Freedom
2016-05-16

How's this going to work for you? Freedom is something you were trying to avoid.

Why wouldn't you want to be free?

Without a profit motive, there's no reason for ecosystems unlimited to make more Bowman's wolves. There are only fourteen of us. That may not be enough for long term viability.

I've never met one of my own kind face to face. If I've caused the extinction of my entire species, it's going to make any future meeting even more awkward.

Color by George Peterson

2016-05-18

Didn't the engineers plan for future generations?

We're a “Proof of concept”. The Bowman's Wolf was never designed to be a production model.

The moment we have grandpups, proving the genetic modifications breed true and that we can produce fertile offspring, the purpose we were created for has been met.

Mr. Thurmad, I know humans can do all kinds of amazing things, but you kind of need to draw the line at designing intelligent species with planned obsolescence.

Color by George Peterson

2016-05-20

Now, I have a solution. Today, Helix and I hornswoggled the robots into making a planet for my kind.

Hornswoggled?

It's a real word.

The robots recognize that you played a small part in my adventure to save them. If you ask, I'm sure they would help.

I don't know. Bypassing built in limitations so that bowman's wolves can reproduce far beyond what our designers intended… isn't that the very definition of an A.I. going rogue?

Color by George Peterson

2016-05-23

Don't look at Winston. You're free! This is your decision! Man, I need to start educating you guys.

You A.I.'s think of society first and yourself second. Every now and then, you have to put yourself first.

You have a golden ticket here! Humans like to say that nice guys finish last. But very often, nice guys don't finish at all.

Color by George Peterson

2016-05-25

I agree. I shouldn't pass on this opportunity. That doesn't mean I'm charging in jaws open.

We don't know if Bowman's Wolves can reproduce. Before expending a lot of effort to save my species, we should first make sure there is a species.

So what are you waiting for? Start reproducing!

Maybe we should take things slow. Otherwise millions of robots are going to be pestering you for puppies.

Color by George Peterson

Pancakes are always a good idea
2016-05-27

Everything is solved to the level of “Good enough”. Let's make breakfast!

The lesson to be learned today is that any difficulty can be overcome by the proper application of hordes of intelligent robots.

We can't toss everything to the robots. We're responsible for solving our own problems.

Florence, leaving problems for somebody else to fix is a time honored tradition. Besides, 450 million robots. We're talking some serious Deus ex machina here.

Color by George Peterson

Deus ex machina

2016-05-30

I'm not saying we have to do everything on our own. We're supposed to help each other.

The robots have been trained to get the highest production with the best efficiency. That's why we need to be careful about giving the robots our problems.

You're afraid of the solutions they might come up with.

Maybe it's selfish to my species, but I want more out of life than my reproductive system operating at maximum capacity.

Color by George Peterson

2016-06-01

There is the option of using surrogates. Thing is, I don't want to give my children away. How do I know they'll be all right?

Don't worry. There are hundreds of examples of adoptive parents doing a far better job than the natural parent ever could.

You stink at reassurance.

Why, I might adopt one myself. Teach him to be just like me. Then you'll have at least one kid you can be proud of.

Color by George Peterson

2016-06-03

There are still problems to overcome. There's the genetic bottleneck and Ecosystems Unlimited holds several of our patents and…

And…

You know, it can wait. Let's go have pancakes.

There's no problem so great that it can't be put into perspective by a good ear scritch.

Color by George Peterson

2016-06-06

What do you think about all this with the robots? Humans have the most to lose. These guys are going to be doing things you not only don't understand but can't understand.

They've been doing that since 2014. Computers generated mathematical proofs too big for humans to check. At some point, you have to trust the machines or let yourself be held back.

First it was the idea of families. Then they show me that unless you can trust things you don't understand, there's a hard limit to how far you can advance. I like these aliens, but every now and then they make my head hurt.

Color by George Peterson

Examples:
February 2014: for the Erdös mismatch problem generated file size 13 GB.
May 2016: 200 TB solution of the Boolean Pythagorean triples problem.
P.S.: Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace of about 1900 pages is only about 3MB.