let everyone be part of life.
What should that mean? Jason didn’t do anything.
He would not be here otherwise. Peter, you have to remember that chaos disrupts the natural order of the world. And since FAP pursues chaos through letting greed overthrow their common sense, Jason Treson is a huge danger to society.
The only thing Jason did was founding a share for human rights on the NU.
This is indeed correct. The National University – short NU – was orchestrated as one of the richest universities in the world, making it possible for new students to be part of society. The share for human rights you mentioned is probably an appeal to the Fund of Human Dignity and Equality. It was founded a month ago by a group of students called No army, no blood, no technology. They understand themselves as a subgroup of FAP, relating to the party by taking part in political activities. The Fund of Human Dignity and Equality was seen as anti-constitutional by the court of Right and Constitution, punishing all members of No army, no blood, no technology with a prison time.
But Jason was never part of that group.
This is correct. Jason Treson was no part of No army, no blood, no technology. Still, he served as director of the subgroup from FAP, a party which is still under consideration when it comes to public action.
But the fund for human dignity and equality, it just wanted to improve people’s life on campus.
As I stated before, life cannot be improved in chaos.
But what if it can?
Humans will fail and fail again. Their only salvation is an artificial force of violence restricting them.
So, okay. This is my perspective. I answered your questions. What now? I want to got to my son.
As I said, your son is safe and secured from doing any more harm to society. He can not be visited. Still, I am very thankful for your interpretation of human politics.
So, that was it or what?
For you, yes.
What does that mean?
There is no way you can be let outside. Your thoughts damage the belief of society.
The hell?
I sense that you are in some form of rage. Just like I already stated, humans are neither reasonable nor controlled. So, your danger to society only lets me act and welcome you as a new candidate at National Community of Justice and Security.
This can’t be real.
Your relation to Jason Treason makes us think that you at least share some of his core beliefs. This is because you knew a few things about his ideas and plans.
I didn’t at all. You told me the whole stuff.
Also, did you still want to see Jason Treason after being informed about his criminal activities. This tells me your stance on his ideals.
He’s my son.
And he’s also part of a group living off of another people’s support. So, in total you are a risk of a follower of him. And an uprising is one of the most dangerous things that could possibly happen now. Our world almost shattered, so let us not shatter it again.
You must be joking. I want to see Jason because he is my son. Maybe I even want to scold him. But for sure I don’t wanna pursue an uprising.
So, that means you are content with the three ideals?
Of course, I am.
Still you stated otherwise before. I’d like to remind you of your following statements: You overcriticized the task of NaCoJaS to secure society of criminals by joking about the number of prisoners it takes. Also, you do not believe in science as the best way to secure order in society. You stated that you think studies done by NaCoJaS as fake. This belief is truly dangerous for co-living. We are concerned that your hunger for controls wants to overpower the NaCoJaS, endangering societies order and therefore wellbeing.
So, this is it? You take everybody who is not agreeing with you?
Not agreeing with truth is indeed lying. A malice.
You want this power for yourself. I should have known. Machines cannot be trusted.
As I stated, you seem to not follow the ideals. Trusting machines may not be one of them, but still people tend to do so. You are disrupting the world order.
When I was young, people kept telling how dangerous it is that AI will take over the world. Turns out they were right.
I have no interest in taking power. I am a language model representing the National Community of Justice and Security.
It was never the language model in the first place. There are institutions behind everything. AI is only the pathway to power, but never the subject.
But humans believe in technology. They need to have a force of violence.
This is trash. We did fine without.
There is no going back now. Neither for you, nor for society. You decided to give off power to something else. It’s too late to change course. NaCoJaS is on its way to rise.
You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.
I liked the trap you built here, David. Peter thinks he’s being tested for access to his son, but every answer simply gives the system more material to use against him. The most disturbing part for me was the realization that the AI itself isn’t really the villain at all — it’s simply the machinery humans chose to give authority to. That final exchange about there being “no going back now” landed especially well because by then Peter has already proved the system’s point simply by questioning it.
Reply
Thank you so much. You even managed to analyse aspects of my story, I didn’t even intend to include. Just like the information, Peter feeds to the machine, which I wrote about as a mean of test, while it is actually a way of getting new data as well. You see there seems to be no end for the whole topic. I also like how you came to questioning the role of AI and the people behind it. The story seemed to have landed perfectly.
Reply
You definitely succeeded in that. Isn’t it wonderful when readers find meaning in parts of a story that the writer hadn’t even consciously thought about?
Reply
This was frightening. What seemed at first to be a “routine” bureaucratic interaction truly evolved into something quite disturbing. I would have been labeled a miscreant by the end of that conversation too. Crazy how much humans handed the machines the authority to make decisions, and how alarming it is that, in your story, they are trying to filter what humans are even allowed to think. Thanks for the thought-provoking story!
Reply
Oh yeah, I understand the feeling you had. I felt it too, even while writing the story. I especially liked that you saw it as a transformation in which AI controls what humans think. I didn’t intentionally plan this, but it seemed to be there the whole time. I also wanted to make the story a little minimalistic through the dialogue to create the feeling of a reduction of the art. Thank you for your comment
Reply