Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3376 - 3380 (19th to 23rd December 2016)

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HoneyBadger:
To begin, I'm operating on the assumption that under normal circumstances only one copy of each AI's consciousness exists, and that there is not a giant file server somewhere with a backup of every single AI's mind, or at least that if there is the file server would only store the original seed of the AI's mind, since Bubbles cannot use any such server to get a clean and unedited copy of her consciousness containing the now encrypted memories restored. As such, my assumption seems reasonable.

Given that assumption, this whole scenario with Bubbles and Corpse Witch just seems outright implausible. Bubbles has an obviously powerful military grade chassis. Corpse Witch is a pencil neck which Faye can dent with a punch. Bubbles could easily simply crush Corpse Witch out of existence entirely. While it is true that taking this action might have the result that Bubbles would forever be unable to access those memories, it would also have the outcome that Corpse Witch would cease to exist, which, given Corpse Witch's actions, would surely be a source of satisfaction to counterbalance the loss of the memories for Bubbles. More to the point, Corpse Witch, standing to lose her entire existence rather than merely a few memories, stands to lose considerably more than Bubbles in this interaction. Therefore, Bubbles should be successful in obtaining the encryption key for her memories by simply threatening to crush Corpse Witch out of existence. It is a credible threat, one which Bubbles has the means and ability to execute at any time she pleases. The truth is that there would be no need for her to follow through with the threat unless Corpse Witch either has no fear of death, or is exceedingly stupid.

This whole scenario is implausible to the point of ridiculousness. (Unless, perhaps, Corpse Witch has also installed protocols into Bubbles which prevent her from physically threatening Corpse Witch. But this has not been indicated anywhere, and the earlier discussion of AI minds in the comic seems to indicate that it is the kind of thing that would be nigh on impossible to do.)

Tova:
It's not a credible threat.  What's more, she has already made the threat. Rather foolishly, I'm sorry to say. It didn't work. Unsurprisingly.

Bubbles wants that key. If she crushes Corpse Witch, she'll never get it. Corpse Witch knows it.

I realise she is able to follow through, but unless Bubbles is actually willing to do so, or at the very least Corpse Witch believes she is willing, then all Corpse Witch has to do, as she has already done, is call her bluff.

It's as simple as that.

Never make a threat you're unwilling or unable to carry out.

HoneyBadger:
It would be a credible threat if executed properly. What you're protesting is not the credibility of the threat but the competence with which Bubbles made it in the linked comic. Bubbles did not really present the threat in a credible fashion, but that does not prevent it from being a credible threat when credibly presented. Bubbles did not make the terms of the threat clear, all she really gave was vague allusions to it. What she needed to do was say:

"I am about to begin crushing your chassis, the last thing that I will crush is the module containing your consciousness. The only thing that will stop me is your relinquishment of the encryption key. I suggest you relinquish it before I crush the parts of your chassis that are necessary in order for you to share the encryption key with me, because at that point I will have to assume that you have chosen not to supply it, and thus elected death. I suggest you make your decision quickly, because crushing your puny chassis into nothing will not take me long. *Crushing commences*"

And if Corpse Witch had responded by saying "Are you willing to default on those memories you had me lock away?", as in suggesting that she might not hand the encryption key over despite the threat, Bubbles ought to respond by saying "If you are not going to supply me with the encryption key, I will just have to satisfy myself with the knowledge that your own scheming and plotting turned out to be your undoing."

At that point Corpse Witch would hand it over if she had any sense at all, because she would have no way of knowing whether Bubbles would ultimately follow through or not, and she would stand to lose inordinately more than Bubbles would. Personally, I think under those conditions Bubbles ought to simply follow through with the threat if Corpse Witch didn't hand the key over. It's what I would do.

Method of Madness:
That relies on Bubbles being a murderer, which as far as we can tell...she isn't.

HoneyBadger:
Perhaps, perhaps not. We don't really know that one way or the other. We do know that she was in the military. It is, perhaps, reasonable to assume that a military AI with combat experience has used lethal force in the past. Given that knowledge it is not such a large or ridiculous leap.

All the same, another point here is that even if Bubbles is in principle not a murderer, an alternative credible threat which is almost as bad also exists. Bubbles could crush everything except the consciousness module, and lock that away in a vault somewhere which would prevent Corpse Witch from being able to take any actions in the world for as long as Bubbles felt like it. And if anything happened to Bubbles, then the location of the vault might be lost to history. She still technically would not have murdered Corpse Witch.

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