Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT 21-25 January 2019 (3921-3925)

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Is it cold in here?:

--- Quote from: calisthymia on 21 Jan 2019, 22:44 ---Long-time lurker here, registered just to say this: it really doesn't require anything other than the "sanctity of mind" principle for Spookybot to find the idea of "fixing" Roko's mind quite offensive. I believe that the comic is referring to an old dilemma commonly discussed by trans people: "if your mind and body don't match, is it more ethical to change the mind or the body?" According to my own observations, a large majority of people (who are facing that dilemma themselves) are of the opinion that it is more ethical to change the body, because if you change the mind in such a way that it becomes congruent with the body then that mind isn't you any more, and that is fundamentally abhorrent.

--- End quote ---

Welcome, interesting new person!

Indeed, in a previous conversation here about AIs getting patched (it may have been about installing impulse control for May but I'm not sure), the person who flagged the ethical issues of psychic integrity was one of our trans* members.

Inconsequential:
I doubt that Spookybot is capable of the subtle level of work that would be involved in solving Roko's problem.

Their intervention in Bubbles' case was relatively crude. Decrypt a certain block of memory, deal with whatever trap a lesser mind had installed, and, well, the rest (such as dealing with the trauma of the full memories, if they had been preserved) would be up to Bubbles. A technical problem, not a psychological one.

Roko also hasn't even given herself a proper chance to begin healing using the tools she has.

Lemon asked her to sleep on it and let her subroutines process, but Roko wanted to get back into the real ASAP.

And even though it's brand-new and only an hour or two old, it looks like Roko's own new body is signalling pretty hard that her mind is exhausted - she needs to sleep and let the trauma and stress process through her "subconscious".

And yes, I just love the concept that AIs need to sleep. It makes a lot of sense that sentience somehow requires a subconscious and periods of rest. QC-verse AIs seem to be able to postpone or move their sleep periods around (May can work different shifts), and can quickly switch states (Bubbles can "wake up" almost instantly if there's a threat.), but ultimately they need to rest at some point.

Perhaps higher-level AIs like Station and Spookybot can put different sections of their minds into sleep mode and rotate through. Dunno, but it's interesting to think about.

Anyway, hopefully Roko can stop panicking, plug in, and conk out for a while.

brasca:

--- Quote from: Cornelius on 22 Jan 2019, 03:34 ---There's also the point that both Momo and Winslow chose to go to another chassis. Roko didn't have any choice in moving on to another chassis, as hers was totaled.

For Momo and Winslow, I think of the change in terms of growing up. There's a sense of progression, that's no more traumatic than growing up.
For Roko, it's recovery. She'd have preferred to go back, but it isn't possible.

--- End quote ---

Perhaps it would be for the best for May to avoid Roko.  I doubt she’d be very sympathetic and would be wishing she was the one Crushbot fell on top of.

Skewbrow:
Have Roko and Claire met, yet? If Roko is, indeed, suffering from some dysphoria directed at her own body, then may be Claire can relate to Roko's suffering? Lend an understanding ear, possibly even offer some suggestions? I confess that I am unable to judge whether comparing their two dysphoria cases is at all meaningful.

rtmq0227:
Instead of thinking about the use of the term "Pedicure" literally here, my take is that this is another facet of AI's coding "human" to work around the uncanny valley (similar to Bubbles' comments about why AI read physical books).  There were comments earlier regarding how complex an AI chassis' foot must be, and the amount of care/maintenance that goes into them (just think about how any routine maintenance tasks are performed on your car's wheels: brakes, tires, air pressure, alignment, etc).  I imagine it would be quite jarring for someone who is starting to consider AI to just be people to hear them talk about going in for their 5000 mile foot maintenance appointment.  Euphemisms seem to be an AI's best weapon against humans thinking of them as "things."

Also, I would love it if this was a clever euphemism not just for the type of work being done in said appointment, but turns out to be a hint that SB is planning on dropping in on Union Robotics.  If that's the case, I can't decide whether I would enjoy it more for it to just be a surprise to the UR ladies, or for Faye to find out Bubbles has been doing these "Pedicures" for SB all along, and that she's been secretly saving the money in case they need it.  It might be interesting for Bubbles to have a secret, kept for diplomatic reasons, and for Faye to have to process that.  Perhaps it will help challenge some of her...problematic...perspectives towards AI.

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