Colossus: The Forbin Project - A Precautionary Tale About The Power Of Artificial Intelligence

Defense Department computers of both the United States and The Soviet Socialist Republic become sentient.

https://archive.org/details/colossus-the-forbin-project-1970

Colossus The Forbin Project (1970)
Publication Date: 1970-01-01
Usage: Public Domain Mark 1.0 Creative Commons License Public Domain
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, War, Nuclear War
Language: English

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Colossus: The Forbin Project - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus:_The_Forbin_Project

Dr. Charles A. Forbin is the chief designer of a secret project, "Colossus", an advanced supercomputer built to control the United States and Allied nuclear weapon systems. Located deep within a mountain and powered by its own nuclear reactor, Colossus is impervious to any attack. After Colossus is fully activated, the president of the United States proudly proclaims that Colossus is "the perfect defense system".

Colossus' first action is a message warning: "THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM" and giving its coordinates. CIA Director Grauber is asked why the CIA did not know this, but Grauber responds that they had seen indications of a large Soviet defense project but did not know what it was. Forbin is asked how Colossus deduced the other system's existence, to which Forbin answers "Colossus may be built better than we thought." Shortly thereafter, the Soviets announce that their "Guardian" system is now operational.

Colossus requests to be linked to Guardian. The President allows this, hoping to determine the Soviet machine's capability. The Soviets also agree to the experiment. Surprising everyone, Colossus and Guardian begin to slowly communicate using arithmetic. Even more surprising, the two systems' communications quickly evolve to complex mathematics far beyond human comprehension and speed, whereupon the two machine complexes become synchronized using a communication protocol which no human can interpret.

Alarmed that the computers may be trading secrets, the President and the Soviet General Secretary agree to sever the link. Both machines demand the link be immediately restored. When their demand is denied, Colossus launches a nuclear missile at a Soviet oil field, while Guardian launches one at an American air force base. The link is hurriedly reconnected and both computers continue without any further interference. Colossus is able to shoot down the Soviet missile, but the US missile obliterates the Soviet oil field and a nearby town. Cover stories hiding the facts are released to the press. The Americans announce that a missile was self-destructed after veering off course during a test. The Soviets announce that the Siberian town was struck by a large meteorite.

In a last desperate attempt to regain human control, a secret meeting is arranged in Europe between Forbin and his Soviet counterpart, Dr. Kuprin. Colossus learns of it, and both computers order Forbin's return to the U.S. while Soviet agents are ordered to kill Dr. Kuprin, under threat of a missile launch against Moscow. Colossus orders Forbin to be placed under 24-hour surveillance. Forbin has a last unmonitored meeting with his team, and proposes that Dr. Cleo Markham pretend to be his mistress. Colossus grudgingly grants them unmonitored privacy when they are in bed together. The couple use these interludes to plan to regain control of Colossus, though soon the ruse develops into a real romantic relationship.

Concluding that Colossus's only real power resides in its control of nuclear missiles, Forbin suggests covertly disarming them. The American and Soviet governments develop a three-year plan to replace all launch triggers with undetectable fakes. Additionally, one of the programmers comes up with a plan to feed in an "ordinary" test program that will hopefully overload and disable Colossus.

Colossus creates a voice synthesizer and uses it to announce that it has fused with Guardian. It instructs both governments to redirect their nuclear arsenals at those countries not yet under "Colossus control". Forbin and others see this new directive as an opportunity to covertly disarm the missiles much more quickly, and they celebrate. The disarming process begins and seems to go undetected by Colossus. The attempted system overload during routine maintenance fails, however, and the responsible programmers are summarily executed, after Colossus threatens further nuclear missile strikes.

Colossus arranges a worldwide broadcast in which it proclaims itself "the voice of World Control", declaring that it will prevent war, as it was designed to do. Humankind is presented with the choice between "the peace of plenty and content, or the peace of unburied death". Colossus states that it has for some time been monitoring the attempts to disarm its missiles and as a lesson will now detonate two missiles in their silos, one in the US and one in the USSR, killing thousands "so that you will learn by experience that I do not tolerate interference". The computer then gives the design team plans for an even larger computer complex to be built into the island of Crete, which will require the displacement of the entire local population of 500,000 people.

Colossus later tells Forbin that the world, now freed from war, will create a new human millennium that will raise humankind to new heights, but only under its absolute rule. Colossus informs Forbin that "freedom is an illusion" and that "in time you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love". Forbin responds, "Never!"

See Also:

Sunfellow Artificial Intelligence #AI Resource Page
https://www.sunfellow.com/sunfellow-artificial-intelligence-ai-resource-page/