There seems to be some missing data on the role of AI in Fenspace.
Gina's page mentions that she had a non-standard awakening, but I can't find anything on what a "standard" origin for an AI
is. The glossary just says "An AI may or may not be deliberately created; in fact, many of the first AIs awoke spontaneously." And then there's the matter of androids. Doug was told that the Scott-series Androids may have been the only ones around - is that actually the case? If not, what's the situation? Can anybody clarify any of this for me?
Pronounced "shy guy."
I'll start with the androids, as that's easiest for me to explain.
As of the point Doug visited there were two sets of androids running around, althogh they were not publically confirmed to be around until I think mid-2009
(Miyu broke that little secret I think). The first set are the companions of The Professor, but there weren't exactly publicly known as such (although the
rumors were circulating) and AFAIK he hasn't made any more. The second set were the Scott-series, primarily built by A.C. Peters on order from Noah Scott
then finished by the latter (A.C. Lifted soon after the 'Angels' Awakening and headed in to the Main Belt looking for an asteroid he could mine/set up
shop on). Again, they weren't known about until after Kandor-con. (Rob, am I getting this right?)
By the current timeframe (May to July 2013), the state-of-the-kludge allows the creation of bodies for AI's fairly easily. The prime movers in this
business are A.C. (who has several androids now helping her out), Vulpine Fury (who has the unfortunate usage quirk of not being able to Awaken AI's in his
bodies), and Stellvia. There are a bunch of others who have made androids as well.
AI's are a different kettle of fish. An AI Awakening in a newly 'Waved computer system is one of the more common quirks. Gina is unusual as Ben
DIDN'T want an AI. This is normally enough to ensure one DOESN'T Awaken, although the potential is always there and can lead to an Awakening further
down the line (unless purposly engineered NOT to happen). Further more, instead of the general psychic emmisions of Ben leading to a template it was the Auska
profiles that were used (remember, Ben wasn't considering having an AI IIRC). As a note, this sort of thing has been done on purpose for specific AI
templates, but it's frowned upon. A standard Awakening usually involves 'Waving a computer, with some sort of vague idea of what sort of computer
should be like. It may take time, but the resultant AI is normally close enough to a counterpart of the waver to make thing interesting. Actually 'Waving
for an AI is normally best done by thinking of the purpose you want the AI for, and the 'Wave does the rest.
Of course, the moral and ethical problems of Awakening infomorphs (thanks Fnord for that term) can not be ignored. While the vast majority of Fen default to
giving full rights to AI's (and it's a simple interpretation of the Articles of Convention), there are still a few infomorphs in practical slavery
around (technically this includes Trigon, but he gets 'paroled' every now and again).
I'm not certain there is a 'standard' awakening. Many of the stories so far either gloss over or ignore how the AIs in them woke up. It looks
like anything with sufficient 'waved computing power (and some things that don't) can generate an AI, but there's no hard and fast rules about why
an AI wakes up or not, or what kind of personality they have.
Most AIs so far seem to either have personalities that are similar to adult humans, or are strangely child like. But there's a lot of variation, such as
Gina, the Fisher-bots, Ptichka, the Fates, Buckaroo. And then there are the odd-balls like Trigon and Dee. There do seem to be a lot of ghost-in-the-machine
types, but whether or not their tied to the hardware they woke up in is often unclear.
And as for Scott-series Androids, they may have been the only deliberately built androids (technically gynoids) in Fenspace at the time of Doug's arrival.
Or Noah et al could have been mistaken. Of course the Stelvia launched in 2008, and Doug arrived while Noah was still building it.
I guess at the moment it's a matter of, "do you want an AI character?" combined with "this isn't a dystopia".
Cobalt's pretty close to having the android timeline right. I believe that the Professor and Noah built their companions at about the same time, although there's an outside chance that Noah was first. (The timeline is unclear.) Noah decided to keep his friends' origins secret, counting on the brand-new phenomenon of "biomodification" to hide the fact that they weren't meat-type people; the Professor didn't care who knew, but there were so many rumours about what the Professor was doing that a fair number of folks didn't believe it.
The truth about Sora came out the day that Grovers' Corners lifted. (One of these days, Bob will have time to actually write the story around the scene that I sent him about this...) After that, word about the Stellvian androids spread throughout Fenspace backchannels, and by SOS-con their origins were an open secret. After the Interdimensional Intrusion Incident, Noah didn't even bother hiding which of his newer assistants were AIs.
As for what Noah said and Doug repeated about androids in the prologue of Legend of Galactic Girls, it's already been established that Noah is far from infallible.
Back to the question of a "standard" awakening. I get the feeling that most AIs wake up in relatively calm, pleasant surroundings. Gina didn't...
And as for the role of AIs, I (OOC) and Noah (IC) think they're just like the other sort of people, with just as much variation in personalities and story possibilities.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Well... You could say that Gina's initial surroundings were calm... But certainly not pleasant. And from where her previous memories as Asuka ends is
certainly not calm and pleasant at all. Benjamin certainly had his hands full dealing with the psyochological and emotional fallout from that, let me tell you.
Mostly, though, it was just keeping her mind off that as much as possible until she could adapt to her new role and took on her new identity. Is she Asuka?
Only in looks and personality. She'll say quiet vehemently that Asuka Soryu-Langley died the day Regina Langley was born.
Quote:(One of these days, Bob will have time to actually write the story around the scene that I sent him about this...)
One can only hope...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Buckaroo's initial shaping was mostly influenced by the setting. The bus was World Watch One, there was no Buckaroo on the bus, and therefore, the AI
became Buckaroo. The 'wavium was fed on comics and pulps, and the computers used to set up Buckaroo's initial brain contained a wide variety of
Gutenberg Project pulps (Gutenberg has all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories, for example). As AIs go, he was set up with an adventurous background, a sense
of right and wrong, and a Buckaroo Banzai-shaped hole in the world. His stability came because of the foundation that was set up, quite unintentionally, by
Blackstone and the rest of the original Blazers.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
And then there are the "non-electromechanical" AIs, like Tulpa and whatnot...
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make
anything explode.