Introduction to Robotics, Friday

[not_a_whiner]

A classroom full of teenagers. That was going to be... something.

Kaidan stood at the front of the class, a datapad in his hand and his eyes trained on the students. "Good morning," he said, "And welcome to Introduction to Robotics. I'm Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko of the Systems Alliance, I look forward to meeting the rest of you." He cleared his throat. "Over the past year, my... universe--" It was weird, okay? "--suffered under an attack that involved advanced robotic AIs - that's artificial intelligences - called the geth. Much has been said about the geth and what level of sentience they've got. It's something we'll be talking about later down the line."

He put the datapad down on the desk. "But not yet. I'm given to understand most folks here aren't from the same place, though," he said, "and as we're going to be talking about advanced technology, I'd like to know where your worlds are at, and what experience you might have had in dealing with robotics, virtual intelligences, things like that. So let's start off there."

Comments

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"An AI is a sentient robotic intelligence," Kaidan pointed out. "Completely independent-- and dangerous. Never mind incredibly complicated."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[dollpocalypse]

"Yup."

He was aware of this, yes.

"We're thinking of making it British."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"That's not a very good idea," Kaidan said tactfully. "Stick with VIs. They're easier to control."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[dollpocalypse]

"Also less capable, though," Topher pointed out. "Anyway, my friend and I are both geniuses and we know this stuff. It'll be fine."

Uh.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"So were the quarians," Kaidan pointed out. "I mean... I'm not going to insist it always ends badly, but-- the last few times someone tried it? The AI turned against us."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[dollpocalypse]

Topher bit his lip. "My friend does have an experience with his AIs trying to, like, be his girlfriend or something," he admitted. Seriously, suit, what the hell. "But we can be careful. And right now it's mostly the theoretical stage anyway. If it starts looking kind of risky, we can... uh. Something. Something that isn't letting it eat the island."

Good plan!

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"There's been some research into AI shackles," Kaidan mused aloud. "Maybe that's something to look into."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[dollpocalypse]

"I haven't heard too much about those," Topher said thoughtfully. "What are they, a kind of failsafes in case the thing gets dangerous?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"They're supposed to keep AIs contained to certain functions," Kaidan shared. "That's the theory, anyway. Make sure the AIs can only get into a couple of systems. Where you need them."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[dollpocalypse]

...

"That is... really handy," Topher declared after a minute. "And would probably keep the AI from deciding to trap my friend in a suit of armor forever."

Probably. Unless they decided they needed that function.

"I'll look into those."