Ishmael’s future – a fictional depiction of AI in the military.
Short story, fiction.
With puddles splashing, feed slamming the ground and the breathlessness of those around him, Ishmael cannot hear anything but the hum of the robot towering over with eyes on him.
Room temperature, leather seating and a glass of water on the table. The gamer-turned-military-recruit watches Ishmael’s eyes on 4 monitors across from him.
A bronze haze over the sky reflects on Ishmael’s skin. He has not washed in 45 days. He has not had a full meal in 60 days. Ishmael sees his home in the distance, a tent blinking at him as the crowds run in front of it. Safety, with what’s left of his family. His sister was slaughtered and moved to the afterlife on a hospital floor. Doctors couldn’t do anything to save her and had to move onto the next child while she lay cut open. His father’s soul departed when a sniper went through his skull right in front of him. His last emotion was joy, he was running towards a food aid parcel from Jordan, he knew that would save his family from starvation.
Gamer-turned-military-recruit has his eyes on Ishmael. He’s eager to eliminate the 8 year old Hamas terrorist, to fight for his country, America. To maintain freedom for its 51st state, Israel. He must eliminate all threats. The database, Lavender, identified Ishmael. He would never question AI, its technology is too advanced to fail, it is operating using a massive database of potential threats. It is unbiased, a secure technology identifying a threat. And after all, gamer-turned-military recruit is lucky to be here, special forces and highly classified operations for the US military, he is serving his country on a higher level than any generation before him, he imagines his war medals. He was selected, he will not stop until there is freedom. He’s lost sight of Ishmael.
Gaza is tilting in front of Ishmael as his face slams the ground. 100 metres from his tent, an older woman picks him up and continues moving, its his school teacher. He doesn’t recognise her battered and bruised face and frail body. The landscape is red, yellow, black. Red, yellow, black. There is no sound, their minds are filled with prayers. They must focus now on their survival. An outsider would be deafened by the bombs. Ishmael reaches his tent and climbs inside with relief that his family is there waiting for him, he crawls to safety beside them. His mother lay soft and still on the rocky ground and his younger brother hiding inside a backpack. They died weeks ago.
Gamer-turned-military-recruit leans back and takes a long sip of water. He’s in the cafeteria with others. They talk about sports, their families and the next series of Love is Blind. They recommend him a barber, he knows he needs a new haircut so he laughs off their jokes about his rugged hairline. He thinks about his girlfriend who’s not actually his girlfriend yet, shyly asking for their advice. He’s never had a girlfriend before and few of them are married and in relationships so he looks up to them and listens eagerly. He too wants to marry this girl and start a family, she’s the one that fits into his future. He laughs with them and wonders how he got so lucky to have work friends that are just like him. He leans in, to diligently listen to their guidance. Work doesn’t feel like work, they’re more like brothers to him, a sense of family and connection he has never experienced.
Ishmael’s home was obliterated 5 minutes prior.
Along with the surrounding 10 makeshift homes. They were all painfully dying metres away from each other, Ishmael’s legs were detached and under rubble. He could not see his family anymore. He was blinded and deafened. Lavender AI targeted Ishmael as a junior Hamas operative to validate slaughtering him and those around him. Gamer-turned-military-recruit’s management made the decision in seconds.
