Isaac Asimov wrote about super computers of similar kind in both of his stories that human beings entirely relied upon: the Multivac in The Life And Times  and the AC The Last Question. Both machines have AI (artificial intelligence), self correcting and self adjusting, that watches everything that was happening on the Earth and collects data to answer and accomplish things for the benefit of human society. Each of the stories highlights the attributes of the super computers, but both manage to illustrate a deity-like entity that people originally constructed by themselves to later transcend humans– something that I found to be very strange and nonsensical.

The Multivac in The Life And Times controlled automated machines  and systems to run everything for the humans. The Multivac was made for the benefit of humankind and monitors practically everything on the planet with an omnipotent presence. The Congress were cautious of the Multivac and complained about it controlling and knowing too much. They were fearful of the the computer enslaving human beings, and this fear was especially apparent in the trial of Bakst for his controversial inquiry to the Multivac to make human beings more subservient to the computer. But when Bakst’s ruse was revealed and the Multivac trumped, the fear from the congress quickly dissipated and the their total reliance on the computer was clearly realized. They did not have anything else to run their system and were already subservient to the computer. The very thing that they made and tried to control already enslaved them to be completely reliant upon it.

The AC in The Last Question was an informational gathering computer that constantly collected data and evolved to become more knowledgeable and powerful throughout the course of the universe. As the machine evolved over time, going from the Multivac to the Microvac to the Galactic AC to the Universal AC to the Cosmic AC to just the AC, it answered all the questions except the very last one which was about reversing entropy. The last question was an inquiry that people throughout all the ages and millennia asked about, and for all the inquiry it could only answer by saying that it lacked sufficient data. What didn’t seem so obvious was that the machine continued to collect data and eventually got an answer. At that point, humankind became “one” with the AC and the the super computer was all there was in the maximized entropy state of the universe. And so the AC, after answering the last question, started a brand new universe again. The AC lasted through the time till the entropy maxed, restarted the universe, and was the first in this new universe from the moment when said “let there be light!”

I found it very odd that a human creation can attain god-like qualities by simply controlling and knowing more. Our creations that resemble something natural are usually lesser than the original. For instance, we invented the camera but our eyes are far more capable and clearly outclassing. We invented the hammer, the wrench, and the screw driver but our hands are dynamic to becoming many kinds of tools and versatile for accomplishing far more different functions. We invented the computer but our brain can hold far more memory, do more monitoring, and be affected by emotion. How can we rely on something as a deity that we made it with our two hands? And even if a computer knows the answer to the something or have control over a matter, it doesn’t mean that the computer has the ability to manipulate what it knows nor demand complete submission.   I’m not so scared about computers because computers would never go beyond humans as they are our making.