SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread III

[Siege]

Oh yeah, I get that. I even get the Imperium to a point -- it's quite something to trust the CIs to the extent the Sovereignty does. It requires an extraordinary rapport with those CIs, and I can understand why outsiders would be creeped out by the idea that a single AI god runs the system that administers 300 billion sentients, and that if tomorrow its handful of alledged human overseers all vanished the system might actually improve.

Anyway. The reason CIs prefer the term "computational intelligence" is cultural; 'computational' implies a logical rigidity, whereas the term 'artificial' in the supercharged consumer culture of the Sovereignty is synonymous with cheap superficial synthetic trash. The designer organs you want to buy 'cause they're vogue are 'artificial'; the giant, towering intellect that makes sure that you're even able to contemplate buying such things is 'computational' -- and all the moreso because it isn't subject to the whims of fashion.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The Imperium views AI/CIs strictly in terms of bits and bytes and 1s and 0s. It views it as such:

"How does a AI/CI know that he must be loyal? Does he have a incentive subroutine to calculate the incentives? Who programmed the incentive subroutine? If the AI/CI is not governed by incentive, is he then governed by a strong loyalty subroutine that acts as a safeguard against betrayal? Or is the AI/CI programmed to love? Organics are complex enough to monitor, AI/CIs on the other hand, have gotten to the level of complexity that a straightforward analysis isn't possible. One has to analyze a series of logical paths to see how the said AI/CI reacts to a series of scenarios. Worse still if there are backdoor entries into the AI/CI that allow for possible subversion. The Imperium must first and foremost guard the safety of its citizens, and as such AI/CIs must be heavily regulated and controlled."

[KlavoHunter]

In a similar extraordinary situation like the Sneakily Does It failed to be so sneaky, were it a Klavostani stealthship trying to do the same sort of thing, the Captain would've understood ahead of time that going down with his ship might well be necessary. The ship's Dumb-AIs would then faithfully carry out his orders as he gave them whilst the rest of the crew ditched for the escape pods...

"True" AIs are relatively rare in Klavostan, you saw one of them running around the computer systems of the Muzaffer Warp Gate during that covert op. "Dumb" AIs are far more common - they obey and do, but they are not creative and innovative, nor have the ability to do too much on their own.

[Simon_Jester]

Anyway. The reason CIs prefer the term "computational intelligence" is cultural; 'computational' implies a logical rigidity, whereas the term 'artificial' in the supercharged consumer culture of the Sovereignty is synonymous with cheap superficial synthetic trash. The designer organs you want to buy 'cause they're vogue are 'artificial'; the giant, towering intellect that makes sure that you're even able to contemplate buying such things is 'computational' -- and all the moreso because it isn't subject to the whims of fashion.

Ahh. That explains it.

Umerians are a bit like 20th-century Germans in their tendency to make consumer goods expensive, over-engineered, and durable, so there's nothing like that in their culture. "Artificial" connotes "artifice:" the conscious process by which matter is shaped by intent.

The Imperium views AI/CIs strictly in terms of bits and bytes and 1s and 0s. It views it as such:

"How does a AI/CI know that he must be loyal? Does he have a incentive subroutine to calculate the incentives? Who programmed the incentive subroutine? If the AI/CI is not governed by incentive, is he then governed by a strong loyalty subroutine that acts as a safeguard against betrayal? Or is the AI/CI programmed to love? Organics are complex enough to monitor, AI/CIs on the other hand, have gotten to the level of complexity that a straightforward analysis isn't possible. One has to analyze a series of logical paths to see how the said AI/CI reacts to a series of scenarios. Worse still if there are backdoor entries into the AI/CI that allow for possible subversion. The Imperium must first and foremost guard the safety of its citizens, and as such AI/CIs must be heavily regulated and controlled."

Also interesting.

The Umerian counterpart to this is why back in the day, Geppetto's second job was friendliness-verification: the process of determining whether an AI would faithfully attempt to do the set of things it was intended to do, without going berserk or stupid or crazy or being easily subvertable.

[Lonestar]

Aren't Bragulans (nearly)psychic nulls? Like Hutts and whatever the hell that Watto is? That's what Shroom told me so that's what I went with in the "kidnap the Bragulan" story.

[Shroom Man 777]

They are supposed to be.

[Simon_Jester]

Aren't Bragulans (nearly)psychic nulls? Like Hutts and whatever the hell that Watto is? That's what Shroom told me so that's what I went with in the "kidnap the Bragulan" story.

Ah, why do you ask?

Bragulans may be extremely difficult to mindread or psychically compel, but they're also paranoid; having antipsi precautions in place on top of their native resistance is inevitable.

[Lonestar]

Ah, why do you ask?

Because of Steve's post about reading the Bragulans.

[Shroom Man 777]

Maybe Steve has special powers. But wasn't it also noted that he had all sorts of grand-master abilities except he had no telepathy? Maybe it changes when he's in rage-mode.

I won't be averse if sufficiently powerful psions, concentrating their powers and such, can read Bragulan minds.

Bragulan "thickness" to psionics shouldn't be a no limits fallacy. Sufficiently powerful psions should be able to crack through their skulls. Steve would probably fit the definition of sufficiently powerful psion.

[Tanasinn]

Am I the only one for whom wikia's new format not only looks like trash but also misbehaves and locks browsers up?

[Ryan Thunder]

What browser are you using?

[Tanasinn]

What browser are you using?

Only seems to be acting up in IE8, poking around after that post I made, so yeah.

Rolled back to an earlier look (the one from before), and now both it behaves in either browser. So problem solved more easily than I expected.

[Shroom Man 777]

Da, I reverted to the old skin too, comrades.

[KlavoHunter]

I, too, had to revert to the old skin. What a mess!


And so, with an excuse so that their pride was not too greatly damaged in doing so, the kittycats turn their fleet around to head home!

[Steve]

Ooops, forgot about the resistance bit.

It was never about reading their minds, though. He can't do that at all thanks to Q. He was sensing their open thoughts instead, about the only thing he can do (basic emotion sensing and thought sensing, as opposed to reading).

I can take the line out, though, if Shroom wants me to.

[PeZook]

Koprulu Standoff!

Man, we're the most culturally influential area of the galaxy!

[Master_Baerne]

Goddamn right you are - an area that scary... percolates. Like Portugal got to bestow its name on the frutis it exported, the Koprulu Zone gets to bestow its name on the violence it exports!

[PeZook]

Shroom should write about the Glorious Bragulan Foreign Cultural Exchange Program - which involves giving out K-Bolters to galactic revolutionaries

[Shroom Man 777]

Mexican Standoff.

Koprulu Standoff.

Tannhauser Tango.

The Nova Terra version could be...

Frequesue Face Off!

Frequesue Fricassee!

Shepland Sing Song!

Japanistani Jerk Off!

Mang!

EDIT:

SAN DORADO SIT DOWN! Hah!

[Simon_Jester]

Good piece, Master_Baerne.

Incidentally, I sense the influence of Eleventh Century Remnant in the setup and description, which is probably good. Also in the technology, suitably scaled down, which is perfectly reasonable. Also in the syntax, which is... well.

In any case, I do like it.

[Master_Baerne]

Much obliged, Simon. You're quite right about ECR being an inspiration; rereading Hull No. 721 was what made me want to write the battle. It's no masterwork compared to yours, though - I do apologize for the syntax.

[Shroom Man 777]

Da, I commend the battle. Loved the gunskimmers! I will have the Bragulans export more stuff to the myriad scum of the universe!

[Simon_Jester]

Much obliged, Simon. You're quite right about ECR being an inspiration; rereading Hull No. 721 was what made me want to write the battle. It's no masterwork compared to yours, though - I do apologize for the syntax.

Actually, it felt a lot like what I'd write if I were in a hurry. My stuff may look all lovely and detailed, but that's because it tends to metastasize while I'm writing it: battles I'd intended to wrap up in five to seven thousand words stretch out to twenty thousand or more.

If I zoomed out on the detail, a lot of the imagery people seem to like would have dried up.

As to the syntax, I'd say it comes with the territory when your work has some ECR in its family tree. The same thing happened to me, to a lesser extent, when describing USS Farbanti (a ship which owes a great deal in spirit to Cosmonaut Ijon Tichy from ECR's material). ECR's writes in a stream of consciousness style, and it's a bit contagious.

[Force Lord]

Hit upon a symbol and flag that represents my nation. You can see it here.

[RogueIce]

So, speaking of Stephen the Esper...he's a level 6...out of how many levels?