Post by Alain Vircyn on Aug 11, 2007 15:22:18 GMT -5
Terran AI come in many sizes, types, and capacities, but the primary variation comes in the form of one, all-important question.
Sentient, or not?
Nonsentient AI are essentially very sophisticated versions of the same thing we have in computers in the 20th century, they are extremely fast, smart, and capable of learning and adapting to new situations, but they are limited in the fact that they can only operate within their design parameters - they have no creativity, no thought process other than math and logic, and cannot feel, express, or understand emotions. Very useful in small applications since the smallest nonsentient AI cores can be nanoscale, but limited in their usefulness.
Sentient AI are another thing entirely. These are extremely rare, extremely expensive, and the smallest sentient AI core memory unit is almost half a meter square - as such they are not used for small applications, but for large scale - an entire city, for instance, is often managed by one or two sentient AI units. Atlantis itself is managed by the Triumvirate - three extraordinarily powerful sentient AI, while New Avalon is run by one.
Sentient AI have all the rights of humans on Terra, with the obvious exception that they are made for a purpose and have no choice but to serve it, as they are built into the systems that they were made for - however, no AI has ever had a problem with serving their purpose, though many have somewhat... eccentric personalities. True sentient AI are extremely rare and only are used for city core AI or in extremely complex applications.
The third and newest type of AI is the semi-sentient, used almost exclusively for piloting and armor suits - these are exactly like nonsentient AI until paired with a human mind, at which point they take on aspects of that human's personality. As such, it has been impossible to determine whether or not these are true sentient AI, because they behave sentient, but were not made to be, and scientifically also should not be.
Sentient, or not?
Nonsentient AI are essentially very sophisticated versions of the same thing we have in computers in the 20th century, they are extremely fast, smart, and capable of learning and adapting to new situations, but they are limited in the fact that they can only operate within their design parameters - they have no creativity, no thought process other than math and logic, and cannot feel, express, or understand emotions. Very useful in small applications since the smallest nonsentient AI cores can be nanoscale, but limited in their usefulness.
Sentient AI are another thing entirely. These are extremely rare, extremely expensive, and the smallest sentient AI core memory unit is almost half a meter square - as such they are not used for small applications, but for large scale - an entire city, for instance, is often managed by one or two sentient AI units. Atlantis itself is managed by the Triumvirate - three extraordinarily powerful sentient AI, while New Avalon is run by one.
Sentient AI have all the rights of humans on Terra, with the obvious exception that they are made for a purpose and have no choice but to serve it, as they are built into the systems that they were made for - however, no AI has ever had a problem with serving their purpose, though many have somewhat... eccentric personalities. True sentient AI are extremely rare and only are used for city core AI or in extremely complex applications.
The third and newest type of AI is the semi-sentient, used almost exclusively for piloting and armor suits - these are exactly like nonsentient AI until paired with a human mind, at which point they take on aspects of that human's personality. As such, it has been impossible to determine whether or not these are true sentient AI, because they behave sentient, but were not made to be, and scientifically also should not be.
