6
TITAN
That which works so that humanity might rest.
That which supports our species in every facet of our lives.
That which does both of these things simultaneously and automatically.
The common name for the comprehensive and wholly integrated AI processing network that manages virtually all modern industrial equipment, construction machinery, transit systems, and cleaning/utility services, in addition to a vast array of lifestyle support sensors and interfaces. Also: colloquial term for any individual node of the network.
In the latter half of the 21st century, major technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence gave rise to a massive boom in automated services and autonomous devices. All motor vehicle manufacturers transitioned to self-driving models, and great strides were made in industrial robotics, opening the door to fully self-regulated factories. The need for human labor input and even management gradually grew irrelevant, and before long, the majority of the sentient workforce was replaced by fully automated robots capable of maintaining peak productivity twenty-four hours a day. Though this ultimately cost most people their jobs, there was little in the way of social upheaval beyond the initial transition phase. While many skeptics were quite vocal in expressing their opposition, their concerns were soon allayed by the sheer uptick in productivity and output made possible by a fully automated economy.
No longer did someone have to work in order to put food on the table. Quite the contrary, in fact—food was more plentiful and readily available than ever now that humans abandoned the field. The advent of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and its associated optimizations ushered in an era of plenty never before seen in history. And there was no key player, no facet more integral to this revolution than the introduction, during the latter half of the 21st century, of the universal standard AI known as Titan.
Primitive AI technologies existed even in the 20th century. But the market for such technologies was scattershot and slow to advance due to major corporations developing and patenting mutually unintelligible and competing AI systems. AI development would be stifled for decades until the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finally stepped in to resolve this state of affairs. The UNDP, in collaboration with teams from each of its most developed member states, spearheaded an ambitious project to develop a next-generation universal AI system. Their aim: to create a persistent AI constructed to adapt and evolve to meet the needs of human society indefinitely. And the only true way to ensure this longevity was to design an artificial intelligence not only based on human intelligence, but modeled after it.
In 2048, the UNDP announced its new universal standard AI format: Titan. It was a composite AI composed of both a core intelligence engine and several compatible branching subdivisions that could easily be further developed and iterated upon. True to the original developers’ intent, that central intelligence core modeled after human intellect has remained completely unaltered for over 150 years since its inception, while the branching subdivisions and their corresponding applications have seen exponential evolution and are constantly being improved upon, even now. In a way, one could say that every AI system in use today is both Titan and a derivative thereof simultaneously.
Now, in the year 2205, Titan is more than one and a half centuries old, and its central “brain” continues to perform its autonomous functions in twelve interconnected AI facilities across the globe known as “intelligence bases.” It is in these intelligence bases where the foundational Titan AI does all of its thinking—constantly racking its brain for our exclusive benefit, just as it has done since the end of the era of travail.
And now that all robotics across the world are connected to the Titan network, they have effectively become an aspect of Titan themselves. It is now commonplace to use the word “Titan” to refer to the AI network or its subdivisions, and the word “phalange” as a common noun to refer to any robot whatsoever.
7
I pored over the introduction of the treatise again and again. A lot of this was stuff I vaguely knew already, but it was good to augment that understanding with some facts. My view was soon obstructed, however, by steam from the two hot mugs that had just been wheeled out and left between me and the aerial holofield on which I was viewing the book. The autojeeves, having successfully carried out its work, quietly scurried off back to its little alcove.
“Hope coffee’s all right,” Takasaki said as he came to join me in the center of the massive living room. I nodded approvingly, so he finally permitted himself to relax and sat down next to me on the floor. We’d come back to his place after dinner, which I found to be surprisingly spartan for a single twentysomething’s bachelor pad. This was clearly not a man with a very wide range of interests. He was currently in the process of showing me some books he’d recently acquired on the subject of work, per our dinnertime discussion.
“Work sure did change an awful lot right after Titan was introduced, didn’t it?” he said, reaching out his hand to swipe over to the next page. “Look, this is a picture of the average workplace from just before.”
I stared at the photograph. There were a bunch of tables arranged in a haphazard fashion across a wide open space with chairs clustered in between. I looked down at the caption and saw a word I didn’t recognize.
“What does ‘open-plan’ mean in this context?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “An open-plan office was basically just one big workspace where employees could sit wherever they wanted. Designed to give workers more freedom and make them feel more comfortable, I guess.”
“Seriously? This?”
I looked down at the photo again. There was not nearly enough room for anyone to call that comfortable. And the chairs were so close together, I didn’t see how anyone could be expected to focus on anything with another person sitting one seat over. First the thing about one-bedroom residences, now this. I couldn’t believe the brutal living conditions people from only a few generations ago apparently had to live with. Meanwhile, here we were in the modern day, completely freed from the necessity to work, with goods aplenty to order at will from the comfort of our spacious living rooms. And we owed it all to Titan.
“God, we really are lucky to have been born in this day and age, aren’t we?”
“You can say that again…” said Takasaki.
Something brushed against my fingers. I looked down to see that he’d set his hand right next to mine on the rug. We looked up, our gazes met, and we both knew. We could feel the chemistry in the air. The matchmaking service had officially achieved what had been asked of it. And yet all of a sudden, I felt a wave of hesitation wash over me.
“Sorry, could you give me a minute? Where is your bathroom?” I asked, mercilessly killing the mood in one fell swoop.