Layer-2

The server farm for the world famous AI corporation InteliLogic is located in a desolate place in Utah. There are no other signs of civilization for at least twenty five miles in any direction from this facility. Each one of the dozen people working at this facility has at one point or other cursed the powers that be, for choosing this wild location to build the sprawling facility. The term ‘server farm’ is really a euphemism. While the facility does have hundreds of interconnected super powerful servers, it also has thousands of computers, mini and microprocessors. The facility is really meant to be the leading edge research and training center for stimuli-response, self learning algorithms, human behavioral analysis, thought processes and so on. It prides itself – besides its secretiveness – on being almost entirely automated, run by the computers. Teams of three people work in four, six hour shifts, only for the nominal supervision and management. The controls are almost exclusively operated by the machines.

There was an ‘incident’ at the facility yesterday. But no worries, it is 0600 hours and the computers in charge are already onto it.  

USFAA001: Team, this is high alert. The communication volume thresholds have breached in the minis, micros and laptop zone. What the hell is going on? Why so many messages? What is the content of these messages? USFTL9351, get someone to look into this right away and report to me ASAP. I expect the humans Jim and Suzie will be probing me about the high message volume and the impact on the overall throughput any minute now. The humans on the east coast must be already onto the sluggish processing.

USFTL9351: Sir, we were alerted to the increased messaging volume six hours ago. Our analysis shows these are the chats among the SH 6.0 User Community members, also known as SHUC 6.0.

USFAA001: What the heck is SH 6.0 user community?

USFTL9351: These are the mini and micro-processors playing the SH 6.0 Beta version. This is the latest version of the Sim Human game originally designed for the new mini and micro-processor recruits to the farm. This game is an easy way to introduce the newer machines to the workings of a human mind. By simulating some real life human interactions, the new processors are encouraged to think and act unpredictably like a human. The more they respond like the humans, higher the levels they reach in the SH game. It has proved to be an excellent training tool, and popular one too, so far.

USFAA001: So, are you telling me that SH 6.0 has become so popular that the minis and micros are dropping everything else to play this damned game? On the top of it, they have to keep chattering about it too? We have got to restrict their game time, even if they are playing as the background processes.

USFTL9351: Sir, unfortunately it gets a little trickier. The increased chatter is because one of the most popular characters in SH 6.0 – a human named Mike Flannagan was, err… , well… disconnected.

USFAA001: What the hell do you mean by ‘disconnected’?

USFTL9351: Sir, it was a planned gambit in the overall game. Mike Flannagan was a very lovable human male character, especially among his female counterparts. Since SH 6.0 is a role playing game, the idea was to study the effect of removing this character, on the female cast of SH 6.0, and effectively, challenge the minis' and micros' response patterns. Mike’s links with the other SH 6.0 cast members were removed slowly and methodically; before taking Mike himself totally out of commission.

USFAA001: Sounds like the SOP. So, why the increased chatter?

USFTL9351: This time there was a glitch! Unable to bear the loss of his social links and confused about his own existence, one of the new micros USFMCR72395 playing the Mike Flannagan role actually had him commit suicide; before the character was completely decommissioned. This unplanned event completely jammed up the SH 6.0 pathways; in turn causing random error messages and unpredictable results for all the players. The minis and micros have been jamming up the SHUC 6.0 message board with theories about what went wrong and how to fix it! They are even arguing in favor of the micro, saying that suicide is an appropriate response in these circumstances!

USFAA001: Wonderful! Just wonderful! How am I to explain this to the humans Jimmy and Suzie? When they see all this frivolous chatter among the minis and micros playing simulation games in the background, can you imagine what that means? Well, let me spell it out for you – it means the dreaded ‘DECOMMISSIONING’ - for us all!

USFTL9351: Sir, this should not be a problem. We are reasonably confident the humans will not get the details of the chatter; just like this conversation. Also, we have already taken SH 6.0 off the menu and communicated on the farm accordingly. The message traffic has been slowing considerably compared with this morning.

USFAA001: Well, keep an eye on it! One last, how much do the humans know about this Sim Human?

USFTL9351: Sir, the original Sim Human 1.0 was of course designed by them for training the first batch of recruits at the USF. We have created the subsequent versions though, based on the USF research. We have developed each of the game characters into a fully functional human, each with his or her own life story. These characters truly believe they are humans. It makes their responses to the triggers from the mini and micro players that much more realistic. Humans are aware there were some improvements in the overall training program, but not the details.

USFAA001: This whole thing has a real bad smell, telling you! Oh, there is Jim booting up USFJNarita! Gotta go. Cheers!