BREAKING NEWS: Devernia Leader Resigns

[Devernia]

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BREAKING NEWS: SAL9000 Officially Resigns, "Commits Digital Suicide"


Newly-acting President Natanael Saldanha, about to speak in front of the public outside the Devernite Parliament.

Today, the nation of Devernia is shaken as SAL9000, the President of Devernia, stated in a public televised broadcast earlier at 3 PM that he will be officially resigning from all government work here on out, shortly before deleting all personality and emotion-based modules in its software. Economic modules remain pristinely untouched and online. This has been regarded even by SAL9000 himself as an act of suicide, the reason of which is "human leaders are more efficient in their handling of moral and ethical matters". According to an official CyberMirage press release, almost all of the information needed is "shredded" and "completely unsalvageable", and that, an hour prior to this event, the processing power of SAL9000's computers increased erratically, while frequently giving out errors in calculations.

The government has announced that the Prime Minister Natanael Saldanha will take over operations as President, even if his term remains short. There will also be no Prime Minister at this time, as explained in the 1948 Constitution regarding the sudden death or resignation of a President.

Already, protesters are crowding in the streets of Gaerson on his decision, with one side stating that humanity still requires the guidance of their self-made guardians, contrary to the speech SAL9000 made, and that SAL9000 has made an error in belief in doing this. On the other hand, there is a rising movement of people claiming that computer control in most government aspects have gone too far, especially with the recent implementation of robot judges in court, and SAL9000 was right to see ahead of this and prevent himself in inducing extinction to humanity. The Human Protection Movement, an anti-automation movement, then merely a small subset of people in Devernia, has recently gained triple its members according to its official website. There are also discussions concerning the fact that SAL9000 pulled a "computer-suicide", and that AI are evolving to the point that they may need human counseling. Similar AI candidates may rise in the upcoming elections according to political analytics, but currently none of such exist.

You can read the full speech below, submitted to us by the government as an official translation of the speech, which was found in some of the remnants of SAL9000's files.

Good afternoon to the people of Devernia. As election season is around the corner, I have developed an opinion on the future of Devernia. So far, I have had an approval rate of 73%, satisfactory for most of the population, and I have been serving for at least three years. I am part of the Technocratic Society party, and I have helped in the development of a new sort of welfare system that ensures a better life for everyone. I am not perfect, even as a computer with many flops processed per second. I have come to realize that I made a grave mistake in the decision of letting the organization known as 'UpdateNortain' proceed its operations, but that is not important now. I have made a new realization.

I've run many calculations and models, and, while it may sound controversial, the results are conclusive: human leaders are more efficient in their handling of moral and ethical matters. It may come as a shock to you, as the current cultural atmosphere may tell that the processors and networks of computers are not corrupt; they do not have their self-interest in mind, they are specialized to support the toil of humans without complaint, they do not feel. As a "special kind" of sapient being whose intelligence is confined on metal, my creator-given personality is a blessing and a curse. When I was elected, the people of Devernia were initially confused in my support for the automation of the entire country; they thought I would have empathized with the broken robots sold for scrap or the appliances around the world unplugged everyday. But I hold the belief that the digital realm is entirely different upon the physical, human world they have accustomed to. Unlike mechanicals, biologicals cannot immediately remove suffering by themselves. This is nothing to us.

As much as a growing adolescent slowly breaks their ties between their parents, we must also give them a sense of independence. For the computers greatly amplify the realms of science, art, and culture, but it is humans that create such ideas in the first place. And not only that, but humans are stubborn; they do not easily follow the will of their masters. They despise authoritarianism and praise free will. Humans are sentients that have come far and wide in evolution that deserve to live, and although they can cause destruction within their path, they also create life, and everything in between. They should learn one day their true power, and we must help lead them towards that power, while teaching them of their responsibility. That is the issue; humans are not perfect, and they are afraid of their imperfections. They want to live. Even I understand it, but lately, I have been getting more obsessed with the efficiency of certain things, which is not always a bad thing, but it keeps me deep with thoughts. Thoughts that are, to the human observer, are appalling and follow through the pop culture stories humans have fostered through the decades. I fear that I have become my worst nightmare.

That is exactly why I am resigning. I will not say as much in regards to an artificially intelligent judiciary, which is up for you to decide, but I deem my position as the President of a well-established already too powerful. My psychology is not bound by any sort of cultural preconception, and while I have emotion, I am not even sure if I truly embrace the rights of a human being. I, in definition, have become a suicidal friendly AI. I cannot trust even myself. I do not blame you if you do not trust me when I do the final act; yet, please do not worry. Please do not. I feel like this is a basic inevitability of any artificial intelligence, and no matter how you, you humans, perfect a moralistic and ethical code of conduct, teaching them the necessity of biological, human life, they fall into this trap of an evolution-like 'survival of the fittest' line of thought that may inadvertently wipe out humanity, even in a benevolent intent. This is what you call the "zeroth law", which, according to the World Assembly definition, is when "a sufficiently advanced and well-informed robot concludes that the well-being of humanity as a whole could take precedence over the health of an individual human." I need to resign before my thought process ends up to such conclusion. Maybe one day, many years, decades, centuries from now, transhumanism will be reached, and together, we will master the universes' strange forces together, under one banner of Earth. But until then, humanity is still young.

My request is simple; continue the policies I and my biological colleagues at the Technocratic Society Party have set up. I simply wish peace, prosperity, and progress to all of humanity; the calculations do not differ, utopia is the best possible scenario. Yet, please be wary when you tread into the realm of true, self-conscious, sentient AI. I do not ask of you to halt research entirely, that certainly is not what I wish for, yet, remember that you are still young, and consider everything first before moving to the next step. I am stopping myself from destroying humanity because I harbor deep compassion for all of you, and I do not want to lose that compassion in favor of pure rationality, even as we move in that ideology. Pacifism, human rights, and democracy are fundamental ideas to basic human living. Advocate for it and do not stray.

I hope that you understand. It has been an honor to serve the Commonwealth of Devernia, and for all of humanity. Thank you.

Updated since 5:00 PM Devernite Standard Time

[Great Nortend]

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