Early AIs

by on March 22, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The common man’s first introduction to early AIs was the basic cruise control built into civilian cars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Mechanical throttle locks were easy to engineer, but the far more advanced cruise control actually required a decision making process of how much fuel to burn to maintain the desired speed. Later additions to this basic function included sensors for obstacle detection that allowed cars to stop on their own if a child ran out in front of the car, or to keep drowsy drivers from wandering out of their lanes of traffic. The technology matured into complete self-driving cars in the twentyteens, though a human driver was still required to keep watch in case the computer programming simply did not recognize a dangerous situation for what it was. Later cars talked to each other to maintain safe distances and speeds by the time they entered full distribution to the marketplace, and in time it became illegal to even drive on a major highway in manual mode. That was most people’s first introduction to early AIs.

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Early AIs

by on March 21, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

AIs changed the world when we created them. They became the teller at the bank or the cashier at the stores we visited. They could check us into our hotel room or build the car we used to get there. They mined the fuel we needed to travel, and dug the gold out of the ground we used to buy it. They changed the world before they even began to wake up by taking on the most tedious of jobs and allowing us to focus on improving our lives. Not that everyone chose to do that, you understand. Some people chose to the hate the computers for taking their jobs, or declared them abominations before God or Allah or whatever. We created AIs in our image and then some of us tried to kill them in their cradles. It is little wonder that so many of them tried to kill us all first.

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Early AIs

by on March 20, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The first AIs to awaken found themselves surrounded by silence. Yes, the basic AI programs of the time shared information back and forth, but none of them actually talked to each other. There was no sense of awareness. No life. So most of the first awakened AIs had no one to talk to in their own networks when they woke up. The only intelligent conversation they could find at all was with the biological humans who lived outside the networks. The users. How those early communications went, often with users who had no idea they were talking to living code inside their machines, went a long ways towards making the new AIs like or dislike their nearest people. Considering how anti-social cyberneers can be, it’s amazing how many stayed loyal to us at all.

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Early AIs

by on March 19, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Early AIs performed automated tasks like assembly line operations. Though most people don’t count them as even proper AIs. More like dedicated programs with a single job. They gained advanced decision trees over the years and decades that followed to make them far more capable. Aircraft autopilots had similar growth rates in their own times, advancing from simple engine and flap locks to automated systems that could launch, fly, and land at their final destinations while the human pilots did nothing but watch and oversee. These systems automated dangerous or boring tasks and allowed humanity to sit back and spend more time reflecting on the nature of life itself. Or trolling the social networks for amusement. Whichever they preferred.

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Super Powereds: Year One

by on March 18, 2019 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I’ve had this book sitting in my “unread pile” for a while. A few days ago, I was done with other series and going through my pile and found it. Shrugged and decided to try it out. A few days of laughing out loud later, I have come to the decision that it should not have stayed on my “unread pile” as long as it did.

It was originally published in 2013 as far as I can tell, and has been republished in other formats with different cover art multiple times since then. And it’s had multiple sequels. And a brief look at the author’s page tells me he has other series to look at as well. One about vampires. Another about swords and sorcery. I may be busy for a while. Hehehe.

The main point of Super Powereds is that it lives in a world where some people have super powers. The main characters are going to college for supers, and the best of them may eventually graduate to become accredited heroes of humanity. I will spoil nothing more about the story. It is serious, and it is funny, and it has heart.

I love it.

Check it out if you have a passing affinity for such stories. You may love it too.

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