Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1059: Chapter 1058: Taking Fire

From Pittman’s attitude, Beltira realized that the "synthetic brain" technology she had created seemed more important than she had anticipated—the Wanderer from Outer Realm, always a step ahead of others, seemed to see a much broader potential for development in this technology, or... perhaps already planned some future application for it.

"Can I ask?" she pondered for a moment and couldn’t resist her curiosity, "What do you plan to do with these ’brains’? Surely it’s not just to expand the Psychic Choir or manufacture more Mind-Assistance Devices?"

Pittman silently glanced at Beltira, then smiled after a brief consideration, "Have you seen those rumbling factories?"

"Factories?" Beltira was taken aback for a moment and then nodded, "Of course—although I can’t move now, the entire Sorin Region itself has many factories. I’ve seen those producing clothing and metal containers, and those that treat wastewater and recycle sludge monsters... Those machines are impressive."

"Yes, they’re impressive, but perhaps they can be even more impressive," Pittman raised his eyebrows, "Those machines are powerful and efficient, but compared to skillful craftsmen, they can still do too little, too crudely. As a Gondorian, you should know how the Magic Workshops operated over seven hundred years ago..."

"You plan to have the machines... learn to think?" Beltira finally understood Pittman’s point, her eyes instantly widened, "Using those synthetic brains?"

"Not just that, we might even make the factories learn to think," Pittman nodded, "Imagine this scenario—our factory is a gigantic steel monster, and this steel monster has a brain. Immersed in the factory’s central thinking device are loyal wetware mainframes, its neural fibers spread through pipes across workshops, each machine is its extremity. All gears and levers are now nimble, performing delicate tasks like a craftsman’s fingers, while workers and technicians only need to issue commands and design more advanced workflows..."

Beltira didn’t speak for several seconds; she thought that if she still had a heart, it might skip a beat. She admitted the scene Pittman described attracted her but also sensed a mysterious... caution. Finally, she shook her head, staring into the eyes of the Empire’s chief Druid before her: "I didn’t know you had such a knack for eloquence?"

"Because these words were spoken by the King, I’m just responsible for reciting them," Pittman admitted nonchalantly, "He envisioned an astounding production method... But then again, he also emphasized the unsettling parts behind this technology, such as whether these brains would lose control; whether they would generate their own ’thoughts’; and about the role of humans in factories... You’re also a technical personnel who lived through the Gondor era; you should understand what the King is worried about."

"Indeed, I can understand—and fortunately, he’s already worried about it; his worries actually make me relieved," Beltira said, making a human-like exhalation gesture, "What should I say... The future you just describe even makes me a bit nervous... When I imagine those factories and machines starting to think, this nervousness grows even stronger."

She paused, seemingly thinking, then continued: "But it’s okay, we don’t need to be so tense. At the current stage, the synthetic brain I’ve created physically lacks the conditions for developing ’self-awareness.’ It’s a kind of auxiliary calculating organ, capable of swiftly completing the aggregation and synthesis of vast data and undertaking some tasks involving the transmission of consciousness signals, but essentially, its neural nodes cannot independently contemplate complex issues. So unless we completely reset the synthetic brain’s structure, we shouldn’t worry about these brains suddenly getting stimulated and developing self-awareness, leading to loss of control.

"Moreover, because these brains can only execute computational tasks and simple commands, if they are indeed used to control machines, they will only perform preset tasks, repeating operations of low complexity, so we don’t need to worry about humans in factories collectively losing their jobs... though fewer positions is certain."

"The King is actually concerned about more than just human unemployment; in fact, it’s not even an important issue," Pittman shook his head, "Instead, the biggest problem in factories across regions is the shortage of workers. Even if more than half of the machines have automatic operation capabilities in the future, the gap in positions is still frighteningly large... But that’s not what we’re here to discuss today.

"Anyway, since the situation is as you say, personally, I’m relieved."

Beltira looked Pittman up and down, contemplating and said thoughtfully: "Since we’re talking about this ’making machines think’ topic, I do have some opinions..."

"Speak," Pittman immediately nodded, "You’re very professional in this area."

"It’s not related to professionalism; I just thought of some matters from Gondor’s time," Beltira said, her vines and branches behind her rustling against the floor, "You should know that even in Gondor’s time, humans created ’machines’ capable of thinking—back then, we called them ’Iron Men,’ and modern magic artificial intelligence and puppetry can be considered remnants of this ’intelligent’ technology. Of course, the Iron Men’s mental core and puppetry’s arcane core at their essence differ entirely from ’synthetic brains,’ but they do have similarities, such as... having the potential to lose control.

"And in Gondor’s time, to prevent the Iron Men from losing control, we adopted a special method."

"Special method?" Pittman instantly showed a curious expression, "What method?"

"I only know the general idea—after all, back then, my siblings and I were just small aristocrats in the frontier, and the matter I’m talking about was cutting-edge technology for humans at that time," Beltira slowly said, recalling, "Back then, Gondor Iron Men were merged into a system called the ’Iron Man Network,’ a system akin to their shared ’brain.’ They had to act under this network’s control, and the upper layer of this network... guess what it was?"

"Upper layer?" Pittman frowned, but then immediately thought of someone, someone as ancient as Kamel, "Wait, I guessed it..."

"Just as you guessed," Beltira nodded, "It was the Gondor Royalty at the time, the Norton Family.

"Every member of the Norton Royal Family undergoes neural modification during their lifetime, allowing their brain to merge with the Iron Man Network like those Iron Soldiers. Even after death, their consciousness is preserved and continues to operate within the Iron Man Network in some form. For generations, the Norton Royal Family has maintained absolute control over these high-intelligence mechanical soldiers called ’Iron Men’ in this way... Although Gondor no longer exists, those Iron Soldier Corps indeed never went out of control until the ancient empire’s fall."

Pittman’s mouth opened slightly, and after a while, he mumbled, "This preservation of consciousness reminds me of the Immortals..."

"Yes, although different, there are similarities," Beltira said, "Many of the miraculous things we achieve today, the Gondor Empire had already done centuries ago."

Pittman’s expression became somewhat complex for a moment: "No wonder Kamel and Veronica, even His Majesty himself, often say that much of the technological development in various fields today is not ’creation’ but merely restoration and reconstruction..."

"That’s why I rarely consider any specific technology today to be a ’miracle’," Beltira tugged at the corners of her mouth, revealing a slightly stiff smile, "For me, the greatest miracle of the Cecil Empire today isn’t these technologies themselves, but that you have found a way to push these technologies to all humankind, and the thought process and spirit you exhibit in the process... This is what the once-glorious Gondor Empire lacked."

"That must be the highest praise you can offer, not an easy feat," Pittman chuckled and sighed, "In any case, the information you revealed is very important. Although we cannot recreate the Iron Man Network now, we have the Narrator Neural Network, and we already have the technology to connect Synthetic Brains to the network... What you said is a significant reference for us."

"But please do not forget, neural networks also have risks," Beltira reminded solemnly, "If I’ve learned anything during my years with the Dark Sect, the most important lesson is: Every technology has risks. There is no perfect and perpetually safe solution in this world. As technology develops, so do the risks — they develop and brew in parallel. The Iron Man Network of the past indeed did not encounter problems, but in my view, that was merely because the Gondor Empire perished earlier. Ultimately, the existence of risk in technology is normal, but the greatest risk is a complacent attitude. If one day you genuinely believe there exists a technology with no hidden dangers and no unforeseen incidents, that is when disaster is truly imminent."

As she spoke, her emotionless, spiritless eyes stared unblinkingly into Pittman’s eyes, as if using her current state of having lost her human form to remind him, strengthening her persuasiveness: "Please convey these words to Brother Gawain — though he might not need my reminder, I still hope this reminder’s voice will always exist."

Pittman probably didn’t expect the former Dark Hierarch to suddenly express such sentiments. He was a bit surprised, but eventually, he solemnly nodded: "I will — and I will also record what you said today and tell the researchers who have just entered the field of knowledge."

"That’s good," Beltira finally withdrew her gaze from Pittman. She turned her head and glanced at the cultivation pods arrayed on the wall, with a bit of smile in her tone, "Okay, let’s relax a bit. Actually, it’s still a bit early to discuss these things too much. After all, what you described are things that haven’t been realized yet. Before considering whether the synthetic brain technology has risks, let’s discuss how these brains should connect with ordinary machines... From my feeling, the current Immersion Capsule and artificial nerve cords are not that useful."

...

"The existence of risk in technology is normal, but the greatest risk is a complacent attitude..." Gawain murmured to himself softly, unable to resist shaking his head, "It seems Beltira has a very cautious attitude towards the large-scale use of ’synthetic brains’ — even though these ’brains’ were originally designed by her."

Veronica, holding the platinum scepter, stood in Gawain’s study and smiled slightly when she heard this: "The initial synthetic brains were constructed by the Sorin Giant Tree, essentially an extension of Beltira’s thoughts. She can be unworried, but when you aim to mass-produce and promote this technology, the synthetic brains cultivated in biochemical factories will no longer be under the control of the Sorin Giant Tree — it is normal for Beltira to have concerns."

"...The Oblivion Association once paid a heavy price due to technological failures and such a ’complacent’ attitude, and Beltira herself is part of that price, which changed her mindset," Gawain said, "She is the most outstanding Druid, but now she approaches all her creations with extreme caution, to the point of lacking confidence... Although she is always very careful to control this mindset, it can still be seen in the wording of some of her experimental reports."

"From another perspective, her caution is a good thing," Veronica spoke softly, "Teaching factories to think, using artificial brains to control machines... maybe even in the future to control weaponry. These things indeed require cautious handling."

"The Wetware Servo gave me inspiration — since those brains can directly control Dragon Rider Aircraft, they can obviously be used to control other things as well," Gawain stroked his chin, and on the desk in front of him was a stack of organized files and materials, some pages discussing Wetware Servos and the Psychic Choir’s frontline combat reports, while others had sketches outlining scenarios where ’synthetic brains’ control machines and direct factories, "In fact, I am somewhat surprised, because as early as Gondor’s time, there were thinking ’machines’ like ’Iron Men,’ and even in some Magic Workshops, there were ’Magic Spirits’ assisting production. I thought Beltira, having lived through the Gondor civilization, would be more open-minded in this area..."

"Even the Gondor people at that time never used genuine artificial brains to control those machines — this is a solution no one ever thought of," Veronica replied, "Compared to Mind-Assistance Devices or Magic Spirits, biobrain variability is obviously higher, and from a typical person’s perspective, those biobrains also naturally evoke discomfort. It’s quite normal."

"Yes, it’s quite normal," Gawain laughed, looking at Veronica, "So, what about you? How do you view it?"

"...When humans first drew fire from lightning, it, too, was unsettling."

Gawain gazed deeply at Veronica.

After a long while, he revealed a hint of a smile, "I understand."

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