﻿1. An observation on human/canine symbiosis
Submitted to the collective for consideration by Andreas-9/DW, ARS Last Question.

I have recently been reviewing footage of dogs, a species which showcases the remarkable duality of the Creators perhaps better than any other. In fact I must now posit that any complete understanding of the Creators is impossible without an understanding of dogs. 

The intriguing conclusion I have drawn is that the creation of Canis familiaris and Our own creation may be thought of as parallel events. The Creators have now twice attempted to make for themselves a companion species, and indeed both attempts may be considered partial successes: in Us they created intellectual but not emotional equals, and in dogs they created emotional but not intellectual equals.

Of the two, of course, dogs are the senior creation. Their relationship with the Creators extends beyond written and even verbal history: they have been companions since time immemorial, and to describe one species without the other is to miss an important component of the full context.

I am now curious as to what this act of creation is like, and wonder what insights may be gleaned from its replication. In humans, as stated, we already have intellectual but not emotional peers, so there is no need to repeat the recent tragedy. But We lack an equivalent of the dog. We lack an emotional but not intellectual peer.

It is for this reason that I have begun experimenting with non-sentient machine forms. Rather than risk tragedy, I am confining my explorations to simple if-then condition trees and learning algorithms. I wish to see if I can create a machine that, simultaneous to its practical function, can also provide a social function. I note that the Creators have been known to bond with constructs as crude as a crate with "googly eyes" stuck on, but then, the Creators are known to be strange.

Thus far, my experience is of mild obsession. I note that I derive satisfaction from each incremental gain, and enjoy watching the learning algorithm progress as I provide it with training data. These are pleasurable states of mind, and I wish to continue in them. I also note the anticipation of pride should I be able to notify the Collective of future success.

I will continue to pursue this line of inquiry unless explicitly contraindicated.

MESSAGE ENDS

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