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Hannelore has an anxiety attack over how to comfort Bubbles and Bubbles ends up comforting her;

Someone somehow gets drunk at a zero-alcohol party (*coughPintsizecough*) and Bubbles finds her true calling as a bouncer;

It turns out that Bubbles has a wonderful singing voice and records with Deathmole;

Momo tries to start a relationship with Bubbles; the outcome is... awkward;

The party is interrupted by an unexpected revelation (poster's choice);

Nothing really happens except Faye constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop;

Bubbles breaks down and tells her darkest secret - that her head is not her own;

When the time has come to go home, Faye tries to talk Marten into letting her 'keep' Bubbles.

[Awsyme]

I'm guessing (given who's NOT shown up and the sheer irony of size + personality) the one person whose about to show up and talk to her easily is Pintsize.  He has (oh so many) flaws but always comes across as supremely relaxed at whatever the universe throws at him up to and including seven-foot tall ex-combat droids.

Plus he's never really had an arc.

[mustang6172]

I think the government coming to steal his laser counts as an arc.

[Is it cold in here?]

I'm guessing (given who's NOT shown up and the sheer irony of size + personality) the one person whose about to show up and talk to her easily is Pintsize.  He has (oh so many) flaws but always comes across as supremely relaxed at whatever the universe throws at him up to and including seven-foot tall ex-combat droids.

Plus he's never really had an arc.

Welcome, new person!

Yes, Pintsize might be the one to save the day. He's talked on the level to Bubbles and may actually have connected on the subject of being misunderstood.

[SubaruStephen]

Is Clinton coming to the party? Considering how he reacted to Momo, he'd probably freak out when he sees Bubbles.






I hope he comes to the party.

[chaospersonified]

Is Clinton coming to the party? Considering how he reacted to Momo, he'd probably freak out when he sees Bubbles.






I hope he comes to the party.

Why do I feel this would end with Clinton suddenly needing more robot parts?

[Neko_Ali]

I don't think that Bubbles is uncomfortable with her chassis. I think she's using it to keep people from getting close. She can think that it makes other people uncomfortable, so it gives her an excuse not to mingle with people and feel noble about her isolation. Take away that excuse and she would have to face the fact that she's the one who's uncomfortable around humans, not vice versa. In fact, of everyone we've seen the only one who has shown any discomfort around her is Marten. Probably having something to do with her hefting him casually off the floor 30 seconds after they said 'hello'.

[chaospersonified]

Probably having something to do with her hefting him casually off the floor 30 seconds after they said 'hello'.

That does tend to have a discombobulating effect on a person

[chaospersonified]

Any case, I feel like Pintsize is gonna be the breakthrough for Bubbles. He ain't scared easy, and I suspect he'd find it especially hilarious to try and engage with Bubbles in his typical, irreverent manner. Bubbles will be very confused by the fact she cannot frighten the tiny AI companion currently humping her leg furiously, and they might bond over having ex-military chassis, though Pintsize's is clearly less designed for combat. He would obviously bring that up, though.

I am not shipping the two, but that would be weird and kind of hilarious as a way of breaking Bubbles from her defensive blockade

[Kugai]

Hmmmm

Bubbles, you really are going to have to make an effort here, after all, you are here at Fayes invite 

Though I do get the feeling she really doesn't know how to act around 'Ordinary People'.  My guess she's used to her size and personality keeping people at arms length, she really doesn't know how to interact in a social circle.

[Is it cold in here?]

I don't think that Bubbles is uncomfortable with her chassis. I think she's using it to keep people from getting close. She can think that it makes other people uncomfortable, so it gives her an excuse not to mingle with people and feel noble about her isolation. Take away that excuse and she would have to face the fact that she's the one who's uncomfortable around humans, not vice versa. In fact, of everyone we've seen the only one who has shown any discomfort around her is Marten. Probably having something to do with her hefting him casually off the floor 30 seconds after they said 'hello'.

Just like the Pugnacious Peach's pugnacity in the early days.

Maybe Faye sees something of herself in Bubbles and that's the motive for drawing her out.

Faye's expression showed genuine disappointment.

There's a worst-case outcome possible with Pintsize befriending Bubbles. What if he teaches her how to be spontaneous and overcome her inhibitions?

[chaospersonified]

There's a worst-case outcome possible with Pintsize befriending Bubbles. What if he teaches her how to be spontaneous and overcome her inhibitions?

Depends on which specific inhibitions she overcomes. If she overcomes her (seemingly negligible) inhibitions about lifting semi-random strangers by the throat, this could be disastrous. On the other hand, if she overcomes her inhibitions about interactions, we could have a new colorful cast member

So far, she's shown no signs of being especially similar to Pintsize, in that she doesn't seem to be HAVING such insane ideas. Lack of insanity isn't the same as being inhibited. I don't want to have sex with most of the people I see on a daily basis, that fact that I don't isn't a sign I'm being inhibited, it's a sign that my parents are straight up not in the pool of possibilities.

[chaospersonified]

Either way, I feel that positive emotions wouldn't be the first thing a programmer would write into the code for a military AI. Kind of a sad thing, that thought.

[BenRG]

Translation of Bubbles' lines today: "Shut up! Can't you see I'm sulking in an attempt to justify my social isolation complex?"

Bubbles, you really are going to have to make an effort here, after all, you are here at Fayes invite

I don't think she wants to make an effort. In fact, I think it is very important to her right now that her belief that she is incapable of casual social interaction due to other's prejudices against her be confirmed.

[snubnose]

Either way, I feel that positive emotions wouldn't be the first thing a programmer would write into the code for a military AI. Kind of a sad thing, that thought.

An AI isnt written by a programmer ?

Its a neural network. It writes itself through positive and negative feedback.

[BenRG]

An AI isnt written by a programmer ?

Its a neural network. It writes itself through positive and negative feedback.

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based. Purely FWIW, I suspect that they can even reproduce 'biologically' if they choose to do so but generally refrain because it freaks out humans (the first successful event was the one the AIs all referred to as 'the Singularity' happening).

To the topic, I believe that the first AIs 'grew' around algorithmic 'seeds' that Dr Ellicott-Chatham and his team wrote using equipment and calculations that he created. So, in a very real sense, he is their progenitor.

I would love there to be a scene in this arc where Hannelore gives Bubbles a hug. When Bubbles asks why, she makes a comment about 'wanting to be there for my sister'.

[Zog]

I thought that Marten shut Pintsize down in 3057 to keep him from causing trouble.

[Method of Madness]

That'd be a positively shitty thing to do.

Also if Marten had half a spine* (which would be out of character I suppose), he would've responded with "what would please me is to talk to you".

*ok, maybe less half a spine and more an adamantium-enforced spine, but still, would've been a good retort

[Mr_Rose]

An AI isnt written by a programmer ?

Its a neural network. It writes itself through positive and negative feedback.

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based. Purely FWIW, I suspect that they can even reproduce 'biologically' if they choose to do so but generally refrain because it freaks out humans (the first successful event was the one the AIs all referred to as 'the Singularity' happening).

To the topic, I believe that the first AIs 'grew' around algorithmic 'seeds' that Dr Ellicott-Chatham and his team wrote using equipment and calculations that he created. So, in a very real sense, he is their progenitor.

I would love there to be a scene in this arc where Hannelore gives Bubbles a hug. When Bubbles asks why, she makes a comment about 'wanting to be there for my sister'.

I thought it was understood that the AIs were an emergent phenomenon based on a hadware and software configuration no-one expected to work the way it did, but which has since been replicated successfully, even if no-one knows how exactly it works. Or that was Momo's claim to Marten way back when. How the singularity might have affected this is unknown though.

[swapna]

An AI isnt written by a programmer ?

Its a neural network. It writes itself through positive and negative feedback.

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based. Purely FWIW, I suspect that they can even reproduce 'biologically' if they choose to do so but generally refrain because it freaks out humans (the first successful event was the one the AIs all referred to as 'the Singularity' happening).

To the topic, I believe that the first AIs 'grew' around algorithmic 'seeds' that Dr Ellicott-Chatham and his team wrote using equipment and calculations that he created. So, in a very real sense, he is their progenitor.

I would love there to be a scene in this arc where Hannelore gives Bubbles a hug. When Bubbles asks why, she makes a comment about 'wanting to be there for my sister'.

I thought it was understood that the AIs were an emergent phenomenon based on a hadware and software configuration no-one expected to work the way it did, but which has since been replicated successfully, even if no-one knows how exactly it works. Or that was Momo's claim to Marten way back when. How the singularity might have affected this is unknown though.

If AI development in QC works anything like the real world, it has to be trained. Before you get a neural net that works the way you want, you go through iterations - discarding and reinventing it by using different algorithms, feeding it different data, and so on. Since AIs in the QC-Verse do have civil rights and maybe it would even be considered murder to delete an unfinished AI (remember robo-jail? May was malfunctioning, but she was punished instead resetting her or deleting her).

Since there don't seem any ethical problems with creating AIs, the process seems to be streamlined (they produce a working AI every time or can tell the difference between 'ethical to delete' and 'self-aware).

So, my theory about Bubbles is this - she just came because Faye called her chicken. I can understand her frustration - truly, everybody but Hanners (who made honest, if awkward conversation) and Marten in the last comic made only remarks about her 'features', and not one asked her if she liked the music, or what she had for hobbies, or included her in an interesting conversation. She herself isn't suave enough to take control of the conversation - when she tries, she just derails it.
Maybe Faye should ease her into the whole 'contact-with-people-situation'

[Perfectly Reasonable]

If AI development in QC works anything like the real world, it has to be trained. Before you get a neural net that works the way you want, you go through iterations - discarding and reinventing it by using different algorithms, feeding it different data, and so on. Since AIs in the QC-Verse do have civil rights and maybe it would even be considered murder to delete an unfinished AI (remember robo-jail? May was malfunctioning, but she was punished instead resetting her or deleting her).

Since there don't seem any ethical problems with creating AIs, the process seems to be streamlined (they produce a working AI every time or can tell the difference between 'ethical to delete' and 'self-aware).

So, my theory about Bubbles is this - she just came because Faye called her chicken. I can understand her frustration - truly, everybody but Hanners (who made honest, if awkward conversation) and Marten in the last comic made only remarks about her 'features', and not one asked her if she liked the music, or what she had for hobbies, or included her in an interesting conversation. She herself isn't suave enough to take control of the conversation - when she tries, she just derails it.
Maybe Faye should ease her into the whole 'contact-with-people-situation'

I have always believed that making AIs is computationally expensive, like minting bitcoins. Not something you can do in your basement. Probably needs a machine in the supercomputer class. Now add in training, and the expense skyrockets. And we still get AIs with goofy quirks.

I'd like to ask Bubbles how she blows off steam. It may involve a pile of scrap metal and a large sledgehammer.

[cesium133]

I'd like to ask Bubbles how she blows off steam. It may involve a pile of scrap metal and a large sledgehammer.

I think the comic that just appeared answers your question. 

[Zebediah]

Begin speculation on what, precisely, Pintsize used for an opening line.

[cesium133]

"I only asked her if she wants to fuck."

[chaospersonified]

Yeah, there goes my theory on what would happen when Pintsize was officially introduced to Bubbles. Sigh. Ah well.

[Method of Madness]

Ok, I'm starting to really dislike Bubbles 

[Rghfrgl]

I think this comic would have worked better with other characters in the foreground and them in the background. The silent line is weird when you can hear pintsize in the first two panels.

[amykathleen]

I almost never feel bad for Pintsize, but... aww, poor Pintsize. 

[mustang6172]

Ok, I'm starting to really dislike Bubbles 

Because she's too much like Faye and Marigold?

[Method of Madness]

Because she only has their downsides, at least so far.

[Is it cold in here?]

I was hoping that awsyme's idea would come true and that Pintsize would be the one to break the ice.

"Are those astronaut pants? Because your ass is out of this world!" is probably the pickup line Pintsize tried.

[Tova]

"Are those astronaut pants? Because your ass is out of this world!" is probably the pickup line Pintsize tried.

Thank you very much for making me snort in the office when I am supposed to be working.

Because she only has their downsides, at least so far.

Did you mean to say "her downsides"? (I'm sure there's a "backsides" joke in there somewhere)

I'm a little surprised you can't think of at least one positive attribute of hers.

Okay, so she obviously does not cope well in social situations. Does everyone really think badly of her because of this?

I almost never feel bad for Pintsize, but... aww, poor Pintsize. 

Are you now feeling badly for Pintsize because you've suddenly decided that Pintsize is a lovable rogue after all, or because you dislike Bubbles, enemy of my enemy and all that?

Okay, yes, Pintsize is a lovable rogue, but I can never feel badly for him when this happens, hilarious as his "pickup lines" may be.

[Neko_Ali]

And more to the point he usually gets it when he is punched, slammed into a wall, stuffed into a freezer or dismantled. And he is well aware of it before and after it happens. It's his way of trying to have fun, or help people.

[War Sparrow]

I still like Bubbles. I just don't understand why she's there, even to prove a point. Part of me thinks she's a bit overwhelmed because she is surrounded by strangers who are not exactly polite, and can't decide if she should leave or not. It might to have been a good idea for Faye to engage her in conversation and let the others join in, or not, at the onset, instead of giving the others a chance to treat her like a sideshow.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

Tai and/or Emily will appear to save the day!

[Carl-E]

Wait, I don't get it - they've already met. 

Bonded, even... 

[Is it cold in here?]

Considering how Emily has treated Momo, I wouldn't pick her for opening friendly relations. On the other hand, she has the advantage of being difficult to intimidate. http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2937

Maybe that would be enough to avoid the usual pattern of interaction.

[mustang6172]

I still like Bubbles. I just don't understand why she's there, even to prove a point. Part of me thinks she's a bit overwhelmed because she is surrounded by strangers who are not exactly polite, and can't decide if she should leave or not. It might to have been a good idea for Faye to engage her in conversation and let the others join in, or not, at the onset, instead of giving the others a chance to treat her like a sideshow.

Bubbles is there because she has no defense against reverse psychology.

[Magniras]

Pintsize is getting none of this.  I'm not even a little bit surprised.

[Kugai]

Well!

That coulda gone better!!!





Then again, this is Pintsize, so maybe not.

[BenRG]

Actually, I consider this confirmation that Bubbles is slowly moving into the extended Marten/Faye social circle. Breaking or disassembling Pintsize seems to be how more aggressive characters indicate that this is happening to them!

Yeah, Pintsize probably tried to break the ice by saying something inappropriate. However, Bubbles...? Well, I think she hates herself a lot at the moment and all he did was trigger an episode of some sort.

P.S.: Study Bubbles' body language in this strip carefully. It's pretty obvious that she knows what's coming and it annoys her. It's possible that every female-identifying AI on the planet knows about Pintsize and knows what his posture in panel 3 usually presages - a cheesy and possibly offensive come-on.

[snubnose]

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based.

Yes, but so what ? There still needs to be a neural network, no matter if its hardware or software. Or some other structure that can actually learn and dynamically change. If you actually have to program the "AI" its static and cannot learn.

[BenRG]

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based.

Yes, but so what ? There still needs to be a neural network, no matter if its hardware or software. Or some other structure that can actually learn and dynamically change. If you actually have to program the "AI" its static and cannot learn.

Not at all. If the software is self-modifying (rewriting itself for greater efficiency) then it doesn't automatically need a neural network. All it needs is a vast active memory and a powerful processor as all parts of the algorithm need to be actively processed at all times. This, by the way, may be the 'unique hardware' that Momo referred to - a new generation of CPUs and RAM memory systems that are orders of magnitude greater in capacity and more powerful than the current silicon/gallium semi-conductors.

Neural networks were an attempt to recreate the architecture of biological brains as hardware. The technology slammed into an upper limit at about cockroach-equivalent due to the difficulty of building the physical interlinks between the 'neurons'. Polymorphic code has apparently solved this problem because it was a paradigm shift away from thinking that an AI must necessarily physically resemble a primate brain.

[Scarblac]

FWIW, we know very little about the QC-verse AIs other than they are seemingly software rather than hardware-based.

Yes, but so what ? There still needs to be a neural network, no matter if its hardware or software. Or some other structure that can actually learn and dynamically change. If you actually have to program the "AI" its static and cannot learn.

There have been lots and lots of different ways to try to make "AI", neural networks are just one of them, not particularly more successful than others. Nowadays "General AI", actually trying to make something with generic human-style intelligence, is pretty much a scientific backwater, but now and then I read some papers and they don't really have a focus on neural networks.

Computers have RAM, that is where they can change. Computers that are programmed can change because they can change the contents of their memory. It's also possible that they have been programmed so that they can re-program parts of themselves.

There is no reason whatsoever to assume that the first QC AIs weren't carefully programmed.

[amykathleen]

I almost never feel bad for Pintsize, but... aww, poor Pintsize. 

Are you now feeling badly for Pintsize because you've suddenly decided that Pintsize is a lovable rogue after all, or because you dislike Bubbles, enemy of my enemy and all that?

Okay, yes, Pintsize is a lovable rogue, but I can never feel badly for him when this happens, hilarious as his "pickup lines" may be.

I feel bad for him mostly because I doubt that whatever he said was severe enough to warrant a full dismemberment.  (Yes, I know, magnetic limbs, he's not hurt, but still he looks pretty sad about it.)  He's certainly done worse things.  And we've seen throughout the past few strips that Bubbles has sort of overreacted to the awkwardness of every other person at the party, so it's likely that she overreacted to Pintsize too.  I don't dislike her.  I think she should not have come to the party (even just to prove a point) if she was not prepared to be a bit more tolerant of others' faults, but I don't dislike her.  I think it will be fascinating to see where Jeph takes her character.
I still feel bad for Pintsize, though.

[Tova]

I think she should not have come to the party (even just to prove a point) if she was not prepared to be a bit more tolerant of others' faults, but I don't dislike her.

I don't think she is being intolerant of others' faults, because what she's reacting to isn't their faults (or even their perceived faults) at all. She is simply painfully aware that the others are very uncomfortable in her prescence, scared even. And that makes her unhappy. It certainly doesn't make her want to force herself on them. I honestly can't blame her for that reaction, even though the unhappy reaction itself is perpetuating the discomfort.

Obviously her decision to go was prompted by a desire to prove a point, but maybe a little part of her hoped it would be different this time.

If anyone is to "blame" (and I really never feel that way with QC, because I do feel that everyone tries their best in spite of their flaws), I think that it lies with Faye - the only way the party was ever going to work would have been if she had given the gang fair warning of what Bubbles is like, and reassured them that they had nothing to fear. But she doesn't seem to have told them anything except "a friend is coming over." I'm not saying it would have made things flawless, but it would have given her a sporting chance.

[ZoeB]

It's been just over 20 years since I evolved (via genetic algorithms) a simple rules-based system AI for missile defence.

Not very bright - maybe the equivalent of a spiny lobster - but in simulated engagements, seriously scary. It took hours to analyse the logs of a 20 second scenario. The actions were far too quick for a high level consciousness to follow. Even the displays lagged, things were happening too fast.

I didn't "design" or "program" the system. I just threw a population of systems into a series of attack scenarios. Those that survived got to breed the next generation. Rinse, lather, repeat. Then trimmed the result so a trivial inefficiency in some known cases was traded for decreased reaction time and thus better performance in unforeseen and unforeseeable situations.

The results were seriously scary in tests, as I said.

[themacnut]

Well, so much for Pintsize being the one to break the ice. More like he was the one who got broken (okay disassembled). Knowing Pintsize, he probably almost certainly deserved it.

EDIT: in case someone might be inclined to say "he didn't deserve to be taken apart", bear in mind he was messing with an AI in a combat chassis that could have literally destroyed him. With one punch. Considering that, Pintsize got off easy.

I will be surprised if Bubbles is still at the party next comic. She was already having a terrible time making a connection to anyone there and Pintsize's antics may have been the last straw.

[War Sparrow]

"Are those astronaut pants? Because I can see uranus in them!"

That's my guess. Maybe Pintsize has never been crude to her before, and his revert to form was the last straw. I guess we will see.

[BenRG]

"Are those astronaut pants? Because I can see uranus in them!"

I prefer "Because that booty is out of this world!"

I wonder if Bubbles has bothered to consider the ramifications of the fact that three out of the four Synthetics that she's met at the party have found her sexually attractive in some way?

[snubnose]

Not at all. If the software is self-modifying (rewriting itself for greater efficiency) then it doesn't automatically need a neural network. All it needs is a vast active memory and a powerful processor as all parts of the algorithm need to be actively processed at all times. This, by the way, may be the 'unique hardware' that Momo referred to - a new generation of CPUs and RAM memory systems that are orders of magnitude greater in capacity and more powerful than the current silicon/gallium semi-conductors.

Neural networks were an attempt to recreate the architecture of biological brains as hardware. The technology slammed into an upper limit at about cockroach-equivalent due to the difficulty of building the physical interlinks between the 'neurons'. Polymorphic code has apparently solved this problem because it was a paradigm shift away from thinking that an AI must necessarily physically resemble a primate brain.

Re-read what you answered to. Your posting doesnt oppose mine.