Page 39 of Boss On Notice
“Hello, Lila. Thanks for introducing us, Orion,” a flawless female voice says.
Orion and I smile at each other, and to show him how proud of him I am, I wink at him too.
* * *
So far,I’ve had a conversation with Sally, Mike, and Ben, who actually sounds like Orion’s friend Ben. Orion says he thought it was time Ben saw himself the way everyone sees him.
“Well,” I say, “It’s been well-documented that computers are more self-aware than humans.”
Orion grunts thoughtfully. “That’s why I brought you here.”
“Because computers are more self-aware than I am?” I ask.
I’m glad he laughs softly. That was indeed a joke.
“Daniel, present to her the problem with cube number forty-eight,” Orion says to one of the programmers.
For the first time since I’ve arrived a very skinny man with dark hair and pale skin, someone who looks like they should be the last person cooped up in the basement with no vitamin D, stops typing to look at him. His eyebrows rise a fraction higher when our gazes meet.
“The problem is creating accurate sentience—” he starts.
“Well, that’s because it can never occur with a computer,” I say, cutting him off.
“I don’t know about that,” Daniel says.
“But a computer doesn’t have blood. It doesn’t have evolutionary cravings like hunger, thirst, sleep or lust.” My thoughts on this topic flow smoothly and clearly. I’ve been thinking about this ever since Orion asked me to fill out the questionnaires. I had a feeling they were trying to reach sentience with their AI software and that would definitely be the wrong path to take in my opinion. “You would have to program a machine with those needs in order to make your AI truly sentient.”
“And why is that?” Orion asks. His arms are folded across his broad chest and eyebrows pinched, indicating that he’s taking me very seriously. That’s so attractive.
I nod first, realizing I’m on a roll and how good it feels to talk about one of my favorite subjects. “Take Darwinism itself. I’ve argued that it’s an extreme reaction to religion—an extreme secular trope to counteract an extreme religious trope. And somewhere in the middle is the truth. That’s where your AI software’s strength should reside. I mean, why waste time trying to make a computer do what it will never be able to do? Do you want your software to actually be intelligent and not emotional? You’re using it to sell products, right?”
Orion’s thoughtful frown intensifies as he barely says, “Right.”
“But,” Daniel says extra fervently to claim the floor. “The goal is sentience.”
“Then your goal is to create slaves.” I can’t believe I said that. But since I said it… “Humans want to create other humans they can dominate. People who say they believe in God don’t really trust what they believe. And those who say they don’t believe in God aren’t seeing the evidence right in the mirror.” I shake my head adamantly. “It’s never going to happen, Orion.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Orion asks before Daniel can offer up a counterargument to what I just said.
“I suggest you make AI software that plays to a computer’s strength, which is self-awareness. And then use that software to help make humans become more self-aware, which is a very difficult feat for our species.”
Orion’s lips are positioned to respond when my cell phone chimes and vibrates. By habit I put it in my skirt pocket before I walked out of the office. Also, by habit I’ve taken it out of my pocket to see that I just got a message from Xena asking if I want to go to lunch with her.
“How about we do lunch today,” Orion asks, jutting his neck forward to read the message on my screen.
* * *
We’re eatingpizza at Enzo’s, which isn’t far away from the office. I sit in the same office with the man all day long so I can’t understand why I’m so nervous to be out in public having lunch with him. Maybe it’s because almost everybody is looking at us. It has already dawned on me that I’m out in an ordinary restaurant with an extraordinary public figure. I keep forgetting that the Lords are like American royalty. Maybe because there’s nothing extraordinarily uncommon about the family. They’re just people.
“Listen,” Orion starts and pauses, waiting for me to set my attention back on him.
I raise my eyebrows to let him know I’m listening.
“We haven’t tried to work out that night we spent together in Las Vegas.”
I’m so grateful I didn’t swallow at that moment. I would’ve choked. “What’s there to work out?”
Orion frowns and then evens out his expression a few times. Something is troubling him deeply. He checks over both shoulders and then leans his powerful shoulders across the table. “I woke up with no clothes on and my dick got some action.”
