The protagonists works for the MoD or another mighty security agency as a programmer/IT guy and suddenly he discovers that a programme has become sentiment. He forms an alliance/ friendship with the AI and guides it on its moral self-discovery but has to flee and protect himself from the government and other interested parties and assume a new identity with the AI's help.
That plot has been used a couple of times and one of them - https://storiesonline.net/s/58219 - was deleted and then sold years ago. I'm trying to remember where else I've seen it.
The first time I encountered this plot was in RAH's "The Moon is A Harsh Mistress" (copyright 1966).
HM.
Another good early AI/ morality stories is When HARLIE Was One (1972) by David Gerrold. The protagonist is the psychologist who raises the AI to adulthood. The book is notable for being one of the first fictional versions of a computer virus.
Although his own books aren't well known, Gerrold is also notable for creating the Tribbles on Star Trek and the Sleestak on Land of the Lost.
Gerrold is also notable for creating the Tribbles on Star Trek and the Sleestak on Land of the Lost.
Shouldn't that be infamous rather than notable?
I remember him better for The Flying Sorcerers and the Chtorr books; I didn't remember him as the author of The Man Who Folded Himself.
Another published work in this vein is The Adolescence of P-1. It's dated as hell, but still readable.
Locally, Howard Faxon did a story about a MC who was the moral guide for an AI, The World's Most Dangerous Job doesn't start with a bang, but it's a HoFax piece, so there's always one in there.
Another published work in this vein is The Adolescence of P-1. It's dated as hell, but still readable.
Something I think I remember from that book was the prediction that someday all the computers hooked up to the Arpanet (predecessor of the Internet) would add up to some number, which would be less than is on your PC today.
