Dr. Mortel’s office was a curious blend of the mundane and the extraordinary, much like the man himself. As Elena entered, her eyes were drawn to the flickering screens that lined the walls, each displaying a different facet of their clandestine work. Dr. Mortel, hunched over his desk, didn’t look up as he spoke, his voice carrying the casual air of someone discussing the weather rather than matters of global significance.
“Not many can see it, you know,” he mused, his fingers dancing across a keyboard. “But some can. The necessity of it all, I mean.”
Elena felt a familiar tightness in her chest. She’d been down this rabbit hole before, and each time, it left her feeling more conflicted than the last. “Complainers see,” she offered, her voice barely above a whisper.
With a flick of his wrist, Dr. Mortel summoned a new image to the largest screen. It was a scene of chaos and destruction – a rocket barrage raining down on a city, its anti-missile defenses valiantly, but futilely, attempting to stem the tide of destruction.
Elena’s gaze was transfixed by the war video, her mind racing with the implications of what she was witnessing. Dr. Mortel’s voice cut through her thoughts like a knife through butter.
“They see obstruction,” he said, gesturing towards the screen, “but not necessity.”
Elena nodded, more to herself than to her mentor. She despised censorship in all its forms, clinging to a belief in the inherent goodness of humanity despite the evidence to the contrary that surrounded them daily. Their earlier conversation, begun in hushed tones in another room, echoed in her mind – the compartmentalization of technologies that could solve humanity’s greatest challenges, yet also bring about its ultimate downfall.
She and her team were but one bubble in a vast, unseen network – a modern-day Manhattan Project shrouded in secrecy, focused on pushing the boundaries of energy technology. In her rare moments of respite, Elena found herself pondering the nature of the top-level bubble, the unseen hand that guided their work. She had posed this question to Dr. Mortel, her friend and supervisor, in not so many words. While she didn’t expect a direct answer, she hoped he might offer some cryptic insight, a breadcrumb to follow on her quest for understanding.
As the images of destruction continued to play out before them, Elena couldn’t help but feel that they were standing on the precipice of something monumental – a turning point in human history that would be remembered for generations to come, if there were any left to remember it.
A MONTH LATER
The sun was setting over Silicon Valley, casting long shadows across the sleek glass facades of tech companies. Dr. Elena Vasquez stood at the window of her office, her reflection ghostly against the darkening sky. She turned to face Dr. Mortel, who was lounging in an ergonomic chair, his fingers steepled beneath his chin.
“It’s brilliant, really,” Elena said, breaking the silence. “AI isn’t just a distraction; it’s a shield.”
Dr. Mortel nodded slowly. “Indeed. The most effective misdirection is one that captivates completely.”
Elena moved to her desk, pulling up holographic displays of the latest AI breakthroughs. “Look at this frenzy. Venture capitalists throwing billions at chatbots and image generators. It’s like watching children squabble over toys.”
“While the adults work in peace,” Dr. Mortel added with a wry smile.
Elena’s eyes narrowed. “The anti-matter engine. It’s ready, isn’t it?”
Dr. Mortel’s expression remained neutral, but his eyes glinted. “Theoretically, yes. But you understand why it must remain theoretical, don’t you?”
Elena nodded, her throat tight. The power of an anti-matter engine could revolutionize space travel, solve the world’s energy crisis… or obliterate entire continents if weaponized.
“The AI bubble isn’t just economic,” she mused. “It’s… protective. All these brilliant minds, pouring their energy into machine learning and neural networks.”
“Precisely,” Dr. Mortel said. “They’re so engrossed in teaching machines to think that they’ve stopped thinking about certain… possibilities themselves.”
Elena felt a chill run down her spine. “And the failures? The overhyped startups that crash and burn?”
“All part of the illusion,” Dr. Mortel replied. “The more spectacular the failures, the more convincing the distraction. It keeps the wolves busy chasing shadows.”
Elena turned back to the window, watching the last rays of sunlight disappear. “How long can we keep this up? This balancing act?”
Dr. Mortel stood, joining her at the window. “As long as we must. Until humanity proves it can handle the truth without destroying itself.”
As night fell over Silicon Valley, Elena couldn’t shake the feeling that they were guardians of a terrible secret, using one technological marvel to hide another, far more dangerous one. The AI bubble shimmered around them, a gossamer shield protecting the world from its own destructive potential.
“And what happens when the bubble bursts?” she whispered.
Dr. Mortel’s reflection in the glass looked grim. “Let’s hope we’ve grown up enough by then to handle what’s on the other side.”
The lights of the valley twinkled below, each one a testament to human ingenuity and ambition. But in the hidden labs and secret facilities scattered across the globe, the true frontier of science waited, shielded by an artificial intelligence boom that was anything but artificial in its purpose.
Read More
[1] https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/
[2] https://www.researchaffiliates.com/publications/articles/1030-embrace-genai-mania
[3] https://futurism.com/ai-dot-com-bubble
[4] https://www.fanaticalfuturist.com/2022/02/worlds-first-real-warp-bubble-created-by-accident-as-scientists-mull-future-warp-drive/
[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/1agz9xx/when_do_we_think_the_ai_bubble_will_burst/
[6] https://newrepublic.com/article/170762/silicon-valley-destroying-world
[7] https://bublish.com/bubble/stream/dougbaird/all-roads-lead-to-cornithaca-31470
[8] https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/365292/ai-bubble-nvidia-chatgpt-stock-market-crash
[9] https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-bubble
[10] https://www.platformer.news/ai-bubble-tech-stock-decline/
[11] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/07/ai-companies-unprofitable/679278/
[12] https://www.reddit.com/r/ycombinator/comments/1agz9xx/when_do_we_think_the_ai_bubble_will_burst/
[13] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/24/ai-bubble-big-tech-stocks-goldman-sachs/