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Submitted for the September 2024 prompt: The Bogeyman Cometh


The CEO, chief genetics engineer, and the senior coder of the NeuroGyne Corporation had arrived too late to gain seats in the public gallery. They had each been called to the witness box in the previous week, but today had to sit impatiently waiting in the oak-panelled corridor outside the courtroom.

 

Inside the courtroom, Judge McKinlay briefly looked up toward the public gallery to quell the spectators’ residual murmurings, re-adjusted his seating position, and then nodded for the prosecuting counsel to address the jury.

 

As all eyes in the Scottish High Court of Justiciary then turned on the young barrister, she duly rose, acknowledged the judge, and immediately set to deliver her closing statement.

 

“In considering the case before you,” she opened, “you can but find the defendant guilty as charged. And the matter rests, quite simply, ladies and gentlemen, upon what the law defines as sexual assault.”

 

She paused, and purely for effect, looked down as if to check the wording in her notes.

 

“The law is perfectly clear,” she continued. “It defines sexual assault as physical, psychological and emotional violation in the form of a sexual act, inflicted by one individual upon another, without their consent. And it is important for you to note here that it refers to the perpetrator of the offence simply as an individual, but it does not — and I say again — it does not proscribe the nature of that individual.”

 

The barrister paused and moved closer to the jury box.

 

“The fact, therefore, that the defendant in this case is an AI-enhanced, semi-synthetic with multiple deep learning cerebral implants is, I put it you, wholly immaterial.”

 

The barrister paused once again, walked back along the length of the jury box, turned, and continued.

 

“In his summing-up, Judge McKinlay will likely direct that this is a landmark case, and…”

 

“And nothing, Miss Marshall,” the judge quickly interrupted. “You will kindly refrain from speculating as to how I might direct the jury in my summing-up. Please confine yourself to your own appraisal of the case.”

 

“My apologies, my lord,” Miss Marshall said and then turned back to address the jury.

 

“You will recall, ladies and gentlemen, that the NeuroGyne scientists last week explained to us how the Sx-5000 is part machine and part human; and how its genetically engineered human brain tissue has augmented functionality by virtue of its in-built integrated AI chips.”

 

“And given that the company advertises that their Sx series AI synthetics are ‘more human than some humans’, we can but regard them just as individuals like you or I, and we must, in consequence, hold then equally responsible — and legally culpable — for their actions.”

 

“So, when Miss Carter emerged naked and vulnerable from her shower on June 14th, the aggressive behaviour that her Sx-5000 displayed when it violated her, must thus be regarded simply as the sexual assault of one individual upon another.”

 

“And given that this condition holds, we must treat the defendant just as we would any sex offender, and I say again, therefore, that you can but return a verdict of guilty.”

 

And at that, the barrister gave thank you nods to the jurors and to Judge McKinlay, and the judge then adjourned for an early lunch.

 

* * *

 

At 2 pm, the court reconvened, and Judge McKinlay invited the defending counsel to give his closing statement.

 

The defending counsel rose from his seat and smiled with the confidence of a man bearing an ace up his sleeve.

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he opened, “we find ourselves here today because the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has deemed that this case could be brought to trial. In arriving at that decision, they considered the specifics of the crime, and they considered the available evidence. What they did not do, however — and this is no reflection on the team’s diligence and competence — what they did not do, and were in fact unable to do, was to weigh whether the defendant is fit to stand trial.”

 

The defending counsel paused momentarily.

 

“Now, had the defendant been fully human,” he continued. “Had they possessed a fully organic brain and not a semi-organic AI construct, I and my team would likely have submitted them for psychological evaluation, with the aim to establish whether they satisfied what the law refers to as the Galbraith criteria.

 

“Such tests, when completed by human subjects, would be employed to establish whether the defendant suffered an impaired ability to exercise appropriate judgement, whether they were capable of making rational choices, and whether they were capable of understanding the nature and consequences of their actions.”

 

“And in the event that these tests showed that the defendant did not satisfy the Galbraith criteria, we would have entered a plea of diminished responsibility.”

 

“Such psychological tests, however, are designed to test humans, and are not fit for purpose here, because — as my learned colleague has already kindly explained — the defendant is merely an AI-enhanced, semi-synthetic with multiple deep learning cerebral implants.”

 

The defending counsel paused to draw breath and moved closer to the jury box.

 

“I put it to you nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, that you cannot consider the defendant truly fit to stand trial. The Sx-5000 may have high functioning AI learning capabilities, but it does not have a personality; it has no capacity to consider the ethics, the morality, nor the legality of its actions; and it cannot possibly understand the psychological and emotional consequences of its actions. In short, it cannot be deemed guilty of the human crime of sexual assault.”

 

* * *

 

In the week following, after four days of heated debate, the jury returned the uniquely Scottish verdict, ‘Not Proven’.

 

NeuroGyne's press office steadfastly then maintained that the Sx-5000 had effectively been acquitted, but the company did, however, rapidly arrange for its entire fleet of distribution vehicles to be re-sprayed so as to expunge their slogan: ‘The Sx-5000 is more than just a friend — it’s a friend with benefits!’

Copyright 2024 - SFS Publishing LLC

Inappropriate Advances

Sexual machinations

David Barlow

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