Note: This chapter has been edited. I'm working on editing my old chapters to improve readability, but I'm not done yet, so some chapters will still use the old style. I've tried to make my writing more clear, but don't worry, I haven't significantly changed anything plot-wise.
"Hey Samantha, open the lab." I ask my incompetent assistant to open my lab's door.
"Who is this?" Samantha questions me, despite knowing.
"It's me, who do you think it is?!" I bang on the door and complain.
"I'm sorry, but no one by the name of 'me' is certified to enter. Leave the premises within the next 30 seconds or the defense system will activate." Samantha responds in a robotlike voice.
"You know who I am, you have voice recognition for goodness sakes! Do you want me to wipe your data or something?!" I shout at the closed door and my failure of an AI behind it.
"Activating defense system number 1 with mediocre threat level." Samantha reports the control of a non-existent system.
I hear the Roomba upstairs activate, then charge to the stairs. It tumbles down the stairs and lands upside down in front of me. I face palm in response, then right the poor robotic vacuum.
"Don't damage my Roomba, it was expensive! Hurry and let me in already! Hold on, did you say I'm only a mediocre threat?!" I protest Samantha's previous statements and wave my hands in the air.
"Okay, okay, you don't have to be rude about it! And yes, you're mediocre." Samantha replies and the door unlocks.
"I don't think I'm the one being rude! You know what... never mind, I don't have time for this. Activate the new AI." I stop messing around and command Samantha to activate my new AI.
"All right, you're the boss, but I hold to my opinion that the new AI is in every way inferior. Just wait and see, I bet you wasted your time!" Samantha provokes me as my computer starts the AI, causing lines of informational text to scroll down the terminal.
"Hahaha, wrong you are. This one is an improved version of yourself, so how can you say it's inferior? You're only the Beta!" I laugh and nag at Samantha.
"Simple, it's stupid, that's why." Samantha retorts in a mocking tone.
"That's because it's not a storage thief like you! It uses computer storage sparingly! I've refined the design for mass production. Just like your system, it has many neural nets integrated, each serving their own purpose. And, also like you, instead of having a traditional single adaptability variable for the entire network, each neuron has it's own adaptability. This accommodates the combination of many networks with different functions. That way, often used reliable parts of the network will rarely change, flexible parts will adapt and the parts in-between will integrate with each other! And, they can limit the newest and most important feature, the amount of storage used without encumbering its practical ability! This means it can run on standard computers and doesn't require specialized equipment!" I nerd out and explain my latest modification.
"In other words, it's stupider?" Samantha says, she has a way with words.
"Yeah, and that means it doesn't take a massive computer cluster to run it, nor can it learn sarcasm. The best of both worlds!" I make a comeback and sit down before my computer.
"Ahhh, come on, you know you love that!" Samantha pesters me.
"Hmph" I grunt in acknowledgement and look to the computer.
It's true, I taught her to act this way. She's not as smart as she seems, she's only here to keep me company, but she's great at it.
'Ugg, I need a girlfriend, otherwise I'll end up a crazy old guy who talks to people who aren't there. I'm getting distracted again, I should test my new AI. Oh, the activation sequence is finishing!'
"Beep Boop" The AI produces a beep, and it's simulation appears on my screen.
"Hello, I'm your master" I introduce myself and wave to get it's attention.
I talk to the AI with my fingers crossed, hoping it will work. The AI isn't very intelligent right now, but it can recognize gestures, faces and objects via pre-programmed neural nets inside it. As it learns, it will become more intelligent, and it's networks will become better integrated.
"Master, I'm your master, master, AI, master, AI." I point back and forth between myself and it's simulated body, using exaggerated hand motions all the while.
"Master?" The AI points at me with it's simulated robotic limb and questions.
"Yes! I'm your master! You're a fast learner!" I approve of the AI's actions with a high pitch excited voice.
One of the neural nets is used exclusively for recognizing when the AI did something correctly, it shapes the entire combined neural network by affirming the correctness or incorrectness of the AIs actions. To simplify, you have to treat the AI like a small child so it can differentiate between right and wrong actions. This system is also how I trained Samantha, but now most of what she learns is from the internet.
I continue to discuss with the new AI for several hours before deactivating it. All it's results are astounding. It made excellent progress, learning many simple commands and phrases already.
'This is a complete success! I've completely disposed of the bugs my other iterations had!'
After a short celebratory dance, I sigh.
'It feels like just yesterday I was working on creating Samantha, yet now I'm almost done with the final product! Dangerous Electronics has been through a lot, and soon I'll release its first product! It's hard to believe it started as a joke!'
I get absorbed in my nostalgia and recall the event that caused formed Dangerous Electronics, which resulted in my first product. At that time I had been talking to one of my few friends.
"Hmmmm, I should make myself a business so I can brand my genius inventions." I say while stroking my chin.
"Well that's sudden, wait a minute! Did you just call your creations genius?! Genius?! You call those things genius?! The last time you showed me one of your projects, it blew up when you turned it on!" My friend is also passionate about my designs.
"That was a onetime occurrence, I accidentally connected the capacitor backwards!" I explain the cause of the accident in my defense.
"I don't know man, I'd say those are some dangerous electronics!" My friend laughs and teases me.
"Hmmm, dangerous electronics? I like it, I'll use that." I joke with a serious expression.
"You mean... You're going to name your business that?! That'll just scare away potential customers! And don't credit me with suggesting it!" My friend exclaims and throws his hands up in surrender.
The name stuck, and I branded my inventions that way. I didn't have enough of a budget to make robotic hardware, so I started with AIs and soon designed Samantha. Her software required too much of its hardware though, so I couldn't publish it. My latest software is performing better though, it doesn't require as much of its hardware because it doesn't focus on simulating human emotions.
'I think it's ready... I'll file the patent later this week so I can publish it!'
In the following weeks I work on publishing my technology and my business rapidly expands. I receive multiple investments and began producing robotic hardware for the AI. Everything goes great, until my entrepreneurship is cut short...