"Gentlemen... we must find a way to drastically increase our industrial capacity."
"Otherwise, given the sheer scale of the Deep Space project, the first Century Plan might not be completed. We might not even hit our first five-year milestones!"
Jason really hated the fact that they simply didn’t have enough people.
Building a massive interstellar spacecraft with a workforce of just tens of thousands was agonizingly slow. He wished he could split each person into ten... no, a hundred!
During the executive meeting, he stated solemnly, "Failure to complete the first phase will only hinder the subsequent ones, triggering a disastrous chain reaction. Therefore... we are only allowed to exceed our targets. Failure is not an option!"
"So... everyone needs to brainstorm other methods aside from artificial intelligence—to significantly boost our industrial output."
"Furthermore, we need to ask ourselves: is it even possible to truly realize artificial intelligence technology in our current state?"
Due to their small population base, even with the Federation heavily incentivizing childbirth, the birth rate wouldn’t miraculously spike in the short term. Even if their population increased more than tenfold over the next century, it would still only reach around 500,000.
A population of "around 500,000" was still painfully low, not to mention the fact that they currently hovered around a mere 100,000! Raising that many children required vast amounts of energy and resources, and temporarily removed active workers from the industrial labor pool.
Population was a massive problem.
Production capacity was an even bigger one!
Because of these bottlenecks, once the Federation’s production capacity reached a certain threshold, it would inevitably stagnate. Unless there was a qualitative breakthrough in technology or a massive population boom several decades down the line, the overall productivity of their civilization would hit a hard ceiling.
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Evan from the Department of Public Relations spoke up. "The first option is to utilize cloning technology, which could exponentially increase the population. We have already acquired advanced artificial womb technology from the Nyx civilization. This biotechnology allows us not only to print human organs but also to mass-produce clones..."
"We could spend twenty years training and educating these clones, and then—"
"No."
Jason immediately interrupted him. "I would rather our development progress at a slower pace than jeopardize the social stability of the Noah. The general public will never accept large-scale cloning."
"This technology raises severe ethical questions. Do clones have parents or relatives?"
"Genetically, yes, but no one would willingly accept them as their own. What happens then? They are human beings too. If they grow up devoid of familial affection and a sense of belonging, what kind of psychological defects will they develop?"
"Furthermore, once these clones are integrated into society, how should ordinary citizens treat them? As second-class laborers, or as equals? This would open up a Pandora’s box of societal issues..."
"Yes, Captain Jason is right. Exactly," another council member chimed in in agreement. "Under our current social and moral framework, exploitation is practically non-existent. Clones would still be human beings."
"...We maintain a relatively tolerant and generous stance toward the native Lizardmen, so we certainly couldn’t treat human clones as slaves. However, if these clones are not raised by actual parents from birth, they might develop personality disorders that could threaten our fragile social stability."
"And on a lighter note..." he added, "haven’t we read enough science fiction novels about clones already? Rebellions, societal division... if the number of clones ever exceeded the natural human population, those dystopian tropes could very well become reality."
These words brought a faint smile to everyone’s faces, breaking the meeting’s somber atmosphere.
The human cloning proposal was unequivocally rejected.
Evan just smiled. He had simply been throwing out a theoretically feasible idea and didn’t actually expect the others to adopt it. In fact, he was personally opposed to the "cloning plan" as well.
Evan pivoted, "Then what about natural humans? We could create fertilized eggs via in vitro fertilization and incubate them using the artificial wombs. Humans born this way would legally be classified as natural citizens and could be mass-produced to significantly boost the population."
Hearing this proposal, a senior biologist immediately shook his head. "That won’t work either. Yes, they would technically be natural citizens, but the ethical and moral dilemmas remain. Since they are natural citizens, their biological parents have a legal obligation to raise them. Otherwise, what is the functional difference between them and an abandoned clone?"
"If the parents have to raise them anyway, why not just let them have children naturally? Having the Federation step in to artificially mass-produce babies is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?"
Evan shook his head awkwardly. It was true. Producing natural citizens required parental consent and long-term commitment. Without that, there was no difference between a natural citizen and a lab-grown clone.
If the parents were already willing to raise a child, they might as well conceive normally. Government interference would just be a thankless, intrusive endeavor. Human rights issues were always highly sensitive. Even with the Federation’s current high prestige and approval ratings, it was best not to act recklessly.
"And on a related note..." a female executive interjected. She was also a mother of four. "With the advent of artificial womb technology, some women have started advocating for its public use to bypass the pain of pregnancy and childbirth. I believe this is highly unethical."
"The nine months of pregnancy are crucial for awakening maternal instincts. Pregnancy is a profound experience; the physical changes embody the beauty and sacrifice of motherhood. The parental bond isn’t just innate; it’s forged through the nurturing process, especially the close physical connection during pregnancy. It makes parents cherish their children even more."
"Therefore, if we skip the entire pregnancy process and just hand families a fully formed baby from a machine, it could lead to a weakening of familial bonds and a host of psychological disconnects."
"I’ve been a mother, and I know the feeling. We should pass legislation to strictly prohibit the casual, non-medical use of artificial womb technology..."
Her words sparked a lively debate across the room.
"That sounds reasonable... but if we can bypass the long pregnancy period, women can return to the workforce faster, effectively increasing the available industrial labor pool."
"...But what about women with medical conditions that make pregnancy difficult or life-threatening? They genuinely need access to this technology."
Legislation is never simple, especially regarding a technology with such complex dual-use implications. It required rigorous debate and research.
After a while, Jason had to intervene and halt the heated discussion. "Alright, everyone, this specific issue will be delegated to the judicial department for further review. Those interested may attend the legislative hearings."
"Moving on, the plan to mass-produce natural citizens using artificial wombs is also unfeasible. We encourage our people to have children, but we cannot force them. Are there any other methods?"
"Ultimately, this all boils down to production capacity! Increasing the population is just a means to increase our industrial output."
"Then our only remaining option is to utilize the native Lizardmen on a massive scale, which we are already doing..."
Dr. Lambert spoke up. "However, the current quality of the native Lizardmen population is simply too low. Only about one in a hundred possesses an IQ high enough to be useful for complex tasks. The viable Lizardman workforce is capped around 100,000 to 200,000. So far, we’ve integrated less than 20,000, so there is still significant room for expansion there."
"The vast majority of the Lizardmen are incredibly difficult to train. They cannot overcome their primal instincts, which have been ingrained over millennia, and they cannot perform the specialized work we humans do. It is highly regrettable, but it will take a considerable amount of time to elevate their species..." Dr. Lambert shrugged.
Jason nodded and jotted down a note in his digital pad: Further develop native Lizardmen integration.
Truth be told, Lambert knew this without Jason having to say it out loud. If they could fully utilize hundreds of thousands of Lizardmen, it would be a massive boon for the project.
"What about our research and development into artificial intelligence? Have we made any notable progress?" Jason asked.
The native Lizardmen were too primitive, their useful population was limited, and they couldn’t be deployed for high-level manufacturing. In contrast, true artificial intelligence would be a monumental qualitative shift, capable of triggering an astronomical leap in productivity!
Naturally, they weren’t talking about basic, database-reliant algorithms, but rather "strong" artificial intelligence, an entity genuinely capable of autonomous problem-solving and critical thought.
"That problem... is still exceedingly difficult for us. Not even the Nyx civilization managed to achieve strong artificial intelligence."
"Perhaps the technology itself is simply beyond the grasp of lower-tier civilizations," Dr. Lambert sighed. "And even if we did achieve it, controlling it would be a colossal nightmare. It could very well lead to humanity’s self-destruction."