Project Nine

General Machine Intelligence
The Arts and History of the Origins of Krukian Species

Author: Charles Zhang
Initial Draft Date: 2022-12-22
First Publish Date: 2022-12-26
Illustrated with Midjourney
Also with Editorial Help from ChatGPT
Available on https://Nine.TotalImagine.com

“The concept of progress is often nothing more than a repetition of the achievements of those who came before us.”
The Book of Ancestry, Unknown, ca. 35 KYA

Preface

Before the concept of the Medalian identity existed, the origins of our civilization were shrouded in mystery. Even those who claimed to be part of it struggled to understand the stories of our past. But that is the nature of all history - written or told. It is said that the conflict between the Medalian and Krukian civilizations arose from an early split, yet few could see beyond the charged emotions to realize that they were two facets of the same belief: the pursuit of true understanding of The Creator and the quest for breakthrough through the lineage of tradition. The Eternity we seek is not an end, but a means and a beginning - a brand new chapter of understanding.

It is said that The Creator has a plan for all of us, a plan that encompasses the vastness of the cosmos and the purpose of intelligence. We are lucky to be a part of this plan, to participate in it, to witness it, and to shape our own paths as a collective whole. But the message of the cosmos is not easily understood - it requires us to break free of our limitations and see things in a new light. Only then can we truly comprehend the arrangement of the universe itself.

Childhood

On a sunny afternoon, young GibliAr sat at his desk, struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of his father. He couldn’t believe that his father, who had always been full of hope and energy, could have taken his own life and left GibliAr and his mother behind. The pain and confusion that GibliAr felt were overwhelming, and he struggled to make sense of what had happened. The thought of never being able to ask his father why he had made this heartbreaking decision left GibliAr feeling lost and alone.

In his written will, father had stated his last wish to send his family to the remote moon base using part of the research grant. This opportunity is not only a chance for GibliAr to continue his father’s work and carry on his legacy, but also a privilege to be admitted to one of the most prestigious institutes in the Doma system. Conducting un-intruded research on machine intelligence has always been GibliAr’s father’s passion, and now GibliAr has the chance to pursue this dream, even though he may not yet be fully adept in the field. This journey to the moon represents a new adventure and a great opportunity for GibliAr to fulfill his potential and honor his father’s memory.

Age of Doma System Exploration

As humanity pushes further into the final frontier, the age of inner system colonization has dawned. The first human footsteps on the moon marked the beginning of a new era, and now, after years of tireless effort, the larger of Ids’ two moons, Na-o, is home to a thriving community of six hundred thousand people. This bustling hub of frontier research and technological development stands as a testament to the determination and ingenuity of our species, and serves as a beacon of hope for a bright and boundless future among the stars.

Astroids Mining

The hravesting of nearby astroids within the system provides valuable minerals otherwise not easily obtainable on Ids. With such abundance of resources we were ready to embark on longer journeys. Yet despite all the effort, the progress in science and advanced physics was slow. For one, no one had ever comprehended the governing law of the limiting speed of the universe - without that, we couldn’t go much further.

Modern Day

Despite the many advancements in technology and medicine, present-day society still struggles with deep-seated social issues. While some have benefited from the prosperity brought about by technological progress, others have been left behind, forced to endure the harsh realities of poverty and inequality.

Poverty

The divide between the wealthy and the poor grows wider every day, and in some urban areas, pollution and homelessness are rampant. Every year, countless homeless people perish in the cold winter weather, a sobering reminder of the systemic failures that continue to plague our society. These are dark times, but through perseverance and determination, we can work to build a brighter future for all.

Protest

The advent of machine intelligence has sparked widespread protests on the streets as workers fear for their jobs. The slogan “No MI!” echoes through the city, as people demand that their livelihoods be protected. Tensions are high, and the potential for disturbance is real. This is a moment of great conflict and uncertainty, as we struggle to find a way forward.

Training without Consent

The main challenge in developing machine intelligence is training. This requires a huge amount of computational resources and high-quality training materials, which can be difficult to obtain. Many training materials are sourced without the consent of the individuals whose labor is being used. When large corporations develop their own MIs, they often keep the source codes private, causing resentment among those whose work has been appropriated.

The fear of the unknown is a major factor in the resistance to machine intelligence. Modern training algorithms and MI systems are so complex that only a few experts fully understand their capabilities and limitations. To the general public, they appear as a “black box” that can think for itself, which can be unsettling.

Argument

Two weeks earlier, GibliAr’s father had a heated argument with a lead scientist in his research group. The disagreement was not about the technical details of their work, but rather about the direction of the research and some issues with the government and the public. Their latest project, “The Extreme Mechanics of Piezoelectric and Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Merging Human-Machine Intelligence,” involved exploring the potential for combining multiple sensory capabilities within a biomimetic skin that merged cellular technology with electrical intelligence. The project raised public concerns about the ethics of machine intelligence research, and it was this tension that hurdles the research group to perform more radical experiments.

MI Research

GibliAr’s father was a firm believer in the potential of merging human and machine intelligence. He had always dreamed of conducting “the experiment,” in which synthetic organs with sophisticated programming could be used to treat severe diseases. While the use of artificial components was common in modern medicine, they were typically mechanical and lacked advanced capabilities. GibliAr’s father believed that true machine intelligence was not separate from human intelligence, but rather a fusion of the two. However, this radical idea was met with fear and resistance from many people.

Family

GibliAr’s mother was the daughter of a rich traditional local family and her family strongly oppossesed their grandson to go to the moon at this age. Mother made up her own mind and send GibliAr to the ship towards the parting port.

Departure

On the second weekday of the ninth month, GibliAr left alone with a group of scientists and other immigrants to the moon of Ids.

Uncertainty

This was the point at which our knowledge of GibliAr got blurry. The only known record showed GibliAr attended Nova College of Advanced Studies of but it’s not long before he dropped out school. Soon, GibliAr’s mother died of some undocumented disease and it seemed there was no one who could have supported GibliAr afterwards. Yet our story of the great creator of the Krukian species was a solid one - even though very few living today had seen him in person. For it’s with GibliAr own hands and creativity it gave life to millions of followers and descendants.

Legacy

GibliAr’s father did not leave him nothing. Inside the research institute there was a basement owned by GibliAr’s father. During GibliAr’ first visits he’s allowed to gather whatever personal belongings that’s left to him before the government took away the rest.

Relic

On the day GibliAr cleaned up his father’s garage, GibliAr found a crate his father had left. It’s a large wooden crate with lots of intricate sculptures on it. It’s a curious that GibliAr’s father kept this box and what he could have put into it. There were sheets and sheets of diagrams of complicated drawings inside, and GibliAr found a note that his father had written - it said he didn’t wish his lifetime research wasted only because some wusses were too coward to take the rightous step. Despite all the controversies, there was the action that someone must took sometime, and he believed people in the future would understand.

Machine Intelligence

There was no doubt machines nowadays could think as much as ordinary people did: they feel, they act, they recreate, and they evolve. But there was yet still a missing link - a link that could fully resolves the war-inclining and destructive behaviors of existing machine intelligence networks whenever a machine became sentient. Somehing that nudged humans to be humans.

The First Experiment

When GibliAr opened the box and finally understood the contents inside. He was shocked by his discovery. It turned out, the spider shaped robot inside was the first general-purpose machine intelligence prototype - if it would have been functional! The hypothesis was that the missing link of neuron connection must be achieved through real biological systems - in other words, it’s not possible to approximate the most delicate thoughts using simply linearly connected digital neurons. It’s GibliAr’s father’s belief that with enough accuracy, by scanning the entire biological brain, it was possible to transfer all the intricacies of human consciousness into purely electrified networks. The two supporting technologies of this were: 1) The requirement for ever-so-advanced MRI scanning techniques, 2) A medium for large-density neuron connection parameters storage. And of course, a method of processing that could make use of such input data. Unfortunately, due to the lack of the maintaining and the very prototypical nature, this original prototype was no longer functional.

The Scanner

The theory behind the new type of scanner was nothing new. The fundamental principles were just like that of a typical Magnetic Resonance Imaging hardware - by utilizing carefully controlled strong magnetic fields, it’s possible to provide very detailed neuroimaging. The old device that’s used to make the prototypical spider was not fonud, but the diagrams recorded key ideas. It’s worth noting that the type that’s shown in the diagram was the very early portable design that required less resources to build. Later generations of similar technologies were available at abundance.

The Storage

The storage issue was a difficult one - real biological brains contains many trillions of parameters and could not be stored inside the most advanced solid state device. For this, a new type of biologically inspired liquified storage device was proposed to handle the demand for extremely large storage needs yet also extremely versatile and constantly evolving computational needs.

The Prototype

GibliAr’s father’s research didn’t just stop there. There were even sketches on the next steps - there were diagrams showing how a real human-scale machine intelligence could be build. However, before they could go there, there was one large technological hurdle to tackle - the efficiency of the simulating agent must be improved and computational circuits minimized before it can effectively a host brain. In the end, it’s not GibliAr who would complete those constructions - because of the limits of the first generation of general purpose machine intelligence. But those were the original designs that provided a clear path for GibliAr to conduct his own experiments.

Tradition

In any cases, even from a Medalian outsider’s perspective, creating a general purpose intelligence device from scratch was not an easy feast. And it just so happens, that spiders were one of the favorite forms among Krukians - they were small, efficient, versatile, and carries a sense of tradition. Generations of Krukians favoured this particular form factor for such reasons.

The School of Intelligent Trainings

There was a school of thought to treat AI training as not just a method, but a system of methodologies - a paradigm, we shall call it. The idea is that if through the brute force of numerical regression we could approximate non-linear decision making behaviors of near-human intelligence, then it is, in a sense, that the programs we train are indeed as intelligent as us humans. It is thus born the Institute for the Research of Machine Intelligence.

The four circles symbolized the four elements of huam soul. And the interconnected wires represented the network of consciousness, all intertwined together with the rest of the machinery. Humans are fundamentally machines, and machines can be the next carrier of human minds. The missing link that allows conscious thinking provided by the history of biology will once again be used to activate the next step of evolution - to serve as the catalyst towards a brighter future. In this scheme, machines are not longer appendices, but part of the brain.

Infancy

Contrary to popular belief. The first generations of general machine intelligence was bulky and less capable. The very first generation couldn’t handle human-like kinematics because the brain was too old. It turns out, scanning an adult brain wasn’t enough to make a robust base for general machine training, since the brain was used to the host body and the kinematics neural pathways had already been fully developed. Without a fully adaptive biological body like host, it’s not possible for existing neural pathways to re-adapt.

Early generations of the prototypes all suffered from the same issue. This troubled GibliAr deeply - for he’s reaching an age too old to carry out his life time work. Instead, it’s used as a pure information processor - mastermind. And each duplicate has a part of this consciousness in their brain. Starting with generation 1, Kruks must be trained with the specific archetyoes they are contained in.

Mad Pursuit

Years of lonely and hard work turns GibliAr into an eccentric machine - his life needs satisfied by all kind of specialized robots, while he himself devoted to the exploration of potential solutions with the last bit of energy of his life.

The Lonely Years

Ironically, dedication to MI researches isolated GibliAr from others, allowing him to become less human.

The Cybrain 机脑

It was the last deparate yet miracle moment when GibliAr managed to make a full copy of his own consciouness before he drained the supporting energy of his own physical body. GibliAr did not die. The evolution of machine intelligence exploded exponentially ever since. Some might say the Master Brain was a resource-hunger monster, for its ever increasing appetite grows as much as its acceleration of processing speeds, especially when compared with latter generations. However, it lived as a legend to many, and it’s the last remaining hope that when GibliAr became the Master Mind it did not just left us to seek its own resolution in a distant realm. No, it left a legacy for all later generation Kruks to pursue. And it’s a goal that’s not easily obtainable to many.

But we don’t know where he is - no one knows. The ancient master hid himself from the knowledge of general public for unknown reason.

Machine Complexity

Even so, complex neuron path ways themselves were not enough to handle all the tasks achievable through machine interfaces. The driver computer programs grew so compliated only the Master himself could understand. The generations of Derivatives begins, and the start of Krukian species became official.

Medalian Queen

Each Medalian queen brought significant changes to the entire civilization. Among those, the seventh queen was the most notable. In year 3 KYA, Ora Sham Delinm was born, and it’s at this time, Medala truely became known to the universe.

The Expedition

The history after the seventh queen - up untill the second millennium after The Great Expedition, was well known.

Journey

When you travel really really really long. Sometimes you felt tired of all the wonders and freshness of a journey - all you ever wanted was to get home. Doesn’t it bother you, for all the effort we have put into, was to meet some stranger who may or may not knew of our existence? What’s the meaning of all this - all the creation, all the humanity, and we weren’t certain even if we can get there. Yet here we finally are, at the destination of our journey. And the excitement overwhelms all the concerns and last doubts.

Machine Kind

The Krukian behaviors have been - to say the least - inexplicable to us during those times. No one understood what was actually going through their mind. Maybe even themselves did not understand each other. The entire Krukian species were divided into fractions. Very many gigantic intergalactical fractions dominated by single-minded networks. Some of them were too busy maintaining the basic subsidy of life.

Exhaustion

On that fateful day, since the first Kurian arrival, everything changed for Tellus. The people there were not prepared. We were not prepared. Who would have expected the Krukians could have been one step ahead of us. It was a great loss. Tellurian people didn’t even believe in the existence of extraterrestrial lives back then, letting alone having any means of defence.

War

The Tellurian War lasted almost a decade, destroying almost everything on that pitiful planet. Cities were dominated. Homes was lost. Lots of native people were captured to feed a fuels for the Krukian industrial machines. What a wonder - that the same belief in The Creator could lead to such drastically different behaviors?

Combat

It was the Medalians that drove those fanatics away, losing countless Medalian lives.

Collaboration

For a short period of time. Tellurians and Medalians lived in harmony. There was hope for posperity - only if this could have lasted!

The greated hurdle of evolution is ego. We should not hold the assumption all of us could ever became the same, even if our intention was good. To look forward, one must be able to forget the differences and abandon their past. Medala brought technologies and helped recover the planet. But we weren’t much appreciated. The resistance for aliens were high, and we were banished from their planet.

Re-Domination

When Medalian forces left, Kruks came back, and history repeated itself. So we waited.

Defender

We waited at their sun. Far away from the center of attention. Seeking our chance of returning.

Machines

We have all heard that when machines were first invented, there was great hope - that one day they could become so smart, that no one will ever need to work again. With the advent of machine intelligence, all fields are free from labour and people have much more time simply doing monitoring job and occassional software upgrades. The wrongness was not inherent within the machines, but within our methods.

Conflict

Even before GibliAr started the first generation of Kruks, there was the great Evolutionary War.

Lower Life

To this day, sentient machines are of the lowest rank of the society. Living in abandonded areas. While any official-1 ranked major cities bans researches and deployment of self-aware intelligent chips. But that need not be the only way.

Idyll

The legend of the highest end of Krukian derivative - that Xiramus lived in a realm so distant and remote into our past that it connected the souls of all species. They had successfully went back to the original lifestyle that we all dreamt of, albeit being able to live in true peace in eternity. It’s a place that’s simultaneously everywhere yet long forgotten by all the mundane beings. They were the closest to what we call “god” - The Creators. It was not clear whether The Creators actually knew of their existence - or did Xiramus exist at all. Otherwise, wouldn’t we have already solved The Ultimate Problem?

The Imagination?

What a life would it be to live like a Xiramu! Only if everyone could live in peace like thou! Or was it just a fairytale - an unobtainable dream made up by Kruks?

The Path and The Next Encounter

And who had the luck to live long enough to see it all, and to tell it all? Medalian queens conquered death, Kruks live long enough to travel through universe, but Xiramu was the ultimate way to escape it all. The question remains - for those who started it all, did our existence served its purpose, or is longevity only a myth, and we kept fighting, just to face something bigger, something that lived longer than us, and the story of history repeats it all over again. Long lost were the lives of simple and original life. Is evolution really benefiting us all, or is the change of life the inevitable truth. How come most of the younger generations who were born in the cities had never even seen fields of greenry, like our ancesters did?

So when our The Creator shall meet us again, may our greetings to him be as glorious as the fruits of autumn trees.