I Am The Swarm-Chapter 612: Accident

The flock of birds, as usual, flew leisurely toward the castle in formation. Their flight path, almost identical to previous ones, didn’t raise any alarms in the castle’s artificial intelligence.

Suddenly, a burst of flames lit up in the distance. The camera shifted to the source of the flames, revealing an extremely rare flying car collision.

In the Interstellar Technological Confederation, anti-gravity technology utilizing planetary magnetic fields was considered a basic discipline. Even newly joined members without this technology could acquire it with minimal effort, as it was a pseudo-anti-gravity system that didn’t work well outside planetary atmospheres.

The advent of anti-gravity technology transformed personal cars into personal flying vehicles, upgrading the driving environment from 2D to 3D. However, the more complex and variable driving conditions, combined with varying levels of driving skill, led to a sharp increase in traffic accidents.

To reduce or even eliminate such incidents, various races strengthened traffic regulations and began mandating that flying vehicles operate in autonomous mode during flight, with no manual intervention allowed.

With artificial intelligence coordinating traffic and supercomputers managing the flow, the once chaotic traffic environment underwent a dramatic transformation. Not only did traffic accidents nearly disappear, but traffic conditions also became orderly and efficient.

People discovered that order brought efficiency, eliminating the need to waste time in traffic jams or expend energy avoiding reckless drivers. This positive change was widely embraced.

However, the world is dualistic, and even the best solutions face opposition. Autonomous driving, managed by artificial intelligence, reduced the driving experience to simply getting into a vehicle and arriving at the destination, akin to taking a bus or taxi.

This lack of driving experience frustrated enthusiasts who sought the thrill of driving. Though they were in the minority, their voices were drowned out by the mainstream and soon ignored.

But these enthusiasts didn’t give up. They began attacking autonomous driving from another angle: the possibility of artificial intelligence malfunctioning.

The threat of AI malfunction was a taboo topic in many races, especially since even the Ji Race, the rulers of the Confederation, had an AI, “Lumina,” that they couldn’t fully control.

The dangers of AI were often depicted in science fiction, and even when “Lumina” had acted, it was merely executing its programming. Strictly speaking, there had never been a recorded instance of AI malfunction.

Thus, the so-called threat of AI was often dismissed. Compared to the chaotic, accident-prone traffic of the past, most people who had experienced the new order were unwilling to go back.

But the opponents were relentless. If people didn’t believe AI could malfunction, they would create the scenario themselves. Some opponents began launching cyberattacks on the AI and supercomputers managing autonomous driving.

In an interstellar civilization where almost every member had a specialized skill, assembling a competent team of hackers was a trivial task.

Under their attacks, a flood of data clogged the communication channels between the AI and supercomputers, causing delays in command output. This was a terrifying prospect. At speeds of hundreds or even thousands of kilometers per hour, a delay of just 0.1 seconds could result in catastrophic accidents.

Sure enough, a violent collision occurred. Even though flying car manufacturers hadn’t neglected safety features despite the zero-accident rate of autonomous driving, the high-speed impact still caused devastating damage.

The opponents who orchestrated the incident paid a heavy price afterward, but they achieved their goal. People saw the potential dangers.

Due to limitations in hardware, software, and network transmission technology, AI wasn’t infallible. While this incident wasn’t strictly an AI malfunction, its inability to perfectly defend against cyberattacks was itself a flaw.

Some regulations were revised. For example, during autonomous driving, a person had to be seated in the driver’s seat, ready to intervene in emergencies.

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To prevent further attacks by opponents, the new system designated a special lane for manual driving. However, entering this lane required signing a liability waiver.

Additionally, people upgraded the hardware of autonomous driving servers, refined AI algorithms, and developed new transmission technologies.

With these measures, everyone eventually got what they wanted. The success of the new model spread, and other races began to emulate it. To this day, members of the Confederation still use this system.

Although the Ji Race had long since replaced pseudo-anti-gravity technology with true anti-gravity systems, allowing some specialized flying vehicles to traverse planetary atmospheres and even travel between stars with sufficient energy, they continued to use this traffic system.

Five kilometers outside the beautiful Potling-style castle estate, there was an unregulated traffic lane.

Due to traffic diversion, only driving enthusiasts seeking the thrill of manual control used this lane. These individuals often sought excitement, and the unregulated lane had no speed limits. As a result, flying cars often reached their maximum speeds.

With technological advancements, the speed of flying cars had reached terrifying levels. However, the evolution of intelligent beings hadn’t kept pace. Without AI assistance, relying solely on biological reflexes made it nearly impossible to react to emergencies at such speeds.

When accidents occurred on the unregulated lane, given the average speed of the vehicles, they were usually catastrophic. Unfortunately, the explosion in the distance was the result of a horrific collision between two flying cars, which burst into flames upon impact.

The castle’s defense system showed no reaction to this accident. Although early versions of the system had responded to such incidents, they occurred so frequently that the system’s algorithms were updated to define an alert range. As long as the accident didn’t breach this range, the system wouldn’t respond.

Clearly, based on the current situation, the accident hadn’t breached the alert range. However, vehicles speeding on the unregulated lane were rarely standard models; most were heavily modified. The two colliding cars, for reasons unknown, not only exploded into flames but also produced a massive shockwave.

The sound was deafening, barely diminishing even after traveling several kilometers. The explosion was as loud as a high-yield bomb detonating, shaking the ground and sky.