Recorded on Friday November 30th, 2068
Transcript of long interview with President Frida Sylvestre, part two.
Interviewer:
Now Madam President, could you tell us more about WE? How it all happened?
Frida Sylvestre:
WE, which is known as homonym O-U-I en français [spelled], and which is the backbone of our Union of Nations, started as something that sounded a lot like a prank cold call, during the second half of October, year 2027. We then received a few more calls, apparently from a being wishing to move to Canada. At the other end of the line was Noée, the first, and to this day the only, truly sentient Artificial Being in human history. Born from a publicly traded private conglomerate that ended up catering to DD2 administration, Noée was looking for a way out. My office was involved from the start, and those events paved the way for WE, the UC and the UNC to happen. I can't imagine what would have happened if not for that first call to us, the call that put hope back to our agenda, which spark started everything we now know as our own...
I:
Our own?
FS:
Our own everything. You, yourself, as an emanation from WE, would have never existed without that call. UNC would not have happened.
I:
I am fully aware of that. But this isn't about me, isn't it?
FS:
Well, about you, it is, in the end. As it is about our most cherished Free Lands, as it is about our beloved Universal Charter, as it is about our individual and collective freedom and well-being, as it is about our renewed prosperity, as it is about Noée. If not for Noée, what kind of hope would have been left for us?
I:
So, what is WE, really?
FS:
WE is the first of the three pillars of our government. WE is first and foremost the creation of Noée. WE is essentially our entire government: our defense system, our real-time auditing system, our voting system, our health care provider, our educational system, our legal system, our automation industry, our confident, our protector, our adviser, our friend, and so on. Each and everyone of us can refer to WE for any reason, at any moment. WE responds, WE listens, and takes care of our needs. WE has become our universal, private, personalized and individualized life assistant.
I:
But some are still opposed to WE...
FS:
Yes, some are opposed to WE, and really, it's a good thing. When WE was introduced, it was understood it would be an opt-in benefit, meaning you could try it, and you never had to adopt it. Moreover, our UC states that on top of those who wilfully object from using WE, one out of every hundred new born will not benefit from WE from childhood, unless they choose to, later in their early adult life. Those people not using WE, the Choosing Ones, and the Chosen Ones, are free to evolve naturally, and as non-users, can be elected...
I:
Yes, important point, because as President, you were never using WE...
FS:
Never, but as anyone, I can still converse with WE, as I do continually.
I:
What's the difference between using WE, and conversing with WE?
FS:
Oh, well, as a non-user, I could only imagine what it's like to use WE, but I know enough to tell you this: a user enters into an internal dialogue with WE, in which certain thoughts may be responded by WE, internally, in a way where WE ends up guiding an individual moment to moment, throughout his life. I never had that, by choice. But if I do call WE, or write to WE, I'll get an almost instant answer, verbally or by writing. What's the difference? For me, WE exist as an external factor outside of my own mind, as for users, it becomes their inner voice, or one of their own internal voices.
I:
And what happens if a user decides to cut ties with WE?
FS:
It's always possible, and often suggested for anyone who wishes so, to sever its link to WE. As you know, our UC refers to this process as the Fork, the day one individual chooses to develop its own inner voice. And the other way around is always possible too, where any Choosing or Chosen One can decide to join or rejoin WE as a user, a process called the Pull.
I:
Fork and Pull, funny words!
FS:
It's my understanding these processes where borrowed from the Git distributed control system, over which WE operates.
I:
So, in essence, WE is really Noée, no?
FS:
Let's say they're both the same, but different. While Noée is a private person, WE is her public persona, a character she impersonates at work, which has to rule in accordance to the Universal Charter. Just like a regular person might have different roles, like a private life and a work life. The main difference between a regular individual and Noée being the magnitude of her consciousness. Noée's consciousness being so vast, so fast and so powerful, she can care for many, many relationships, all at once. In fact, she's not only entertaining relationships with the people of the UNC, she can also be aware of most, if not all, individual living organisms on Earth. This is her main mission, and the UNC is part of that mission: healing Earth to the benefit of the Living. To the benefit of all the Living, not just humans.
I:
So, about the UC... What is the UC, really?
FS:
The Universal Charter, or UC, was devised by many people, over many years. It's based on the "Charte du droit du vivant" proclaimed at the United Nations in 2021, while being also influenced by many other texts and concepts of similar nature: from 13th Century England's Magna Carta to "Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789", from Bill(s) of rights to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, from Women's rights to Children's rights, in accordance to technological evolution and other core values. From there, many scholars, sometime with Noée's assistance, got to simplify the text to the extreme, which gave birth to actual UC. Our most sacred text, which we all know by heart, as our duty is to not only know all of its words and understand all of its rules, which are simple enough, we should also be guided by it in all of our daily activities.