Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT strips 3751-3755 (28th May to 1st June 2018)

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OldGoat:
Clinton, with his possibly self-aware prosthesis, qualifies as a cyborg.  When Roko realizes the interface for his hand includes IEEE 1394 "FireWire" connectability directly into his central nervous system she will immediately recognize the implications.

Inconsequential:
It took me a little while to remember that Roko has a last name, Basilisk. Wonder why more AIs don't seem to use last names? ("Corpse Witch" just seems like a first name to me, but I dunno.)

I don't feel a particular need for a word for this style of "ship". Faye is attracted to this particular person, not AIs or ladies in general. Bubbles is sort of an exception. As Marten said, "it happens".

Maybe "Bubblephilic" if you really must... A key point is that the attraction doesn't arise specifically from her being an AI or female; in spite of these, in fact.

Of course, Faye was initially attracted to Bubbles' strength, and the fact that Bubbles is physically nearly invulnerable (and thus less likely to "abandon" Faye via disease or death) plays into it somewhere as well.


One idea I really enjoy in QC is that AIs, at least some AIs, need libidos in order to be a correctly functioning part of human society.

Jeph has mentioned before that he's influenced by Iain Banks' "Culture" series, where super-AIs ("Minds") run things and humans enjoy a kind of post-scarcity paradise. I guess you have to read the books to understand this, but the AIs (ships, drones, hub Minds, etc.) in Banks' work generally don't have libidos, although their humanoid avatars are often gendered. And there are hints that some AIs are a bit voyeuristic, maybe even a few outsiders that indulge humans in sexual antics. But generally, the AIs in the Culture stay scrupulously asexual, and thus their actions and motivations are often unclear, and they genuinely don't understand some of the things people do.

But other than keeping pets for fun, we never really understand why so many AIs spend so much effort on associating with and helping squishy little meatsacks, and the AIs don't quite get it either. Some ships feel that their peers get a little less sane without a crew. It's sort of an unresolved question you just have to overlook a bit to enjoy the stories.

If you haven't read the Culture books, "Spookybot" is a lot like a Culture Minds are like -- multiple avatars, unthinkable abilities, ungendered, obscure motivations.


Anyway, the QC universe gets this a little more right, I think. Or at least the AIs in QC are a little easier to understand.

Or maybe QC simply depicts a logical early phase to something Culture-like -- in QC, human society is still the vast majority; it's still our world so AIs need to have libidos to fit in.

This is all the purest, unsupported speculation, but perhaps in time (could be dozens of years, could be thousands, but the QC-verse seems to be moving more rapidly than the oblivious humans understand), the QC-niverse will come to resemble the Culture somewhat, with AIs in charge, and perhaps gently taking the reins from humans when necessary. Hardly anyone noticed the Singularity, and perhaps they'll manage the transition to post-scarcity without a lot of disruption. ("Alice Grove" gave us a glimpse of a different universe where things didn't go so well.)

Or perhaps AI libidos are an essential "safety", a way to ensure that AIs continue to care for and love humans in ways that go beyond the logical. And so maybe libidos (or some sort of deep-seated regard for life and creation) will need to remain.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in QC. The deeper futuristic issues as well as the butt jokes. And adept combinations thereof.

Dandi Andi:

--- Quote from: Inconsequential on 29 May 2018, 10:06 ---...

--- End quote ---

I don't know why I never made the connection to the "Culture" series until you mentioned it. In retrospect, it seems a little obvious.


--- Quote from: fayelovesbubbles on 29 May 2018, 08:10 ---Right, but she needs to reject them, then, surely? Not easy but what she’s doing now isn’t going to work. She hasn’t really given clear indications that it’s never going to happen, and if that’s the case, she’s gotta.

--- End quote ---

Why would she? Neither of them has actually made a move. Although Clinton has told her that he finds her attractive, we know that she struggles to read social cues and may not realize that Clinton and Elliot are romantically interested. Even if she does, it isn't her responsibility to do the work of sorting out their feelings for them. I'd say that Brun isn't obligated to do anything until Clinton and/or Elliot make their intentions clear. It's time for them to shit or get off the pot.

fayelovesbubbles:
Okay. Fair enough...

fayelovesbubbles:
Clinton being rejected by Brun means the Roko/Clinton thing could happen.

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