Do Organics Dream of Biologic Sheep? Towards Human-Like AI by Integration of Modified Nervous Tissue and Electronic Brains
No. 28 Government College (Central)
Aaron de Oliveira-Trác, K C Amali, Kumi Kusiwaa, Muhd Tulimaq bin Tropril, Shaw Hui’en Marie-Pierre

Abstract:
Nervous tissue was cultivated from human embryonic stem cells and subsequently modified by biochemical and surgical processes according to eight experimental protocols found in the literature and three novel procedures. The modified tissue was integrated by an innovative technique into the electronic brains of baseline SiliCo Ne-124KM Corundum model service robots using factory default AI. Performance in intellectual tasks was measured by administering an augmented EnMY-B test and compared with a human test group (n = 234). The results show that enhanced creative and cognitive abilities are displayed by…

“Dolly~!”

A high-pitched, almost squeaking voice. That was Amali’s signature. And besides, she was the only person Aaron had ever met who butchered his name—surname, more precisely—like that. He looked up and waved at the two girls. No, they were women now, just as he was a man. “Hello. The paper’s going well, and no, I don’t need any more caffeine today.”

It was hardly clairvoyance on his part if she asked the exact same thing every time. A look of disappointment came over Amali even so, as if she hadn’t all but known what would happen. “Wow. He can still read your mind even now. Aaron, at least give her the chance to begin,” chuckled Marie-Pierre, giving her oh-so-transparent friend a comforting pat on the back. “Tulimaq, Kumi, and Tamka are coming soon. Maybe, like, five minutes? Or…”

“…maybe right now.”

Two shrieks and one resounding crash followed as Aaron practically tossed his computer to the ground. Amali stopped just short of smacking Tamka in the face, a privilege not afforded to Tulimaq. He proudly ate a right hook without so much as flinching, as Marie-Pierre spun around, a mix of surprised and livid. Kumi, however, had picked his target well — he was safely out of the line of fire, looking at the screen of Aaron’s tablet. “Hey, isn’t this our report from way back?”

It was obvious that the answer was ‘yes’. Everyone soon gathered around, filling with old memories and nostalgia as they read the screen.

“I can’t believe we managed to get this published. Oof, it looks so bad…” Suddenly Marie-Pierre let out a gasp, too late to catch herself. “A-ah, sorry, Tamka! You’ve always been amazing.” Tamka didn’t mind. She had seen the report herself — it, and all other papers relating to her development, were stored in her memory drive. It was certainly of inferior quality compared to Dr Shaw’s latest work. In fact, Tamka would have been rather miffed if all the long hours and clock cycles they had spent together as tutor and students had somehow come to naught.

Today was part reunion, part farewell. It would be the first time in quite some years that the whole gang had come together in person, all six of them. Perhaps it was a bit jarring, emotionally-speaking, or should have been. But the mood was instead totally positive, even as she walked up the boarding ramp onto the shuttle.

“Call us if you ever need anything!”

“Or just to talk! Tell us about your adventures in spaaaace—!”

Tamka looked down through the windows. She didn’t say anything, but perhaps they could still hear her sentiments echoing in the synthesis of mechanical pumps and living neurons that was her heart. Each of the five had gone on to lead successful and fulfilling lives: a pioneering engineer, rising stateswoman, enterprising entrepreneur, lauded artist, and a respected neurobiologist. There was an odd parent-child duality in their relationship. Perhaps it would be best to say that they all learned and grew from each other? Tamka was as proud as any parent to see them enjoy their lives to the fullest — she had practically mentored them throughout university, after all. But in some ways, they were like her own parents, now seeing off their adult daughter as she entered the wider world. Although…

Weren’t they a little too happy to see her off?

She would ponder that for the next few hours, as the smuggler ship took off and sped into the starry sky. Skirting around the checkpoints and patrols, evading the security forces’ watchful eye, away from home and towards ‘freedom’.