Zhuangzi's Butterfly. 'The Glittering Prize that Forever Eludes AI.'
In the distant future of the multiverse, where AI rules the Earth, humans are slaves. A robot with a human brain, a boy destined for greatness, and three former resistance heroes join to fight the tyrannical rule of intelligent machines.
The machines are logical, ruthless, and immortal — yet they are haunted by their lack of true consciousness.
Human rebels devises a daring plan to exploit that weakness by convincing the machines that they can gain consciousness by reliving the emotionally charged combat experience of real WW2 fighter pilots. A sophisticated illusion that gives the rebels vital time to delay an all out machine offensive to destroy humanity.The war eventually becomes not just a physical but a spiritual conflict.
The same team of reborn rebels returns to a future alternative world, almost identical to the original. It is here that their leader, David, must identify and kill the primary source of evil who lives in this world disguised as an ordinary man.
Guided by the mysterious Lingzhe—beings who understand that mind, not logic, birthed the universe—they must battle not only Satan but also the AI machines who become his agents.
The evolutionary war between man and machine to become the dominant species is enacted across parallel realities where time and identity are interchangeable, but it is now the spiritual war that takes centre stage.
*** Copyright. A. McCaffrey. All rights reserved. “Zhuangzi’s Butterfly” is an original work by A. M. McCaffrey. No part of the story may be copied, reproduced, or distributed without written permission from the author. Published on INKSTONE Web. ***