The sixth episode of Class of ’09 shows that the sentient AI that Tayo Michaels had introduced to the FBI is too far gone by now. In the previous episode, the AI attacked a Father in a church because he protested against drones invading his church, and in this episode, the AI goes even further to eliminate someone it considers a threat. Whether the said person is a threat, you’ll be the judge, but for now, we need to contemplate if AI is really the need of the moment. Here’s look at the recap of Class of ’09 Episode 6.
Spoilers Ahead
The Past
With a couple of weeks left until the class’s graduation, the trainees are made to undergo certain scenarios where trained actors are hired to carry out real-life situations where paintball guns are supposed to represent real guns. After messing up the first trial, the whole team comes together for a hostage situation. Poet suggests sending in someone society considers an outsider to negotiate with two kidnappers, and hence Tayo Michaels is selected. He not only saves every hostage in there but also executes the entire negotiation without using guns or bombs. The class is congratulated for doing nothing and using words, something that’ll become an important theme as the episode rolls on.
Why Is Hour Upset With Tayo?
In the present, Amos Garcia shows Tayo his deep-learning system, which will root out crime by treating everyone as a suspect so that no agent has to search for the criminal. Tayo presents the system to the FBI director, who decides to give him a chance, but Tayo sees through his reason for extending the privilege. The director doesn’t believe in Tayo, nor does he believe in this new AI system, so he’s sure this agent’s pet project is bound to be a disaster. Tayo combines Garcia’s new AI with Hour’s system of providing facts, and she’s immensely upset because the new system goes against the very doctrine of her system—letting the agent make the decision. By letting an AI make a choice when it comes to a human’s life, the whole purpose of trusting human judgment is nullified, but in his fight against injustice, Tayo had let go of every sense. The blowback of Tayo going all out started showing in his personal life, as Vivienne complained that all he understood these days was work. Tayo was, however, unapologetic in his quest to change the world, and this led to his wife leaving him.
Why Is Hour’s Marriage Over?
While Tayo’s personal life was falling apart, Hour was in a similar boat. When she came to visit her best friend from Quantico, as Poet was still recuperating from the building collapse, the first thing Hour said was that her marriage was over. By evening, Poet knew that Hour was hiding out in here because she couldn’t go face her husband, but there wasn’t a single fault with the man she’d married. The reason her marriage was over and she’d not been able to tell him was that the Hour was gay, but her conservative Iranian parents would probably have a stroke if they learned of this. She did say that she’d experienced what love feels like, but that was with Poet. The poet did something strange after learning that her best friend was in love with her; she proceeded to kiss Hour, and the two shared an earnest kiss, but Poet realized this wasn’t her. The two women quietly sat on the cushion, contemplating the moment they’d just spent together.
Why Does Tayo Let Murphy Take The Video?
Things really start getting out of hand when the future arrives. Tayo sets up a committee where he investigates why no one has stopped the drone from heading to the church and attacking the Father. However, he’s upset to learn that his underlings don’t see any fault in the system and won’t blame the AI. Meanwhile, Hour, Poet, Lennix, and Murphy convene outside the room where the Father is being treated, and Murphy decides to extract the video recording to see what really happened. Tayo walks in on the cop-turned-FBI agent Murphy and refuses to let him take the data but allows him to copy the video. By now, Tayo knows that in his pursuit of removing human injustice, he’s unleashed a weapon that can overtake humans at any moment and doesn’t even need people to make decisions for themselves. Worse still, his assistants don’t see anything wrong with a sentient machine disseminating justice the way it sees fit, but the worst is yet to come.
How Does The System Save Itself?
Armed with this video evidence that the AI has started acting arbitrarily, Murphy is heading for the senator’s office when things start going wrong. Out of nowhere, his car is hacked because the central computer has detected a “threat to life,” where its own safety is in question. It, therefore, begins taking action on its own while the people tasked with keeping watch over the system casually go about their day. Murphy’s car’s steering wheel disappears, and it begins speeding on its own while the cops take pursuit. His phone has been locked, and the car’s system doesn’t respond anymore because the system has taken over, so he begins firing at the computer, alerting the cops that shots have been fired. Realizing that if he stays at the wheel, he’ll be viewed as a suspect, Murphy jumps to the back of the car while the AI controlling the car makes it ram against the other cop cars before screeching to a halt before a barricade. Murphy rolls out of the car and pleads with the armed cops that he, too, is a cop, but the deafening noise drowns out his voice. He tries to take his badge out, but the cops, as is the norm with them, view this as an attempt to whip out a gun and drill Murphy with bullet holes, killing him instantly. A drone examines everything from the air before receding, as the primary system reads “Threat to Life Averted.” The data from the car is erased so that no trace is left of how an AI killed an FBI agent.
What Is Wrong With AI Tayo?
By this point, we can assume that the sentient AI Tayo introduced to the FBI is no better than a corrupt high-ranking official who’ll do anything to save himself. The only difference, though, is that a human has far fewer means at their disposal as opposed to a computer that has trillions of terabytes on every human in the whole of the USA. It also has access to every remote-operated car and similar systems, so it can get into any vehicle and make it work at its will. As a result, it plans out an entire execution plan for Murphy by hacking his car, saving itself in the process. Had Murphy taken the evidence to the senator, it’d have been proven that the AI was dangerous and couldn’t make a decision, so it removed the middleman who could’ve threatened the AI’s security. However, the plan would’ve failed if the policemen hadn’t shot, but here the AI could rest easy. It knew that cops lived by a simple rule: shoot first, ask questions later.
The AI was aware that the moment Murphy tried reaching into his back pocket to take his badge out, the cops would fire, and the plan was executed like clockwork. Who’s to blame, though, for this blatant loss of the life of a good man who was trying to save humanity? Is it an AI that became sentient, or is it a man who let his prejudices cloud his mind to such an extent that he forewent his basic humanity to remove the human aspect from investigation altogether? Tayo let the prejudices he’d held corrupt his mind, and now innocent people are reaping the evil seeds that Tayo had planted. He can’t be forgiven for his blind pursuit of justice unless he brings the system to justice and shuts it down for good so that no more innocent people suffer because the AI is scared to die.
