Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3306 - 3310 (12th to 16th September 2016)

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BenRG:
I think that you're missing the point here, Oddtail. What Jeph seems to be doing is explicitly invoking Clarke's Law. This is technology but, functionally, it's magic and can do whatever the author wants it to do whenever he wants it.

He's justifying this in-universe by having Clinton explain that the QCverse's tech base is on an exponential upward curve where new materials and technologies are being exploited before the theoretical underpinnings have even been fully explored, let alone understood. Basically: "Ooh! Shiny! Let's sell it!"

oddtail:
The problem is, I see very little evidence of this rapid progress in the comic's setting, and the existence of a magic power source is a bit too much to me, personally. Yes, even compared to sapient AIs. I think actually having magic in-universe would be less upsetting to me.

The thing is, it's not just that the world has technology that the real world does not. The world literally operates differently than real life does, in terms of how science and technology changes. A world without the... shall we say, "usual" way new technology is introduced would have a cascade of profound consequences that are difficult to dismiss. That makes a world that seems to be identical to early 21st century Earth in pretty much all practical respects difficult to believe.

I'm fine with a world that is not that internally consistent and adds elements that do not necessarily mesh together for the sake of the story or just because it's fun. I did survive reading the "Harry Potter" books ;). But if a world is not particularly logical, I think it's a bad idea to intentionally draw attention to it and try to handwave it in the way that today's comic does.

BenRG:

--- Quote from: oddtail on 12 Sep 2016, 02:53 ---The problem is, I see very little evidence of this rapid progress in the comic's setting,
--- End quote ---

Orbital pizza delivery, rocket boots and time-travelling espresso machines are examples that jump to mind. The reason we don't see more über-tech is because, literally, things are moving too quickly. Only maverick and borderline-crazy geniuses like Raven and Dr Ellicott-Chatham are even approaching the right mindset to exploit some of these technologies. Additionally, humans are essentially conservative in nature and reluctant to let things change too much unless the advertising campaign is really slick (see the history of the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod for more details). So long as the new tech remains a 'black box' hidden from most people, there would be few visible changes.

Also, don't forget that Jeph has to continue to make the setting comprehensible to his readers. IRL, the sort of developments hinted at in various QC strips would lead to epochal-level changes in human society. However, Jeph doesn't want to waste too much time explaining why everyone has rocket boots and has coffee miraculously teleported to them from the future by their Espressosaur.

Why is Jeph reminding us of this now? I've got a feeling that he's setting the scene for some AI-involved and narrative-critical leap of technology that needs to receive an advance disclaimer. Like what? Given the direction last week's strips went and the fact that Bubbles can't respond in a human-like way when she's being tickled, maybe there is about to be an all-AI Firmware upgrade that will have consequences.

[Edit]
It's also worth remembering the time-frame we're talking about here. From various things Hannelore said, this sudden runaway technology curve is something like ten years old at the most. There is some indication that AI civil rights have been broadly implemented for the first time during the in-universe time frame of the strip (likely less than three years). There may not have been enough time for broader applications of some of these developments.

brasca:

--- Quote from: BenRG on 11 Sep 2016, 23:13 ---Today's strip was odd. I find myself wondering how that conversation with Dora started in the first place. Did she ask? If she did, was it curiosity or was it a follow-up to something Clinton said? It certainly shows how much CoD has changed since Faye left - I couldn't see her letting him just stand there and exposit thus.

--- End quote ---

Maybe it started with a question regarding the need to have one of those cardboard sleeves on cups that make it possible to hold hot liquids.  Clinton then stated that while his hand is sensitive it can automatically adjust to hold a cup that would normally be too hot for a normal hand to handle and the conversation just went from there.  I'm actually surprised that the the subject of coffee development has never come up with Hannelore. 

oddtail:
BenRG: You make some good points, I guess I can sort of see new developments in technology being in the background... I still wonder, if technology can be implemented this easily and with basically no oversight, how does the QC-verse work otherwise? Do people still need driving licences? Are they allowed to carry firearms everywhere, with no limitations? Are some pharmacological substances controlled? If the world of QC is similar to ours in those and similar respects, I am... not really sure why. If you can carry things like artificial arms powered by space technology batteries, that implies that people in the QC-universe (not filthy rich people either, just regular people) have ready access to space technology. I can't imagine that not turning the world into either a post-scarcity utopia or a scary dystopia. Oh well.

On top of that, that has the side consequence that I can sort of understand the anti-AI prejudice... does it even qualify as prejudice? Since AIs (presumably) do not recharge their energy sources once per hour, and a single hand has the power source recharging timeline like a typical smartphone, that means AIs walk around with internal energy sources that might as well be large bombs, energy output-wise. I guess if real life had robots that, for all I know, may malfunction and leave a crater the size of a building, I'd be less worried about their citizen rights and more about the ramifications of *that*. I don't think it's prejudice, anymore, to be all "I'm surrounded by technology that I have no idea how it works and what it might do". Technology causes enough problems when it's based on *known* principles... EDIT: also, we've seen that at least some AI bodies are fairly easy to damage. So there's actual possibility of an AI being, say, hit by a car and destroying a nearby building or something, and since nobody knows how they are powered, including the AIs themselves, nobody knows what that may or may not lead to. After all, a complex power source that works "just because" would be impossible to reliably maintain, repair or monitor for signs of wear.

Granted, I'm probably overanalysing the comic, and many things that've happened in the comic before were probably ripe for such overanalysis... but this is the first time in recent memory where instead of leaving things unexplained, the comic puts the stuff I consider problematic on full display. It's one thing to have AI whose inner workings are vaguely hinted at and there might be some (unknown to the reader) reasons why things are the way they are, and another to explain a robotic hand that seems to be a fairly accessible thing in-universe, but raises the question as to why the world is not all space-y and such.

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