Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Pintsize: Good is not necessarily nice.

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sniktchtherat:

--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 23 May 2018, 09:57 ---If Corpse Witch hadn't turned herself in to the authorities, Spookybot was prepared to make her disappear forever.

--- End quote ---

The effective translation of what Spooky said to CW was "Turn yourself in or die".  That's not offering a choice, realistically - they'd already demonstrated their absolute superiority to CW. 

Their own expressed reason for providing the choice was Bubbles' self-restraint 'inspiring' them - but the logic also reads that if Corpse Witch vanishes, or explodes, or otherwise has a tragic accident, Bubbles and Faye are the prime suspects, having just had a violent confrontation with the vic.  Yes, Spooky left visual tracks wrapping up the investigation for Roko, transferring ownerships to Jeremy and Punchbot, etc. - but I'll eat my nonexistent hat if that swanning asshole left a single piece of actual physical evidence.  The same would hold true if they vaporized CW's brainpan. 

Greymoon:

--- Quote from: sniktchtherat on 23 May 2018, 02:37 ---
--- Quote from: awgiedawgie on 22 May 2018, 18:18 ---
--- Quote from: Staff_Inflection on 22 May 2018, 16:04 ---He's chaotic good

Spookybot is chaotic neutral

--- End quote ---
While I tend to agree that Spookybot is neutral, having expressed not wanting to involve themselves in the affairs of others, I do not agree that they are chaotic. In fact, they are extremely well-ordered, and they seem to like to maintain that order, but they step in directly only when absolutely necessary. They defy the old saying "if power corrupts, then absolute power corrupts absolutely."

--- End quote ---

Spookybot adheres to their own order - and no other.  They don't go into Bubbles' mind until they need to confirm Emily's discovery, and continually express distaste at being in another's mind.  Then they jump right into Corpse Witch's noggin without even introducing themselves.  Even allowing for the difference between Bubbles and CW, that's a 180 turnaround.  Further, I'd bet money the only reason CW got the chance to surrender to the cops is because the last people to be in CW's presence were Bubbles and Faye, and if Spooky rendered CW a sparking slagheap, they'd be the prime suspects.  It wasn't mercy, it was simple pragmatism.  I honestly doubt Spooky fits anywhere on the D&D alignment system.

--- End quote ---

Frankly I interpreted that as "I deeply respect other AI's right to mental privacy and it squicks me having to invade that... exceeeeept for this one, who's already shown she has no respect for anyone but herself."

Dandi Andi:
I interpreted Spookybot's position on mental manipulation to be one of pure self interest and fear, not respect or principle. Being as powerful as they are and being distributed across multiple platforms (of which their humanoid chassis may only be a few; they could also be distributed across industrial equipment, server rooms, space stations...), they have very little to fear from physical threats. But the kind of mind altering abilities Corpse Witch possessed and the kill software she used might actually be quite dangerous for them. They wouldn't want such skills loose in the hands of a self serving criminal like Corpse Witch. She didn't want to enter Bubbles's mind because she didn't know what sorts of nasty things were lurking inside. She sent Emily because a human wouldn't be threatened by such malware. They only went in after Emily cleaned house.

I do have my own conjecture as to why Spookybot went out of their way to help Bubbles rather than going directly for Corpse Witch, but it is not well supported by the text and is almost pure speculation.

awgiedawgie:
I suspect that Spookybot helped Bubbles as a part of dealing with Corpse Witch. If they had eliminated Corpse Witch without doing anything for Bubbles, it is very possible - probable, even - that the kill software would have been automatically released into the rest of Bubbles' mind at the end of her ten year "sentence", quite likely killing her slowly and painfully. It was easier, safer, and more certain for them to right the wrong done to Bubbles themselves, rather than demanding that Corpse Witch do it.

As for their not wanting to go into Bubbles' mind themselves, their basic principle of the sanctity of mind, and that no AI should go poking around in another AI's head, includes themselves. Which is why, when they had to go into Bubbles' mind to confirm what Emily had seen, they said "Forgive our intrusion, Bubbles."

And as for going into Corpse Witch's head, they didn't. They created a virtual environment, and brought Corpse Witch into it, just as they had done with Bubbles after they had confirmed that her memories were gone.



--- Quote from: sniktchtherat on 23 May 2018, 10:54 ---
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 23 May 2018, 09:57 ---If Corpse Witch hadn't turned herself in to the authorities, Spookybot was prepared to make her disappear forever.

--- End quote ---
The effective translation of what Spooky said to CW was "Turn yourself in or die".  That's not offering a choice, realistically - they'd already demonstrated their absolute superiority to CW. 

--- End quote ---
Except that they did not threaten to kill Corpse Witch. It was more along the lines of "Turn yourself in, or suffer for eternity." Whatever the authorities have in store for her, or even death, would be mild by comparison.

Dandi Andi:
But if Spookybot was only interested in taking down Corpse Witch, they wouldn't care what happened to Bubbles. Helping Bubbles was either something separate from taking down CW or taking down CW followed from helping Bubbles. Spookybot must have had a specific interest in helping Bubbles (which I have my own favorite headcanon about).

Protecting sanctity of mind wouldn't be limited to only AI. The fact that they didn't want to go in themselves but were quite willing to send Emily in seems like it was less a matter of not being intrusive and more a matter of not wanting to do it themselves. Sending anyone in is still an intrusion. Maybe they thought it was less of an intrusion since Emily was significantly less capable of shenanigans than Spookybot. That's certainly possible. But it seemed to me more like Spookybot found the idea distasteful rather than immoral. I read it as "Ew! No. I'm not going in there. I'll send a meat sack." "Forgive our intrusion, Bubbles" may well be a matter of whatever sympathy lead them to help Bubbles in the first place rather than a general moral principle.

And yes, they met CW in a separate environment rather than entering her mind. But I also see that as a potential matter of not allowing CW access to their mind as much as not wanting to access hers.

Since Spookybot seems to have no other moral guidance beyond their own self interest as Bubbles suggested they might, why have an exception? Why would the idea of the sanctity of ones own mind be important if not for matters of self preservation? For a distributed AI like Spookybot, an attack on their consciousness might be the only thing that threatens them. I suspect their aversion to entering AI minds is about protecting their mind as much as anyone else's.

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