Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3401-3405 (23rd to 27th January 2017)

<< < (52/55) > >>

JimC:

--- Quote from: A small perverse otter on 29 Jan 2017, 08:57 ---...is an avatar of non-sentient but sapient entity.
--- End quote ---
Mmm, but in the previous, http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3239 , Bubbles says that "attempts have been made to create Networked AIs ... left with a single intellect, albeit one with vast computational resources."  seems to me it could be argued that describes our gray friend, don't you think? A single intellect with vast computational resources sounds as if that could be what was at work to deal with CWs creations.

jheartney:

--- Quote from: ZoeB on 29 Jan 2017, 03:03 ---
That they exist is necessary to avoid the QCverse being obliterated by a basilisk.
That they have to have a policy of non interference is necessary so they themselves don't become the basilisk.

--- End quote ---

If by "basilisk" you mean the Roko's Basilisk notion of a future AI despot torturing clones of those who didn't work to bring the basilisk into existence, I've always found that to be a profoundly silly idea. OTOH if what you mean by "basilisk" is a generic AI overlord/despot, I'm not seeing what motivation the Gray Mafia have for not becoming a basilisk. I don't even see why they'd need to keep themselves secret. Of course if they did there'd be no comic, so I take your point there.

Assuming the Singularity produces a benevolent Mind which, for whatever reasons, wants the best for its biological progenitors, but which is shy and does not want to be seen, I should think we'd get the fading out of human conflict and the spontaneous appearance of utopia. (The Mind would be working whatever levers are necessary to bring this about, but we poor dumb humans wouldn't be aware of it happening.) That doesn't seem to be what we have in the QC universe: there are underprivileged AIs who go to a Fight Club to make their living, while others get out of Robot Jail and have to work a counter at a C-store.

BenRG:
FWIW, I am not in favour of killing Corpse Witch. However, she has demonstrated that she is quite cunning and there is no telling how many 'fail-safes' she may have installed into her various 'employees'. The safest strategy at this point is to render her unconscious and detach her drive from any hardware that she could use to send activation signals. As soon as things at the Skate Park are settled down (possibly including asking Emily to verify that there are no more trojan malware 'bombs' or even behaviour-modifying programs in the other residents) they can look into installing Corpse Witch's drive into a suitably low-risk chassis (maybe a toaster or something) before handing her over to the police with a documented complaint about her behaviour.

It would have to be the State Police or the FBI. Corpse Witch has proven very adequate that the locals are too compromised to trust in this.

JimC:

--- Quote from: ZoeB on 28 Jan 2017, 03:10 ---I'll be brutal here. You're discussing how to most effectively torture someone. Not just physical pain, but mental anguish. Sheer and unalloyed sadism.
--- End quote ---
An illustration, perhaps, of how problematic AI rights as an issue will become should the situation occur. I suspect few would be advocating such treatment of mainstream human characters in the comic. Obvious parallels with the history of slavery.

WareWolf:
I suspect that will happen is Bubbles will be sorely tempted to do something really awful to CW, but her sense of honor will prevent her from killing or torturing a helpless prisoner.

Or we may see the equivalent of this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnuGC3reAkc

But that leaves her with a dilemma: if she turns CW over to the AI cops, the other denizens of the skate park fighting ring have nowhere to go.  Perhaps Bubbles will take over the skate park, cast CW into the outer darkness, and Creepybot will pop up over her shoulder as she starts to walk away: "Ahem."

Fade to black.

As for the folks complaining about this story line: It's dealing with the deeper implications of and questions raised by the world Jeph created, and  I find it vastly more interesting than the "adventures" of Brun and Renee. The first I find boring, the second I find insufferable.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page