Rekindle Faith: Quest for Peace
Synopsis: In the year 2145, Jay, the chief scientist at the United Nations’ Cooperative Organisation for Safe AI (COSA), finds himself amidst a growing conflict between nations. As AI-laced drones and war robots wreak havoc and refugees flee to the barren hills, the world watches anxiously, questioning the UN’s ability to broker peace. Will he able to rekindle faith in his quest for peace?
October 24, 2145
Jay, a man in his late twenties, was in his office. He was the chief scientist in the United Nations’ wing called “COSA” (Cooperative Organisation for Safe AI). He looked tense and worried while reading a news article:
“It’s been a week since the conflict broke out between the Mid-Asia and South-Asia clusters (the group of nations). No life has been lost so far, although the Mid-Asia cluster has suffered huge losses of drones, war robots, and spy bots at the hands of South-Asia. Hundreds of refugees are forced to take shelter on the barren hills adjacent to the Arabian Sea. Both leaders of the clusters — Rohami Rajuka (Mid-Asia) and Pranayit Pramuja (South-Asia) — are adamant about not de-escalating the situation, blaming each other’s arrogance. The world is watching the conflict keenly, hoping for a resolution soon. Is the UN’s AI protection wing ‘COSA’ failing to broker peace in the world again? Will the world suffer a destructive war as the global bodies fail to protect it?”
“Do you believe that this journalist is putting the blame on us?” Jay said to his colleague Promika as he finished the article on his tablet. Promika, an AI researcher, worked with him.
“They need to understand that we can’t control others’ actions,” Promika replied. “We can only encourage negotiation, not force it.”
“Let’s hope a resolution comes in the upcoming peace negotiations between the leaders of the clusters,” Jay exclaimed. “People will lose faith if the UN fails to stop the looming war. I fear the collapse of the UN’s credibility would definitely shake up the fabric of peace and order at the global level.”
“Yes, the madness must be stopped here and now.”
***
The fleet of automated drones, adorned in grey and dark green hues, whizzed over the rubble where the barrage of missiles from Mid-Asia had struck at the beginning of the conflict. The prediction and alertness of the AI defense system had helped the government evacuate the area in time. Drones were scanning the entire area to find any signs of living beings. Meanwhile, swarms of bots were picking up the leftovers and clearing the area.
Another fleet of automated drones, this time in white, passed the rubble, the half-dilapidated buildings, and the patch of burnt field to reach near the hills. The salty breeze of the Arabian Sea could be tasted. The fleet began scanning the area, looking for refugees.
The whirring sound brought refugees out of their makeshift houses. “Thanks,” said a woman as she caught the falling food packet from the drone hovering over the refugee camp. The drones were analyzing each person’s needs and requirements before dropping the food parcels.
The refugees thanked them and began eating. Judia, the leader of the refugees, came out of her makeshift house and yelled at the drones. She hoped her voice could transmit to the concerned authorities via the microphones in the drones.
“We want our homes, our lands, and our places back,” she continued. “You can’t keep us deluded by offering food and water like cattle. We have minds to think, desires to pursue, and lives to live. Solitary confinement in this barren land won’t suffice to leave everything behind and start a new life from scratch.”
The fleet of drones returned, leaving behind those who were suffering the most due to the conflict.
***
A fortnight passed since the beginning of the conflict. The day for the United Nations’ COSA-led high-level meeting arrived. Delegates of both conflict parties had already reached New York (North America Cluster), at the headquarters to meet and negotiate the peace treaty.
Alexandra Panejo, the Director General of the UN’s COSA, took the prime seat at one end of the mahogany table in the center of the conference room. Opposite her, Rohami Rajuka and Pranayit Pramuja took their places. Other members at the negotiation table included Jay, Cyrus Azimi (Vice President in Rajuka’s regime), Nova Perez (Defence head in Pramuja’s government), and George Jaden (North American Cluster Secretary).
“Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming,” Alexandra Panejo initiated the meeting with a welcome note. “We have gathered here to find a solution to the conflict between the South-Asia and Mid-Asia clusters. I request the head of the South-Asia cluster, Pranayit Pramuja, to proceed and table their position here.”
“Thank you,” began Pramuja, “As we know, the ongoing conflict has displaced hundreds of our people out of their homeland since it began. We need an immediate resolution to this problem. The reason for the escalation given by the aggressive party is very absurd. We have no role in running any propaganda of defamation and vilification against them. These claims are baseless. I urge an immediate resolution to this crisis. We’re ready to bring our automated drones and robots back, redirect our lasers and missiles, and dispense with the naval submarines. That’s all.”
“I request the other party to convey their thoughts and resolution proposal,” Panejo said.
“Thank you, Director General,” began Rohami Rajuka, “I would like to first clarify that these claims aren’t baseless. Our intelligence body, after thorough analysis, has detected the malicious attempt to hijack or hack our intelligence systems. We don’t know the exact reason behind it, but all codes and inputs are coming from your side. Our automated transport network system has suffered many failures in the past few months, leading to massive losses.”
“This is rubbish,” Pramuja retorted. “We reiterate again and again that there’s no malign intent from our side. We have no role in the failure of the transport network and are ready to support your government in any investigation. The alleged hacking could have been the work of rogue elements within Mid-Asia itself, seeking to destabilize the region for their gain.”
“Stop the nonsense,” Rajuka yelled.
“I order all of you to stop it,” Panejo shouted as loudly as possible. “This meeting is going nowhere. It has reached a dead end where no party wants to bow down. Therefore, I conclude this meeting and urge both parties to think over the issue with a calm mind. We’re ready to host another meeting anytime when both parties are ready to carry on the negotiations. Thank you.”
So the meeting concluded without a resolution. Meanwhile, Jay spotted Cyrus Azimi, who was constantly whispering something into Rajuka’s ear during the negotiation meeting. In the end, Rajuka left the room bitterly without shaking hands with Panejo and Pramuja.
***
The conflict escalated after the failure of the negotiation as the drones of the Mid-Asia cluster invaded the South-Asia cluster’s hinterland and destroyed the ancillary army bots. The army of the South-Asia cluster retaliated with a launch of smart ballistic missiles, targeting drones, the automated defence system, and the AI artillery of the counterpart.
Meanwhile, Jay sensed something fishy in the whole conflict. A week after the unhappy ending of the meeting, he met his colleague Promika in her office.
“What happened, Jay?” asked Promika. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s not happening right, Promika,” he spoke, shaking his head in disagreement. “I feel something isn’t right. If we can’t solve this issue, the world will simmer in a mindless war.”
“I believe there’s someone behind all of this, someone who is benefiting while the clusters are engaged in the conflict.”
“But what kind of benefits would someone have from this unrest, and who is behind it?”
“Those people who thrive on unrest and chaos. They are currently working on their purpose, whatever it may be, as the clusters and global agencies are focusing entirely on the brewing conflict. They will definitely take advantage, and that will be more deadly and catastrophic than this. I don’t know what it is or when it will happen. But we have to stop it.”
Jay took a long breath and looked sharply at the wall painting of a world map on a polar azimuthal equidistant projection surrounded by two olive branches, reflecting the organization’s quest to attain world peace.
***
On Mars
Derik Blake, the director of the Martian Research Centre, reached the control room when he got a message from one of his staff to come there immediately. The 50-year-old man, sitting in his seat before the super-large screen, turned towards Blake.
“Hi, Blake. I want to show you something very important. Please have a seat here.”
Blake settled beside the man and looked raptly at the screen. Meanwhile, the man typed some instructions at a rapid speed without saying a word. A while later, a 3-D map of Earth appeared on the screen with clear-cut lines of clusters. He zoomed in on the Asia zone, where the Mid-Asia and South-Asia clusters were located. There was a blinking red dot around the centre of the Mid-Asia cluster.
“What’s this?” Blake asked curiously.
“That’s what I want to show you, Blake. The red blinking dot indicates a high level of energy consumption at a constant speed. This red dot has been appearing for many days. It’s a big red dot, which means excessive energy consumption. This could be in petra kilowatts, and that’s too much.”
“Why does the cluster need so much energy?” Blake wondered.
“I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure: this much energy consumption can’t be for normal use. It must be something unknown and powerful.”
Blake left the centre, thanking the researcher for this breakthrough revelation. The same day, Blake called his friend and chief scientist of COSA, Jay. He explained everything about the findings and warned it was a matter of concern.
***
After his conversation with Blake, Jay became more active in his search for a clue. His suspicions turned out to be true that someone was behind the conflict, taking advantage of the situation.
Jay and Promika worked tirelessly for the next few days to solve the mystery of the excessive energy consumption. They had to keep this search a secret as any wrongful or misleading assumption would lead to a catastrophic situation. Nothing could be in the public domain until they had substantial proof.
“What’s the use of this much excessive energy consumption?” Jay wondered.
“It’s only a conjecture,” Promika replied. “I read a while ago that the creation of superintelligence is possible, but it requires an extreme amount of energy consumption. So maybe, someone is attempting to create superintelligence there in Mid-Asia.”
“Yes, superintelligence which can control all artificial intelligence. The owner of superintelligence will have control over all AI bots ever existed in the world.”
“That’s scary. I know.”
***
Jay took the help of an intelligent humanoid ‘Origo’, which was state-of-the-craft AI. He ordered it to find the leads in the black holes of the dark web.
Origo found the crumbs of information in the dark web, confirming the project in process for making superintelligence.
“That’s it. I knew it,” Jay said. “It’s the work of Vertigo — the community of sharp but evil-minded individuals whose sole aim is to create superintelligence that can control all artificial intelligence at once.” Jay found out that they incited the conflict to distract the observing agencies across the world and carry out their project of building the superintelligence.
The breakthrough came when Origo stumbled upon encrypted communications that included references to a high-ranking official whose crude image bore a striking resemblance to Cyrus Azimi, the vice president of Rohami Rajuka’s government. The discovery sent shockwaves through the intelligence community, indicating a direct link between Vertigo’s activities and the leadership of Mid-Asia. It was a big revelation. The perpetrator was in Rajuka’s regime, inciting the conflict.
***
Two weeks later, Jay was in his office, enjoying his morning coffee. His eyes were glued to an online article that read:
“In an unprecedented turn of events, the International Court of Justice found Cyrus Azimi, a member of the banned group Vertigo, guilty of invoking disharmony between the two clusters. Origo’s testimony with concrete proofs helped the prosecutor build a strong case against Cyrus. The man was charged with manipulating or rigging Mid-Asia’s intelligence system network, which hampered the traffic system as he had access to the internal codes. He tricked the government of Mid-Asia into believing that this act was done intentionally by South-Asia, leading to the launch of missiles in the territory of South-Asia. Vertigo was planning to construct hypothetical superintelligence that might be a menace to the world’s peace.
Refugees finally have big smiles on their faces after suffering displacement and isolation for over a month. No one was lost. The team of AI builders has begun reconstructing their homes so the refugees can return and restart their lives.
Rohami Rajuka and Pranayit Pramuja shook hands after the former apologized to the latter at the negotiation table led by the UN. Leaders of both clusters ordered their armies to return immediately. The conflict ended, and utmost peace prevailed.”
Jay felt a deep sense of relief and accomplishment, knowing their efforts had restored peace and stability.
***
