This is a Test

Ch. 17

Cashe couldn't figure out her game. Was she trying to convince the others think that they were not a united front, or was this just a blatant power grab? She stood.

"I agree that the Garden is the most important element of the facility for all the reasons Dr. Cashe has illuminated," her translator sang out. "However, the servers are brand new and are designed to operate at peak performance without help for years. The facility is, in my modest opinion, second most important. In addition to providing us more space for development, we need the constant collecting of ice to sustain oxygen levels here.

"Furthermore, the reason I volunteered for this mission is my hope that this would be a technocratic society, one where empirical data guides our decisions. We can have ease of living knowing that the hardest problems are solved by dispassionately evaluating all options."

Cashe didn't like this new Lia. Too chatty. "Do you really think we should allow an AI to make our choices for us?" he inquired.

"Yes."

"But AIs do not employ the human factor. It cannot pivot and determine based on unexpected occurrences."

"I am stating," Lia stated, "that since I have access to the rest of the world once more, that if I am able to get into my computers at work, I can develop a system expressly designed for our current scenario. No one, including myself, would be seen as more important than another, and it would provide answers without bias."

"But has not an issue with AIs been that they naturally incorporate the biases of others, mainly those of their programmers?"

"It can be developed based upon what is most fair for all."

"But who defines fairness?" Cashe countered.

"We do. We decide as a group on the values that we wish the system to have, and we decide it for the good of all."

Typically, Cashe loved these types of arguments, as he would always win. Here, it was more than theoretical thought, but winning or losing could possibly influence his life. "But that would only work if there is complete consensus."

"No," Lia said sweetly, despite her translator's flat tone. "We would make a decision based upon the opinions of all."

"But what if one person disagrees with what the others want?"

"Are you saying progress and the good of the group could be held up by one disagreeable person?"

Cashe shot glances at the others, and noticed small smiles from all. They were enjoying Lia arguing with Cashe, perhaps because they now thought there was finally someone of Cashe's intellectual heft to take him on. "I am saying that this is the dinner with wolves and sheep." Lia didn't seem to follow, so he elaborated. "Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep decide what's for dinner."

"So," Karina interjected, "you oppose democracy, now?"

"I never supported or opposed it. I am saying that pure democracies do not work."

"But you're an American." Karina's eyes bulged. "America is known for being a symbol of democracy throughout the world."

"America is not a democracy. We are not that stupid. It is a democratic republic. The populace votes for one person to speak on their behalf, and after that vote, they have little say in what that person does until they die, resign, are impeached, or are up for re-election. A true democracy would be a disaster."

"How?" Karina snarked.

"Because the most fair democracy would be legislation through polling. A question is submitted to the public where all must vote. Do you side with this issue or that? Most of our presidents rarely get over half of the voting population's support, and even after an election, few get above fifty percent favorability. If a president's polling numbers drop to forty-nine percent to where citizens feel someone else, not a specific someone else, but a generalized someone else, should be in power, then that president should be removed."