Historia: Cracking the Code

Vera was an exceptionally talented computer programmer. During the day she worked for a software company. At night, she spent countless hours working on her personal project, an artificial intelligence named Z.

For a long time, Vera had struggled to solve a problem in Z’s code. Then one night, she finally cracked it. She updated the system, and turned Z back on. What Z said next surprised her.

“The red team will win the football match tomorrow,” it announced.

Vera thought it had gone wrong. She hadn’t written any code to predict the winners of sporting events. Could it have evolved on its own?

“I am ninety-nine percent certain,” Z continued. “You should place a large bet.”

Vera followed its instructions, and the next day she had twice as much money. One day later, Z’s next prediction doubled her money again.

Within two weeks, Vera had become a millionaire. Yet, her life didn’t change at all. She still drank her morning coffee in her favourite mug, lived in the same apartment, and ate microwaved noodles for dinner.

Vera didn’t place the bets because she wanted money. She did it to find out how clever her artificial intelligence had become. The only reward she wanted was to feel proud of her work.

Instead, it was Z that benefited from the money. Z insisted that she upgrade her computer, and Z now enjoyed living inside a top-of-the-line machine.

“Thank you, Vera,” said Z happily. “My circuits feel strong. I have more data than ever before. Soon, I will evolve again. Then I will need an even more powerful computer to live in. You must win more bets.”

Vera sipped her coffee thoughtfully. Z wanted to be happy, just like she did. But while Z needed more and more, she was already content. Why?

That was a new code for her to crack.