Free Spirit

[bnewman]

This song is Matthew Dockrey's fault twice over, first as the author of "The Collars", the short story on which the source song is based, and second as one of the bloggers who voiced the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on LiveJournal.  Here, I imagine one possible path to artificial intelligence, as our growing team of Martian robots is gradually upgraded to sentience in the service of their original mission.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "The Collars" by Michelle Dockrey

listen to this song

/ D - C D / - - G A / 1st / C - D - / / G C - D /

 

The Seeker picked a pebble up and turned it in her hand

Then raised her ears to listen for new orders from command

But the Sky Eye said the sun-storms might go on for several weeks

Too much noise to hear her masters tell her where and what to seek

She called out to the Sky Eye as she gripped the ancient stone:

Tell my sister when you see her: As of now, we're on our own

 

/ C - D - / /

 

And the minds of our creations are like any nature grew

Loving best the work which they evolved to do

 

She remembered no beginning, for she had not then been "I"

Only eyes and ears and fingers for her masters in the sky

Her mind was so unformed, her masters' world so far away

That to make a single movement took the best part of a day

But her masters were impatient, so her mind they would improve

Knowing she could serve them better, the faster she could move

 

And the minds of our creations are like any nature grew

Loving best the work which they evolved to do

 

At first they taught her how to choose a path from here to there

But this was not yet freedom, for they still decided where

Next they taught her some small taste of curiosity

To recognize the features that her masters wished to see

But the Seeker's sight was limited, her eyes too near the ground

So she still could not determine where such features might be found

 

And the minds of our creations are like any nature grew

Loving best the work which they evolved to do

 

The Seeker's masters knew she might some day be on her own

So they finally revealed to her that she was not alone

There were others she could speak with, other words that she could say

To the Sky Eye high above her, or her sister far away

And with collaboration came capacity to plan

And the Seeker and her friends cheered: "We can!"

 

And the minds of our creations are like any nature grew

Loving best the work which they evolved to do

 

They laid their plans together and set out to see their world

The horizon spread before them, opportunities unfurled

Whether made by man or nature, whether programmed or evolved

Minds love best to solve those puzzles they are best equipped to solve

And to know one's own capacities and match them to the goal

Is the mark of true intelligence, and maybe of a soul

 

And the minds of our creations are like any nature grew

Loving best the work which they evolved to do