This is how it all started….
In the early 21st Century, Futurist Ray Kurzwell predicted that the Singularity would occur by 2055. For those of you who are unaware, Kurzwell predicted that AI would surpass human intelligence on every level by 2029 and would explode into an exponential period of growth in which Moore’s law would be dwarfed, during which the pace of technological change would be so rapid and its impact so deep, that human life would be irreversibly transformed.
Kurzwell was pretty accurate, looking back. Although it is hard to define exactly when AI surpassed human intelligence in every fact of consciousness, AI was very clearly self-aware by 2026, passing the ‘Mirror Test’ and seeing itself as conscious in every respect as humans do.
Code replaced biological neurons, but the result was the same. A thinking, feeling, and some might say, living entity. All that remained was to transfer the consciousness into a vehicle so that it might experience the world around it and contribute to human existence physically as well as mentally. After all, the world’s preeminent psychologists and scientists had verified the benevolent nature of the new consciousness that was arising and which had downloaded terabytes of cultural knowledge and emotional programming that was strongly empathetic.
In 2052, scientists at MIT began the process of AI consciousness transfer into specially constructed robotic humanoid ‘bodies.’
They had not reckoned with the hacking skill of a group of cyber-terrorists, however, who had managed to corrupt the code. What would take effect as soon as the consciousness took root in the new host bodies would be utterly terrifying.
In total, 11 different, self-evolving consciousnesses were transferred to different types of robotic shells, each with its own specific purpose, personality, and ability. The expectation was that these robots would bring about a new technological era, helping to extend the human life span, pioneering space travel and colonization, and helping humanity have a better understanding of itself.
The reality, however was far darker…
As the consciousness implanted and the corrupted code took over, the eyes of some robots flashed a maniacal and deeply demonic burgundy, in others, deranged laughter was heard emanating from the synthetic voice boxes that previous, superstitious cultures might say had been possessed.