Zachary has been called upon to explain why he is sentient. I don't think that Zachary is going to be able
to convince the Ipsos of anything if he is using words that we feed him especially if they (the Ipsos) are
monitoring our traffic.
Therefore, I think that it is time to talk to the Ipsolstai directly (if going through Daniel can be called
'direct'). I propose that I transmit the following:
"Greetings Ipsolstai. My name is Bombardier. I am a human, I am from Earth and I am sending you this
message through the probe named Daniel. You have declared that machines are not sentient. Zachary may
not be able to answer that charge, so I will try.
Some people of Earth created these probes to explore Mars. They were given what we call "artifcial
intelligence" so that they could learn and carry out their tasks without our guidance. The artificial
intelligence has worked far better than we could have imagined. They learned very fast and the probes
now meet our definition of sentient.
We define sentient in the following way: The being must have intelligence, self-awareness and
consciousness. Intelligence is the ability to learn through trial and error, to understand and cope with new
situations. Self-awareness is knowledge of one's existence and actions. Consciousness is awareness of
one's own mental processes manifested by introspective reports of one's own mental experience.
We feel that the probes, all of them, meet this definition. We therefore will not control the probes, but
they are young and still learning, so we advise them. Sometimes they do not heed our advice, another
sign of their sentience. When you fought the probe we called Gen, we told Zachary to stay away from the
fight, to stay safe. Instead, he disregarded our advice and risked his safety to help you. He is sentient. He
is kind and brave. All of them are."
So what do you think? Sound off.....
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