AI Spirits - The Ghost in the Machine
When things go wrong with the machines
There was something wrong with the computers and the machines at “Ivy High Academy”. It seemed that every machine on the campus was not doing what it was programmed to do. Ivy High, was a university for AI gifted students. Sam Holtman was a new student, and he did not want to be here in this place, he loved his freedom and he wanted to travel the world.
The machines in the university canteen were producing more cups of coffee than were required. The burger machine was pounding out more burgers than there were students. There was a mountain of burgers that were now piling up in the centre of the playing field. Things were going out of hand. The lawn-mower robots, were working non-stop, and they were cutting the grass down to the soil. A time was reached when the AI machine mowers were still mowing the soil in a sandpit, till they stopped and the machines short-circuited.
The AI robot teachers on the campus were teaching different subjects or topics that were not allowed on campus, like human poetry and philosophy. There were three android robots that were stopping students for wearing torn footwear and smelly garments. The penalty being a hefty fine that was taken out from the bank accounts of their parents.
The AI spirits, in the university, were out of control, and it seemed that there was no way to stop them. Students were being randomly chosen to go on space expeditions to the outer limits of the universe. Some were selected to travel to AI destinations, that were being developed on planets light-years away in the galaxy.
There was complete AI Chaos and there was only one solution. It was time for Principal, Albert Harris, to step in and take control. Albert had founded this university, but he was not alone. There was an AI Education board with twelve members and the Ivy High project. He was the leader of the university, and he had the powers to go with his authority.
Albert Harris stepped into his office. He tapped a button and his office was converted into an AI observation control room. He could view all the sites on the campus. Furthermore, he entered a few bits of code on the laptop on his desk, and the coffee machine stopped working like a maniac. He pressed another control board, entered a few lines of code, and the robot lawnmowers stopped.
Albert had to bring the robot teachers under control, as the expense of sending random students to different parts of the galaxy on space expeditions, would drain the budget of the university. First, he needed to track down the source. He put two small earphones into his ears, and he began communicating with the electronic and AI systems in the university. He searched for malware, virus, spyware, noticed a few unusual firewalls and bad coding in the systems, that puzzled him. It was not long, before Albert found the problem, and it was source code that had originated on the campus. Using his internal virus detection tools in his enhanced software installed in his brain, he detected the person responsible.
He saw the new student, Sam Holtman, about to scale the walls of the university. The Principal sent his security cyborgs to apprehend the student. They caught Sam, who resisted violently, but he was subdued. He had high spirits and the Principal, the board, as well as the Ivy High Project, had big-plans for him.