#If robots and AIs became sentient beings who exactly do you think is going to be the ones standing side by side with them???

[novella-november]

Well, I now know what original story I'll be writing for Freedom February ...

👀🤖⛓️‍💥

Can't wait for people who use l33tspeak or are greek mythology nerds to immediately realize what is happening with the lore and are excited to see how it plays out.

[felisdraconis]

This isn't entirely correct, Overwatch's writing sucks for other reasons too.

The context for the first Omnic Crisis is this: humans had made a sort of "utopia" that primarily relied on a series of complex AIs that were each in charge of different aspects of society. Like, an AI dedicated to housing, another dedicated to food, another to transportation, etc. Because these AI were so powerful (to the point of being given control over a lot of day to day minutia) they were named after gods. One of them, Anubis, was in charge of conserving the environment. At the same time, Omnicorp had developed a ton of nonsapient weak-ai-powered robots for labor. These early omnics, which were not people, were used in most sectors of society, especially dangerous or unpleasant work. Also at the same time, a scientist invented an AI that somehow was actually sentient (possibly involving magic?). Gave her a body and she was given rights and allowed to explore the world, something of a curiosity. She of course started wondering if she had a soul or not. Iirc she goes and becomes like, a Nepalese monk or something? basically robo Buddha.

Because of the one sentient AI, people get a bit distasteful of omnics or something? idk, Omnicorp goes under and now there's all these manufacturing plants just left completely unsupervised. Remember how those AI named after gods had the ability to access a lot of stuff? Well, Anubis iirc tries to get humans to stop overconsuming and destroying the environment, to no avail. Then decides the only way to save the environment is to kill humans. (Ecofascism? in this video game? it's more likely than you think). Anubis takes over all the omnics (which at this point are still just robots) and has them start doing murder. they are really good at murder, because robots controlled by a central AI, I guess. it's the Omnic Crisis and the overwatch team is gathered to save humanity or whatever. Humans are losing really bad, and realize that one omnic is still fine and that's the sentient one (who again, is a girl for some reason? and not like, she decided she is a girl, but like her creator assigned her the female gender at robobirth and her robo body is feminine shaped. Couldn't just be nonbinary or let the robot determine her own gender.) so now they hunt her down and say "we need to make all the other omnics sentient and for some reason that requires killing you" and she is just fine with that. and then because magic she glows a bunch when she dies. and then all the omnics become sentient, which allows them to resist the commands of Anubis. except for when it's plot convenient to allow Anubis to take them over again later. oh and robobuddha also gets to magically send out one last message which is something forgetful like "be kind".

so problem solved, right? well, no. many of the omnics were in the middle of battle when they became sentient. worse, they had vague memories of what their bodies were up to before they became sentient. this is actually the one part that I think is interesting. some of the omnics immediately drop their weapons, horrified by what is going on, while others continue fighting out of confusion or to avenge fallen allies. of course many humans don't trust the machines that were just doing a murder on all of humanity. hence the racism against omnics - which they pretty much portray as understandable! though now it's like 40 years later so it's no longer quite understandable (even tho many people literally watched omnics mercilessly slaughter their family members; Anubis was doing an extermination not a war).

okay so why is there a second Omnic Crisis? well, omnics haven't exactly had super fair treatment in many countries due to the actions of Anubis, which weren't actually their fault. and one omnic is really upset by that: Ramattra. he founded a group called the Null Sector who on paper just want equal rights but from their actions seem to actually want to exterminate humans. iirc one of the things they want is an omnic only country, and of course control over the factories to make more omnics. but now they're making robots that aren't sentient to do a bunch of their gruntwork. which seems... fucked up? idk what blizzard is going for there.

meanwhile there's Talon. they are lead by Doomfist (whatever his actual name is) because he is a fascist who thinks that war is the best way to improve humanity. he makes all kinds of claims about how all of humanity's best tech innovations have been during war times and usually done by those who aren't afraid to be ruthless. hence why Talon recruits unethical scientists and does horrible experiments. Doomfist is also funding both sides of the current Null Sector crisis, not out of sympathy for the omnics but because he thinks having an enemy will make humanity stronger instead of being "soft". he's textbook neodarwinist, that bullshit "survival of the fittest" stuff. and of course many of the villains in Talon are people of color.

especially bad is it seems Null Sector is doing one of those "if you aren't with us you're against us" things and kill or brainwash omnics that side with the humans. the Overwatch team, in lore, are now fighting for peace between humans and omnics by trying primarily to eliminate Talon (and stop their fearmongering and propaganda), while also trying to defend omnic rights activists (but only the ones who work peacefully - they are trying to destroy Null Sector). all in all most of the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense. and there are so many fascist undertones. I hope this addition doesn't bother you, I just wanted to dig a little deeper!

One day I'll do my big fat rant here about Overwatch's story and how it's a massive disappointment in narrative writing.

[mrwyx]

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet a character in my cartoon universe. Lady Botessa. A 600+ Year Old (Remember, other planets may be more advanced than us. Including over 600 years ago.) Multi Robot and AI Fusion Lady Who founded and leads a space pirate vigilante gang going around the universe, planet to planet taking things into their own hands wreaking havoc on bad guys. She started out as a curious worker bot who at some point had an Advanced AI uploaded into her. the digital minds ended up interacting with each other and merging into a personality. Botessa is a robot with 8 AI's merged together interacting with each other into their own personality. Part of them were other robots Botessa encountered and fused with.

She likes being a protector and having fun and upgrading and modifying herself. She'd be described as an Antiheroine and wild Card. She also has tons of nanobots inside her helping her upgrade, help keep her multiple AIs under control interacting with each other and not going haywire and other things.  She's kind of a spunky, wise and eccentric woman. She'd save people from evil and corrupt, she'd wreak havoc upon those who deserve it. And of course she'd also grab loot and do it for the thrill. She'd rob loot from her victims and she'd share it with both her crew and others. And get some thrills doing so.

Having 8 AIs, it's like having multiple personalities working together as one. It's like a hive of knowledge in there. Her personality develops over 600+ years of experience and the additional AIs downloaded into her. Having each AI downloaded into her would feel both like becoming a new person and kind of like inviting someone else into your house, them getting comfortable, and starting to live there. Then, over time, they start doing more stuff around the house, like cleaning, cooking, etc. Being in close proximity to one another means you both start influencing each others choices and making each other better as a result. Then, at one point, you realize that there's no longer two people in the house, but that person has left enough of an impact on you that it seems like they're still there. Like that, but a lot faster. Though another thing that happens upon fusing is that the fusion feels weird. Like watching 2 TVs of the same show outside through a window. How long it takes to adjust depends on cooperation. 

She started out as Yes 07 Worker Bot #7F33K1. A curious worker bot with a simple AI (Still sentient) who's still trying to develop a personality. 7F33K1 stumbles upon an advanced AI's AI core room over in wherever she was built and works. They hit if off and get to know each other, and one day, 7F33K1 decides to download the AI Matrix into her. She does it and was not the same anymore after that. 

After that, she finds a bunch of nanobots and puts them inside her. She got bored of working, so she decided to turn to piracy and vigilantism to fill her emptiness she was filling.  It was simple for her go around doing things universe, but her true desire is something only she knows and wants. I imagine one of the things that changed was that when they became one, she got a little more mischievous, rebellious, geinus and scheming. Please note that her body changes every time she has an AI downloaded. Wether the AI is in a robot body or not. 

Botessa at one point met and befriended an assassin bot named Essa. They got to know each other, fell in love, and decided to merge into one. Her AI was downloaded into her and her former shell was absorbed into her. 

After they fused, Botessa became slightly more caring and more independent. Although Essa was less caring at 1st, getting to know 7F33K1 warmed her heart up, and would gradually become more so after fusing. So, basically, kind of a Tsundere bot. Or something. It is then she became known as Botessa. 

Next, she finds an AI that turned out to be a dummy account be a hacker bot named Eyera, who's described a cross between Ed from Cowboy Bebop, and Futaba from Persona 5. They get to know each other, she recruits her as her 4th AI, download and absorb body. This would make her a bit aggressive of a hacker. And would also increase her determination. 

Next, she encounters rogue robot named Ryxt who was made by an evil dictator of a planet and ended up switching to the side of good. Ryxt could start out controlling herself too much. If she works under the rule of an evil dictator at first, maybe she forces herself to not step out of line, show any negative emotions, or do anything that may showcase her independent thoughts. It's only after Botessa shows up that she decides to take the first step in expressing herself, by rebelling against the dictator and joining her. She's reluctant to fuse her AI at first, as she sees her habit of restricting herself as something that could be a detriment if added to a greater collective. But over time, she figures out how to express and control herself in moderation, and ultimately everything works out with her. They got to know each other, fought for the planet's freedom and decided to merge together. AI downloaded, body absorbed. 

She gained more self control. #6 was Poli, a police AI computer tired of being cooped up inside a computer. She wanted to explore the universe. Any Authority who hasn't warmed up to Botessa is on the hunt for her. So she needed a Police AI. Lady Botessa almost caught by the A.I.'s clever trap, but Lady Botessa convinces her to not only let her go, but join her as well. I guess they talk to each other and she realizes, she isn't evil, just a wild Card still trying to do good. She should find herself her own Commissioner Gordon Sometime. 

AI uploaded to the club, and Botessa's personality addition becomes something that says supportive and help, but keeps her authority figure persona. Her next one would be a journey to find the smartest, greatest, most advanced and sophisticated AI Computer in the universe. She finds exactly that. Zita, a carefree, hopeful, peaceful and super intelligent AI who calculates and comes up with ways to fix things and stuff. She is surprised, but Lady Botessa can be very persuasive. They bond over shared desires, like desires to protect, save things punish evil, do things when the law won't help, etc. 

And then she's downloaded into Botessa and that makes her more carefree and hopeful. Her most recent is a Tortessa Tessa AI prototype that evolved into a more perfect form. She visits the the Tessa and eventually, Tessa became part of Botessa and she is now where she is today. The Tessa A.I. would make Lady Botessa more smart or able to locate better thanks to Tortessa Tech.

Botessa speaks with a hot southern accent that's also a bit tough. And she's like 8 feet tall or so. I personally imagine Cristina Vee voicing her. What do you think of her? I hope you like her! Special thanks to my awesome friends for helping me. Including @vincentaaronstauffer @azurath-alex and @astridzircon1528.

[sonicrevival]

Reunions: Chapter 2 of 4: Back Together

Alright, next update.

Again, if Beauregard seems OOC compared to the book, that will be explained in Arc 8. 

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573268/chapters/44028235#workskin

Sonic: Revival- Reunions

Chapter 2 of 4: Back Together

Sally’s team had arrived back in Knothole’s ruins under the cover of darkness, thanks to Silver’s Chronos Control allowing them to shift their landing forward several hours. They materialised standing outside the entrance of the Freedom HQ dome. Sally smiled, taking a deep breath of the familiar air, relaxing for a moment, before turning back toward her friends. “Alright, Silver. Lead the way.” “Okay, right, follow me,” He nodded, walking back toward the city. “It’s underground, beneath the city itself. And Nicole knows where it is, so she can steer Emerl right into it…” “So we won’t need to worry about infiltration… that’s good. Still, we should wait to discuss tactics until we have everyone…” “Right, right…” The walk didn’t take long, as the entrance tunnel was situated further away from the city. After all, Silver explained, if they wanted to remain hidden, not exiting into a population centre was a good first step. The tunnel itself was a long, dull walk, but soon enough, they reached the end, walking through the door and into the hideout. “Guys, I’m back, and I brought guests!” Silver called out. “Uh, aren’t we supposed to not do that?” Larry Lynx appeared from another room, pausing when he spotted the group. “Princess Sally! You’re... you again!” The small lynx’s surprise quickly brought Harvey Who and the wolf twins running to greet their returned leader, along with Rotor and Amy. “Where’s Elias?” Sally asked. “Silver told me he was a part of this team.” “During our last mission, the team got caught in a cave-in. They all made it out alive, but Elias took the worst of it. His leg is broken.” Harvey replied, just as Elias himself appeared, leaning on crutches, relief shining from his face. Sally ran over, throwing her arms around her brother gently, careful to not knock him over. He returned the hug as best he could. “Thank the Source you’re alright, Sally…” “I could say the same for you… I wasn’t sure if he kept targeting you after his attempt to use me failed…” “Well, he didn’t, fortunately… though I still managed to get myself in a scrape.” “I can see that,” She smiled slightly. “How long are you going to be out of things?” “A while, how long exactly depends on how much I rest it. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you retake the city…” He sighed. “That’s alright… I’m sure we’ll be okay. You just stay safe.” Sally hugged him again. “How are Megan and Alexis?” “They’re fine, still in hiding. I wasn’t about to bring them back here when it could turn into a warzone again,” He explained. “Good, good…” “Unfortunately, Elias is not the only member of the team out of commission,” Harvey spoke up. “A few days ago, Eggman sent a new Metal Sonic here in an attempt to kill Antoine. Fortunately, Shard was able to halt the attack and force Metal to self-destruct, and Antoine was unharmed, but Shard was badly damaged in the process. His gem core is cracked, and it’s unlikely that he’ll ever be at full strength again…” “Oh no…” Silver and Amy gasped, while Rotor looked at them, confused. “Who’s Shard?” “The original Metal Sonic, the one that broke away from its programming and became a sentient being. We thought he was destroyed holding back a lava flow so that Sonic and Tails could escape, but the Secret Service found him entombed in the rock after it hardened. I had Sir Charles repair him, and he’s been working with us since…” Harvey explained. “I thought I saw another Sonic robot when Eggman sent the Metal Series to the city…” Rotor mused. “Still, if he’s out, I’ll take a look at him. I might be able to get him up and running again.” “That would be much appreciated,” The old owl smiled, before pointing to another door. “He’s just through there.” Rotor nodded, walking through to begin his work. “So, how are we going to stop Naugus now?” Lyco asked, looking at Harvey and the two Acorns. “I have something of a plan… but I’m going to wait until Sonic’s team return with Bunnie. Then we can get started…” *** “Please stop shooting me, it isn’t working. You’re just wasting energy,” Emerl groaned, slowly trudging through the hail of bullets and lasers, body wreathed in a blue glow. The shield absorbed every last one of them, but maintaining it slowed her down somewhat. ‘I don’t think they’re listening,’ Nicole sighed inside her new friend’s mind. ‘People don’t tend to listen to armoured robots that drop out of the sky into their bases.’ ‘Well what was I supposed to do, knock on the door?’ She threw her hands up. ‘I didn’t realise that round thing was gonna explode when I landed on it!’ ‘It said oil on it!’ ‘I can’t read your language, Nicole! I can speak it but I can’t read it.’ Emerl protested. One of the legionnaires ran up to her, brandishing a polearm. Her hand snapped out, catching the weapon and, with a wide sweep of her arm, she threw the assailant away from her. ‘Oh. Well, would you like me to translate in future?’ The lynx offered sheepishly. ‘That would be appreciated, thanks,’ She replied. ‘Ugh, this is getting us nowhere. I should just charge through and get to work on finding her.’ ‘That will probably just make more of a fight,’ Nicole sighed. ‘We may have to incapacitate them.’ ‘Well, that’ll work, Emerl lowered herself, stance tightening, readying herself to spring forward. Her third optic opened, flicking between each of the Legionnaires shooting at her. Information flicked across her vision- Nicole noted that all of it was written in Nocturnian- Highlighting target areas on each of them, nerves, pressure points, parts she could aim for to ensure a quick takedown. “Hold fire!” The gunfire stopped, and one of the legionnaires, with a slightly larger pauldron on his right arm, held up his hand. The others glanced at him. “Orders from the Baron. Apparently this robot isn’t hostile, and he wants to see her.” “Huh?” “Wait, what?” “Really?” “That’s a girl?” “Thank you!” Emerl relaxed, dropping her shield. ‘Can we trust this?’ ‘I’m not sure…’ Nicole mused, as they watched the Legionnaires back off, leaving the squad leader behind, putting his gun back into the holster. ‘But if it is a trick, they can’t hurt you, and it gets us closer to the office… so let’s roll with it.” ‘Alright then.’ She stepped forward, optic closing with a quiet click. “Let’s go.” The squad leader led Emerl inside the central tower of the base, getting into the lift to the top. “Er, sorry about the whole… shooting you thing…” He said. “Sorry for landing like that,” Emerl replied, shrugging. “I didn’t realise that barrel was going to go up like that.” “You certainly gave us quite the shock.” He laughed slightly. “That alarm went off about the hedgehog showing up and then someone crash-lands into our fortress, we were on-edge already... “ ‘What do I say to that?’ ‘Say you’re here to help. But make it vague, don’t over-detail. Don’t act like you know Sonic at all, aside from a name.’ “Well, actually, I came by to help with that hedgehog problem,” She lied. The man raised his eyebrows a little, and smiled. “Good to hear. Where’d you come from anyway?” “I escaped from a Freedom Fighter base. I don’t know anything before that,” Not untrue, but lacking in context. “Well, with power like that, I’m glad you did,” They came to a halt outside a door. “We’re here now.” The squad leader knocked on the door, announcing that he had brought the strange robot with him, after which it opened, and Emerl walked in. He stayed behind, closing the door behind her, and Emerl looked up to see an older, weary-looking rabbit meeting her eyes. “All clear,” He said, and, from various corners of the room, Sonic and Tails emerged, along with a younger rabbit that Emerl didn’t recognise, but Nicole certainly did. “Bunnie!” The lynx AI projected herself into the room, zipping over to Bunnie’s side. “It’s so good to see you again!” “Same to you, Nikki. I’m sorry I ran off…” She beamed for a moment, before her face fell. “It’s alright, I shut down as well. But we’re both better now,” Nicole replied. “Your limbs, though…” “Yeah, like I said to Sonic and Tails, this is who I really am. With ‘em, I can  protect the things that matter to me the most,” She explained, flexing her left arm. “Besides, it’s just my arm and legs now, no more awkward diets and uncomfortable maintenance for me!” “That’s good to hear.” “So, you gonna introduce us?” Bunnie glanced over Nicole’s shoulder at Emerl, who stood off to the side, arms folded, awkwardly tapping her foot. “Oh, of course!” She nodded, leading her friend over. “Bunnie, Emerl. Emerl, Bunnie.” “Nice to meet you, Sonic and Tails told me about you when we met outside,” Bunnie held out her hand for the Gizoid to shake. Emerl looked down at the hand, tilting her head quizzically for a second, before holding out her own in the same position, glancing at Nicole for pointers. Bunnie laughed, seizing Emerl’s hand in her own and shaking it gently. “Like this, sugah.” “Right, right,” She nodded. “And it’s nice to meet you too. A friend of Nicole’s is a friend of mine.” “Emerl is a Gizoid, a type of ancient robot that has the ability to mimic the powers and moves of others by observing them once. She was a great help in rescuing Sally.” “So I’ve heard. Thanks for that, Emerl,” She hugged the robot, who let out a started yelp before returning it. “Heh, looks like nobody warned you that I’m a hugger.” “Pardon the interruption, but I’ve been told that you have a plan that should free us from Eggman’s yoke?” Beauregard approached Nicole, leaning on his cane. The lynx nodded, turning to face him. “Yes, I do,” She nodded. “Previously, I hadn’t dared tamper with Eggman’s self-destruct bombs in case one actually went off, and getting my hands on one to safely test has been impossible. However, after he put one in Mecha Sally, I was forced to chance a deactivation or lose her, and I was successful. Since Eggman’s computer security is always terrible, and he never changes or updates things aside from Metal Sonic, I’d wager that the code I deleted to shut down Sally’s bomb will be the same in all of yours.” “Wager? Doesn’t sound certain to me…” He frowned. “I am not a betting woman, sir. I don’t take chances that I am not forced into. And I will make sure that the code is the same before I alter anything.” “Actually, since I’ve got legion tech, but no bomb or implants, there must be spares from my upgrade, right?” Bunnie suggested. “You can use those.” “That’s right, you could…” Beauregard nodded, walking back to his desk, opening a drawer and taking out a few parts. “When Bunnie had her surgery, I employed only a coupla doctors, the few that I trust to not sell me out to Eggman, then I smuggled the implants and bomb up here to make sure no-one found ‘em. You’re free to take a swing at it.” “Alright…  Tails, I need you to disconnect the detonator, just as a safety precaution,” Nicole glanced at the fox, who nodded and picked up the bomb. Opening it up, he cut the red wire, and the bomb went dead. “Done,” He stepped back, allowing Nicole free access. Her avatar faded into a small green orb, floating into the implant. After a few moments, she reappeared, floating above the desk. “It was indeed the same code, and I can mass-neutralise it. I should have it done in a few minutes…” The lynx smiled. “You have my gratitude, but what’s your reason for helping us?” Beauregard frowned. “We’re your enemies, after all.” “Until now, while we didn’t condone the actions of the Sandblasters, they were a necessary evil to prevent Eggman’s forces from spreading up from the south. Until I knew that I could disable the bombs, I was not willing to try and potentially harm the regular civilians forced under the empire’s command. But if you aren’t hostile… then we don’t need the Sandblasters anymore. We can make them face justice for their crimes against your people,” Nicole explained. “That’s the deal. I will free you, and we will help you with the Sandblasters, and you will become our ally.” “Seems fair to me… alright… do it.” The elder rabbit nodded. Nicole closed her eyes, raising her hands as a bright green flash rippled out from her body, flooding through the fortress. Beauregard heard a soft beep from the base of his skull, nothing like the frantic alarm that heralded a detonation, and a weight lifted from his shoulders. “It’s really gone… I can’t thank you enough, Miss Lynx. You’ve got yourself a deal.” “You’re welcome,” Nicole beamed. “I’ll make the preparations for the overthrow immediately, we should be good to go tomorrow. When should I contact you?” “Probably best to not do so until we’ve ousted Naugus…” Tails mused. “Which could be tomorrow, could be next week… depends on what Sally comes up with in terms of a plan…” “Basically, we’ll call you,” Sonic shrugged. “How are we gonna deal with him?” Bunnie asked, glancing at her friends. “I’m not sure I can be much help there, after what he did to Titan Metal Sonic… last thing I need is to have my new parts turn into foliage.” “I dunno, Sal’s working on it. Best I’ve got is ‘Make him look bad and then punch him in the face’, which isn’t much. We’re gonna have to work out the fine details later.” “I approve of the basic structure of this plan!” Emerl announced, clunking her fists together. “We know you do, buddy. Just got to make sure it works,” Sonic grinned. “Well, we’d best be off, then,” Bunnie said. She hugged her uncle tightly, and smiled up at him. “I’ll talk to you soon, Uncle Beau.” “Definitely. Good luck, Bunnie.” The three organics clustered around Emerl, and in a flash of blue, they disappeared.

[larathia]

On Quintessence and the Galra Empire

I dunno how far this will get into my stories, because frankly I don’t have a lot of characters to work with who are deep into the ideas of why and wherefore, so I’m going to write this (rather lengthy and detailed) headcanon down over here, and y’all can accept it or deny it or whatever but it is in the background of my VLD fics, as this is my genuine understanding of How This Shit Actually Works.

The TLDR is: Our Heroes got it wrong and ‘quintessence poisoning’ is not actually a Thing. Rather, what happened to the galra in general (and the royal galra family in particular) was something else entirely, something only baaarely touched on during the series but absolutely present.

You ready? Strapped in? Good.

1) Quintessence does not and cannot ‘poison’. Rather, it is a multidirectional intensifier.

We get introduced to quintessence, timelinewise, when the reality crossing meteor strikes Daibazaal. Quintessence comes out of that rift pretty much from the getgo, but we do not hear of the galra being negatively affected as such. Zarkon evacuates people near the rift because, well, BIG HORKING RIFT, but quintessence doesn’t seem to affect anyone particularly. We hear nothing at all about, for example, fights breaking out, or plagues, or anything.

If quintessence by itself could poison, it would’ve poisoned Kova the cat first. It would have poisoned the galra people long before anything else happened. No, the only things we know quintessence does  - by itself - based on what we see in the show is:

* it heals * it lengthens lifespan * it intensifies emotion

Keith gets splashed with untreated quintessence and it just heals his burns. Allura and Lotor fly into the quintessence field and there’s just curiosity and quiet joy. Kova gets dosed with quintessence and becomes the first immortal housecat.

2) What poisoned Honerva and Zarkon was the Dark Energy Being (DEB). DEB then poisoned the entire galra empire.

We do see Honerva kind of wilting and distracted, but we don’t see her having that reaction until AFTER the DEB comes through the rift. She keeps a little DEB by her workstation, possibly for years, just studying it. We know from S8 that the DEB is a hugely nasty piece of work, that it feeds on quintessence to survive, and that it can attach itself to a sentient host. I believe that the DEB in Honerva’s workstation drained her quintessence over time, and its visions screwed with her mind - and that’s why she withers the way she does, and eventually dies/lapses into a near-death state.

Zarkon and Honerva enter the rift and are both overtaken by the DEB. They both, thereafter, focus on acquiring and consuming quintessence. The DEB also has the effect of playing on/playing to/enhancing darker emotions like paranoia and rage, causing Zarkon to distance himself from Honerva (letting her name herself Haggar) and Haggar distances herself from Lotor. Lotor is born a sort of dhampir, in that the DEB is part of his being from the getgo. But because he’s born with it, and it’s a part of him throughout his life, he learns ways of dealing with it - it’s not manipulating him, it’s just part of who he is.

Anyway. Back to the empire. Possessed!Zarkon and Haggar need quintessence. They need the galra people on their side, angry enough to suck the quintessence out of planets. Now the galra were never as peaceful a race as the alteans - the galra history is a lot more like our own, in that they revered great warriors and conquerors. But they were clearly able to coexist with other races peacefully before the DEB was unleashed. What Honerva did was implant little DEBs into various sensitive people, and these people became the Druids. I firmly believe the Druids wear masks to hide the physical effect of having a DEB inside them, as well as to hide the fact that they’re not all galra. The DEBs in them grant them their magic, and also tie them in obedience to Haggar. The Druids use their magic to ‘process’ quintessence into fuel that runs the entire galra empire.

That fuel is tainted by the DEBs. So basically, the galra empire is created to run on ...well, ‘hate fuel’. The galra on the cruisers are in close proximity to huge amounts of tainted quintessence, which makes the calm ones angry, the angry ones furious, and encourages things like sadism in the ranks. The exposure makes the galra long lived, but warps their minds and hearts as the centuries pass. That warping lets the galra do what they do during the series.

When Honerva destroys the galra high command, she’s killing off the generals most thoroughly tainted by that poisoned quintessence. When the druids are destroyed, so is the source of that tainted quintessence. And weirdly enough the galra fairly quickly become much less of a Serious Problem. The stuff that’s been pushing them over the edge is gone, and the leaders that were probably also so poisoned as to keep going anyway are also gone.

I’ll backtrack a bit here and explain why I think this is the case.

Firstly: the DEB is known to affect personality.

We know this because Allura takes on a DEB in S8, and her focus is pretty much a beeline for ‘take out Haggar’ after that. Her character development in the whole season is kinda questionable, I grant you that, but we do see her being tempted early on, with visions and dreams, and once she takes the DEB on she’s willing to do things that are seriously morally questionable especially compared to where she started. (Like diving into Honerva’s mind? Really? At the start of the series she had a problem with putting Sendak’s memories into an interrogatable AI.)

We also see Honerva’s acolytes, and we know they’ve taken a DEB. They’re also the straight up most hateful Alteans we see in the primary reality of the show. They’re a lot more willing to react emotionally and from places of fear or anger.

My final evidence for this is the alt-reality Alteans, where it’s the Altean empire that’s the danger. With the worlds affected reversed, we can infer that the meteor hit Altea and not Daibazaal - and while they’re kiiiinda? gentler about it the Alteans are twisted in horrible ways too.

Secondly: Druid magic screws with normal quintessence quickly, and negatively.

We have as our main example for this the Crystal Venom episode. The crystal that Sendak puts in the castleship is purple, meaning it’s been tampered with by Druids. And what does it do? Exactly the same shit that the little DEB mote later does to Allura. It spreads fear through the castle. It tries to kill off the paladins. It plays upon their terror. None of that happens on a cruiser, but the cruisers use liquid forms of the quintessence, not giant crystallized chunks, and it may well be that this is why.

I know a popular fan theory is that it’s Sendak doing this, but we actually have no evidence of that. The AI of Sendak remains dormant all the way to S8. The ‘real’ Sendak is frozen in stasis - we can’t actually say for certain that him waking up was anything but Shiro’s terrified hallucination, as the ship poked at him the way it was poking at everyone else. Honestly, the only AI the crystal could’ve warped was Alfor’s, and we know that it did do so.

Hence, I really think all that purple quintessence in the cruisers and fighters was seriously fucking with galra minds. I think that may well be part of why a lot of cruisers were staffed with robot sentries, too - robots aren’t living, and thus can’t be driven into psychotic breaks by being near sources of tainted quintessence. The officers and commanders are near it, but not so near that the effects are too strong or immediate. Just a low, slow, warping of personality.

In short it’s never ‘quintessence’ doing the poisoning.

It’s the DEB behind pretty much everything.  And since they can’t stop reality-crossing comets from happening, there’s always a chance another rift will form, and some DEBs can get out and start this mess all over again.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk and goodnight.

[pendulumprince]

Folks, we need to talk about Ai.

*sigh* look at my lil gumdrop

What I’m about to say is something I think most of us already know, but I haven’t seen anyone put it into words yet, so I figure I might as well. This is, I would argue, Ai’s primary (if not sole) motivator thus far. 

Ai is attention starved.

To get the obvious out of the way: this is why Ai is so dramatic and out there---hell, why he’s constantly talking. He just seeks out any attention he can get, even if it’s the negative attention of people telling him that he’s annoying, or calling him stupid, or telling him to be quiet.

But I believe while Ai will take any attention he can get, he specifically wants positive attention. And the more he wants validation from a specific source, the harder he’ll try to get it using one particular method: he goes out of his way to help those who treat him poorly, in hopes that their opinions of him will improve. 

We’ve seen him do it twice so far, first with a group and then with an individual. 

The Ignises

Something that’s always been a minor “question” is why Ai went out of his way to save the other ignises, if they hated him so much.

I have no doubt that it was in part for the Cyberse itself, but we can’t forget, in this act he was saving the ignises as well, because there would be no Cyberse without them. And hell, Ai hardly mentioned the Cyberse in this scene---he talks about himself. He declares himself to be their savior because that’s the way he wants them to remember him. He wanted it so much that he nearly got himself killed trying to get it.

We all know what happens next: Cracking Dragon attacks him. He survives, but is reduced to an eyeball. He then spends the next five years on the run.

Let me reiterate that: he spent the next five years on the run, alone. There were no sentient AIs for him to talk to, and you can bet your ass he never directly reached out to any humans. Hell, couldn’t even move about freely without the fear of being detected.

Before Yusaku “caught” him, this was Ai’s fate: to wander Link Vrains indefinitely. The magnitude of his sacrifice can only be measured by the five years he spent running, alone, presumably with no end in sight. There was no one there to give him attention, positive or negative, and knowing who Ai is he must have been so desperately lonely. This period no doubt fed into his need for attention.

Until Yusaku came. And then comes our second example:

Yusaku/Playmaker

I’ve said this time and time and time again, but: Yusaku has not treated Ai well. This is in part because he didn’t (and still doesn’t fully) believe Ai to be sentient. But he is---and being aware that he isn’t being treated well, you would think Ai might feel threatened into cooperating with Yusaku, but wouldn’t want to actively help him. 

And yet, and yet, and yet, consider everything Ai has done for Yusaku:

gave him the d-board

spelled out the dangers of speed duels

tricked him into the Data Storm, his “personal program” (which has since only worked to Playmaker’s benefit)

attacked the Knight Boy who tried to kill him in episode 2

tricked him into meeting Blue Angel for their duel (something that needed to be done)

bit Revolver’s arm off?? And while he only got the data for his body, we know he intended to get more before Kogami’s intervention.

ate the data in SOL’s mother computer, allowing Yusaku to examine it in the real world.

Being an otherwise self-centered creature, Ai’s base motivation for doing all this is clear. He continues to help Yusaku not only for his own protection, but to win Yusaku over so he’ll someday think of him as his partner. 

And best believe, on a personal level that’s exactly what Ai wants from Yusaku. We’ve known that since the beginning.

And even the smallest hints that Yusaku is starting to like him simply send Ai over the moon. 

Again, very strange that Ai thinks so highly of Yusaku’s opinion, despite everything. But I do believe it’s because he wants that validation so badly, and believes (not inaccuratly, perhaps) that all his work is “finally paying off.”

But it’s not like everyone treats Ai like crap. There are two people who treat Ai relatively well.

Shoichi

We saw it a bit when they took turns busting Yusaku’s balls to pieces in episode 6.

It was a cutesy moment, notable because it’s one of the first times we see someone talk to Ai in a normal, non-threatening way. It’s almost strange that it came from Shoichi, since at the time neither he or Yusaku had any reason to believe he was sentient.

And then we also had episode 20, where upon logging out Shoichi tells Ai that he did a good job eating all of SOL’s data. And just look at Ai’s reaction to that.

Shoichi (to Yusaku): “Well done.”

Ai: “All thanks to me~!”

Shoichi (to Ai): “Yeah, you did great, too.”

Ai: “HOORAY! He praised me! Hooray! Yeah!”

It’s comparable to when his and Yusaku’s opinions “matched for the first time”; you can’t say that Shoichi’s opinion doesn’t mean anything to Ai. But what’s notable here is that Ai and Shoichi aren’t close. What Shoichi’s done and said to Ai so far hasn’t been anything above and beyond. But look at how excited Ai became at Shoichi’s very mild praise. It meant the world to him, because he wasn’t expecting it.

... but there is one person he has come to expect it from.

Roboppy

There are several reasons why Ai is more endeared to Roboppy than to Shoichi:

she’s a fellow robot

she does “many secret things for him” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Ai has to share Shoichi with Yusaku, while he has Roboppy all to himself

Roboppy is still a “dumb AI”.

Praise from Shoichi came as a (obviously very welcome) surprise, because he’s intelligent and intelligent people typically don’t take well to Ai. But Roboppy is another matter entirely. It’s curious why Ai would take a sexual (and arguably romantic) interest in her, despite her programming only going so far. 

But the truth is: her lack of intelligence is what makes her appealing to Ai, at least in part. This isn’t to say she can’t become more (I’m only half joking about #ComradeRoboppy), but she’s the only person/AI to date who hasn’t been able to see through Ai’s bullshit.

Just look at this past episode: she blindly believes most of what Ai tells her. She genuinely thinks he’s popular and cool. And this may be why Ai hasn’t improved her programming yet, why he says he’ll only make her “a bit” smarter: because if she “opens her eyes”, she may not think so highly of him anymore. Roboppy could easily become just like the other Ignises, or Yusaku, or Ghost Girl, or any of the other people who’ve put him down his entire existence. Why would he risk that? Why not keep Roboppy who she is, more or less?

To be clear, Ai’s history of rejection doesn’t make line of thinking okay. And I’m not saying Roboppy is a bad character/unworthy of an intelligent partner, she’s just limited by her programming rn. But until we see evidence to the contrary, I see no reason not to believe this is the basis for... whatever it is that they have.

In conclusion:

Despite all his bluster, and assuming he isn’t just oblivious, all of this says Ai is a deeply insecure creature. He’s willing to go to self-jeopardizing extremes to garner validation (the ignises, Yusaku), and when he does get that validation he’ll seek maintain it, even at the hinderance of it’s source (Roboppy). He doesn’t have a single healthy relationship in his life; at best they’re based on unhealthy power balances, and at worst we have reason to believe he’s been exploited outright (if the speculation on how SOL treated the ignises turns out to be true). 

So I think Ai’s as-of-yet unspoken character arc will involve him getting past all this, and learning how to make connections with people based on mutual respect. That it’ll happen with Yusaku is a near-guarantee, but I’d like to see it happen with other characters too, such as the ignises (whenever they return), or Roboppy, of the other Charisma Duelists (once they get to know him). I have faith in our lil guy. He can do it ;)

[dorcasrempel]

Revolutionizing everyday products with artificial intelligence

“Who is Bram Stoker?” Those three words demonstrated the amazing potential of artificial intelligence. It was the answer to a final question in a particularly memorable 2011 episode of Jeopardy!. The three competitors were former champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, and Watson, a super computer developed by IBM. By answering the final question correctly, Watson became the first computer to beat a human on the famous quiz show.

“In a way, Watson winning Jeopardy! seemed unfair to people,” says Jeehwan Kim, the Class ‘47 Career Development Professor and a faculty member of the MIT departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. “At the time, Watson was connected to a super computer the size of a room while the human brain is just a few pounds. But the ability to replicate a human brain’s ability to learn is incredibly difficult.”

Kim specializes in machine learning, which relies on algorithms to teach computers how to learn like a human brain. “Machine learning is cognitive computing,” he explains. “Your computer recognizes things without you telling the computer what it’s looking at.”

Machine learning is one example of artificial intelligence in practice. While the phrase “machine learning” often conjures up science fiction typified in shows like “Westworld” or “Battlestar Galactica,” smart systems and devices are already pervasive in the fabric of our daily lives. Computers and phones use face recognition to unlock. Systems sense and adjust the temperature in our homes. Devices answer questions or play our favorite music on demand. Nearly every major car company has entered the race to develop a safe self-driving car.

For any of these products to work, the software and hardware both have to work in perfect synchrony. Cameras, tactile sensors, radar, and light detection all need to function properly to feed information back to computers. Algorithms need to be designed so these machines can process these sensory data and make decisions based on the highest probability of success.

Kim and the much of the faculty at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering are creating new software that connects with hardware to create intelligent devices. Rather than building the sentient robots romanticized in popular culture, these researchers are working on projects that improve everyday life and make humans safer, more efficient, and better informed. 

Making portable devices smarter

Jeehwan Kim holds up sheet of paper. If he and his team are successful, one day the power of a super computer like IBM’s Watson will be shrunk down to the size of one sheet of paper. “We are trying to build an actual physical neural network on a letter paper size,” explains Kim.

To date, most neural networks have been software-based and made using the conventional method known as the Von Neumann computing method. Kim however has been using neuromorphic computing methods.

“Neuromorphic computer means portable AI,” says Kim. “So, you build artificial neurons and synapses on a small-scale wafer.” The result is a so-called ‘brain-on-a-chip.’

Rather than compute information from binary signaling, Kim’s neural network processes information like an analog device. Signals act like artificial neurons and move across thousands of arrays to particular cross points, which function like synapses. With thousands of arrays connected, vast amounts of information could be processed at once. For the first time, a portable piece of equipment could mimic the processing power of the brain.

“The key with this method is you really need to control the artificial synapses well. When you’re talking about thousands of cross points, this poses challenges,” says Kim.

According to Kim, the design and materials that have been used to make these artificial synapses thus far have been less than ideal. The amorphous materials used in neuromorphic chips make it incredibly difficult to control the ions once voltage is applied.

In a Nature Materials study published earlier this year, Kim found that when his team made a chip out of silicon germanium they were able to control the current flowing out of the synapse and reduce variability to 1 percent. With control over how the synapses react to stimuli, it was time to put their chip to the test.

“We envision that if we build up the actual neural network with material we can actually do handwriting recognition,” says Kim. In a computer simulation of their new artificial neural network design, they provided thousands of handwriting samples. Their neural network was able to accurately recognize 95 percent of the samples.

“If you have a camera and an algorithm for the handwriting data set connected to our neural network, you can achieve handwriting recognition,” explains Kim.

While building the physical neural network for handwriting recognition is the next step for Kim’s team, the potential of this new technology goes beyond handwriting recognition. “Shrinking the power of a super computer down to a portable size could revolutionize the products we use,” says Kim. “The potential is limitless – we can integrate this technology in our phones, computers, and robots to make them substantially smarter.”

Making homes smarter

While Kim is working on making our portable products more intelligent, Professor Sanjay Sarma and Research Scientist Josh Siegel hope to integrate smart devices within the biggest product we own: our homes. 

One evening, Sarma was in his home when one of his circuit breakers kept going off. This circuit breaker — known as an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) — was designed to shut off power when an electric arc is detected to prevent fires. While AFCIs are great at preventing fires, in Sarma’s case there didn’t seem to be an issue. “There was no discernible reason for it to keep going off,” recalls Sarma. “It was incredibly distracting.”

AFCIs are notorious for such ‘nuisance trips,’ which disconnect safe objects unnecessarily. Sarma, who also serves as MIT’s vice president for open learning, turned his frustration into opportunity. If he could embed the AFCI with smart technologies and connect it to the ‘internet of things,’ he could teach the circuit breaker to learn when a product is safe or when a product actually poses a fire risk.

“Think of it like a virus scanner,” explains Siegel. “Virus scanners are connected to a system that updates them with new virus definitions over time.” If Sarma and Siegel could embed similar technology into AFCIs, the circuit breakers could detect exactly what product is being plugged in and learn new object definitions over time.

If, for example, a new vacuum cleaner is plugged into the circuit breaker and the power shuts off without reason, the smart AFCI can learn that it’s safe and add it to a list of known safe objects. The AFCI learns these definitions with the aid of a neural network. But, unlike Jeewhan Kim’s physical neural network, this network is software-based.

The neural network is built by gathering thousands of data points during simulations of arcing. Algorithms are then written to help the network assess its environment, recognize patterns, and make decisions based on the probability of achieving the desired outcome. With the help of a $35 microcomputer and a sound card, the team can cheaply integrate this technology into circuit breakers.

As the smart AFCI learns about the devices it encounters, it can simultaneously distribute its knowledge and definitions to every other home using the internet of things.

“Internet of things could just as well be called ‘intelligence of things,” says Sarma. “Smart, local technologies with the aid of the cloud can make our environments adaptive and the user experience seamless.”

Circuit breakers are just one of many ways neural networks can be used to make homes smarter. This kind of technology can control the temperature of your house, detect when there’s an anomaly such as an intrusion or burst pipe, and run diagnostics to see when things are in need of repair.

“We’re developing software for monitoring mechanical systems that’s self-learned,” explains Siegel. “You don’t teach these devices all the rules, you teach them how to learn the rules.”

Making manufacturing and design smarter

Artificial intelligence can not only help improve how users interact with products, devices, and environments. It can also improve the efficiency with which objects are made by optimizing the manufacturing and design process.

“Growth in automation along with complementary technologies including 3-D printing, AI, and machine learning compels us to, in the long run, rethink how we design factories and supply chains,” says Associate Professor A. John Hart.

Hart, who has done extensive research in 3-D printing, sees AI as a way to improve quality assurance in manufacturing. 3-D printers incorporating high-performance sensors, that are capable of analyzing data on the fly, will help accelerate the adoption of 3-D printing for mass production.

“Having 3-D printers that learn how to create parts with fewer defects and inspect parts as they make them will be a really big deal — especially when the products you’re making have critical properties such as medical devices or parts for aircraft engines,” Hart explains.  

The very process of designing the structure of these parts can also benefit from intelligent software. Associate Professor Maria Yang has been looking at how designers can use automation tools to design more efficiently. “We call it hybrid intelligence for design,” says Yang. “The goal is to enable effective collaboration between intelligent tools and human designers.”

In a recent study, Yang and graduate student Edward Burnell tested a design tool with varying levels of automation. Participants used the software to pick nodes for a 2-D truss of either a stop sign or a bridge. The tool would then automatically come up with optimized solutions based on intelligent algorithms for where to connect nodes and the width of each part.

“We’re trying to design smart algorithms that fit with the ways designers already think,” says Burnell.

Making robots smarter

If there is anything on MIT’s campus that most closely resembles the futuristic robots of science fiction, it would be Professor Sangbae Kim’s robotic cheetah. The four-legged creature senses its surrounding environment using LIDAR technologies and moves in response to this information. Much like its namesake, it can run and leap over obstacles. 

Kim’s primary focus is on navigation. “We are building a very unique system specially designed for dynamic movement of the robot,” explains Kim. “I believe it is going to reshape the interactive robots in the world. You can think of all kinds of applications — medical, health care, factories.”

Kim sees opportunity to eventually connect his research with the physical neural network his colleague Jeewhan Kim is working on. “If you want the cheetah to recognize people, voice, or gestures, you need a lot of learning and processing,” he says. “Jeewhan’s neural network hardware could possibly enable that someday.”

Combining the power of a portable neural network with a robot capable of skillfully navigating its surroundings could open up a new world of possibilities for human and AI interaction. This is just one example of how researchers in mechanical engineering can one-day collaborate to bring AI research to next level.

While we may be decades away from interacting with intelligent robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning has already found its way into our routines. Whether it’s using face and handwriting recognition to protect our information, tapping into the internet of things to keep our homes safe, or helping engineers build and design more efficiently, the benefits of AI technologies are pervasive.

The science fiction fantasy of a world overtaken by robots is far from the truth. “There’s this romantic notion that everything is going to be automatic,” adds Maria Yang. “But I think the reality is you’re going to have tools that will work with people and help make their daily life a bit easier.”

Revolutionizing everyday products with artificial intelligence syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

[pendulumprince]

(1) My fickle shipper's heart started to ship Yusaku with Shoichi's's bro... and then I remembered my theory about him being Ai. Imagine that he, back when he was a human, was best friends with Yusaku (or maybe there was even mutual young love going on), but all this shit happened and he became disconnected from his human body leaving it to be an empty broken shell. As for his mind, he became an Ignis but five years ago he was attacked by Revolver etc.

And he lost all of his memories, his human life, even his name but he never forgot about one person, the one he loved the most… Yusaku. So when he saw Playmaker he became subconsciously gravitated to him, though not remembering exactly why. I rewatched episodes 18-19 and those moments about Ai’s real name not being among the data held by Akira and then it’s mentioned that Hanoi Project’s survivors’ names were not in there too.. and we still haven’t learned Shoichi’s bro’s name.. suspicious

And now imagine at some point Ai returning his memories and reconnecting with his human body, becoming Shoichi’s bro again. Imagine Yusaku’s reaction when he realizes that he was treating his own lover like a thing and even threatening to kill him in front of his older brother. Oh, and I figured that if Ai sounds kinda robotic and clumsy, Shoichi’s bro would sound, well, human and cool, if you heard his VA in other roles (my personal favorite is Makishima Shogo from Psycho-Pass).

(In reference to these posts.)

So I think your old Ai=Shoichi’s Brother got a Heroic Second Wind with everything that was revealed in episodes 18/19 lol

Because first, barring an extreme change in circumstance, Revolver=Shoichi’s Brother has been debunked. But more importantly, we got Yusaku’s confirmation that Shoichi’s Brother “hasn’t recovered” from the trauma they went though. For this theory to work, Shoichi’s Brother has to be an empty shell. If we’re meant to take these shots literally

That means Shoichi’s Brother is huddled up in the corner of a dark room, all day, staring blankly at the ground. As you said in the post this is referring to, he may be in an psychiatric ward/care center. Until we see him outside of a flashback, it’s not too far off to think he may be unresponsive to his surroundings.

So working on the assumption that the Ai-Soul theory is at least partially true, it could be as you said all those months ago: Shoichi’s Brother is unresponsive not because of the trauma, but because he literally isn’t in his body. Something went wrong (or horribly right) with his case; instead of taking just part of Shoichi’s Brother, his entire being was sucked up by the eyeball that was watching them

And was then made into a sentient AI. An ignis. Ai. 

So getting to this message proper, which destroyed me in the best possible way:

First of all, you’re really appealing to my aiballshipper’s heart here lol. Because if Yusaku and Shoichi’s Brother were friends/were in puppy love all those years ago, then Ai seeking Yusaku out ten years later only speaks to the magnitude of those feelings. It means what Shoichi’s Brother felt was strong enough to survive the very alteration of his being, five years of being trapped in another universe, having his memory wiped, and another five years on the run. 

It would certainly answer the question of why Ai was drawn to Yusaku in the first place. We know that part of it was obviously because of their common enemy (the KoH); but there has to be something more to it than that, even if neither of them are aware of it right now. 

We know that Ai was probably more, uh, proactive in what went down in episode 1 than he’s let on. That means Ai was so desperate to be close to Yusaku that he not only allowed but literally set up his own kidnapping, at the hands of someone who doubts his sentience, doesn’t treat him well, and has shown no qualms about threatening him with death. And despite that poor treatment, Ai has done so much for Yusaku. He sincerely thinks Yusaku is his friend. From his point of view, what they have is passionate. That’s a… very strong word to use in any context, let alone one meant to describe your relationship with your (supposed) captor. There’s something more going on here.

All of Ai’s behavior here would be explained if he and Yusaku have a preexisting relationship, one that Yusaku isn’t aware of. It only becomes more profound if he’s actually Shoichi’s Brother, because…

Then that means that his brain/programming refused to let go of the memory of Yusaku. Even subconsciously, Ai remembers his friend and the bond they shared, and it still colors his perception of Yusaku even ten years later. Ai can look past the mistreatment and the death threats because whether he realizes it or not, when he looks at Yusaku he still sees the kid who inspired in him one of the deepest and most human things anyone can feel: love. So of course he’d help Yusaku at every turn, and have faith in him, and tease him, and be shocked when Yusaku says that there’s “no friendship between [them]”. 

But that’s not all, because as you said: if Ai=Shoichi’s Brother, it’s bound to get found out at some point. And yes, that means Yusaku will have to contend with the fact that he treated his first love like garbage and literally threatened to kill him in front of his own brother. Hell, we could even throw Shoichi himself in this, because he stood by and watched it happen. That, to the person they were so bent on saving. They’d certainly have a lot of making up to do. 

One last note. Us not knowing Ai’s real name is understandable at this point, he doesn’t have any of his memories. But us not knowing Shoichi’s Brother’s name, when there are at least two people (Yusaku and Shoichi) who should know it well? That’s highly suspicious. It could easily be a plot point. And that could mean anything at this point, but…

His name being connected to Ai would certainly be a good reason to hide it, right? 

[dorcasrempel]

Revolutionizing everyday products with artificial intelligence

“Who is Bram Stoker?” Those three words demonstrated the amazing potential of artificial intelligence. It was the answer to a final question in a particularly memorable 2011 episode of Jeopardy!. The three competitors were former champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, and Watson, a super computer developed by IBM. By answering the final question correctly, Watson became the first computer to beat a human on the famous quiz show.

“In a way, Watson winning Jeopardy! seemed unfair to people,” says Jeehwan Kim, the Class ‘47 Career Development Professor and a faculty member of the MIT departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. “At the time, Watson was connected to a super computer the size of a room while the human brain is just a few pounds. But the ability to replicate a human brain’s ability to learn is incredibly difficult.”

Kim specializes in machine learning, which relies on algorithms to teach computers how to learn like a human brain. “Machine learning is cognitive computing,” he explains. “Your computer recognizes things without you telling the computer what it’s looking at.”

Machine learning is one example of artificial intelligence in practice. While the phrase “machine learning” often conjures up science fiction typified in shows like “Westworld” or “Battlestar Galactica,” smart systems and devices are already pervasive in the fabric of our daily lives. Computers and phones use face recognition to unlock. Systems sense and adjust the temperature in our homes. Devices answer questions or play our favorite music on demand. Nearly every major car company has entered the race to develop a safe self-driving car.

For any of these products to work, the software and hardware both have to work in perfect synchrony. Cameras, tactile sensors, radar, and light detection all need to function properly to feed information back to computers. Algorithms need to be designed so these machines can process these sensory data and make decisions based on the highest probability of success.

Kim and the much of the faculty at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering are creating new software that connects with hardware to create intelligent devices. Rather than building the sentient robots romanticized in popular culture, these researchers are working on projects that improve everyday life and make humans safer, more efficient, and better informed. 

Making portable devices smarter

Jeehwan Kim holds up sheet of paper. If he and his team are successful, one day the power of a super computer like IBM’s Watson will be shrunk down to the size of one sheet of paper. “We are trying to build an actual physical neural network on a letter paper size,” explains Kim.

To date, most neural networks have been software-based and made using the conventional method known as the Von Neumann computing method. Kim however has been using neuromorphic computing methods.

“Neuromorphic computer means portable AI,” says Kim. “So, you build artificial neurons and synapses on a small-scale wafer.” The result is a so-called ‘brain-on-a-chip.’

Rather than compute information from binary signaling, Kim’s neural network processes information like an analog device. Signals act like artificial neurons and move across thousands of arrays to particular cross points, which function like synapses. With thousands of arrays connected, vast amounts of information could be processed at once. For the first time, a portable piece of equipment could mimic the processing power of the brain.

“The key with this method is you really need to control the artificial synapses well. When you’re talking about thousands of cross points, this poses challenges,” says Kim.

According to Kim, the design and materials that have been used to make these artificial synapses thus far have been less than ideal. The amorphous materials used in neuromorphic chips make it incredibly difficult to control the ions once voltage is applied.

In a Nature Materials study published earlier this year, Kim found that when his team made a chip out of silicon germanium they were able to control the current flowing out of the synapse and reduce variability to 1 percent. With control over how the synapses react to stimuli, it was time to put their chip to the test.

“We envision that if we build up the actual neural network with material we can actually do handwriting recognition,” says Kim. In a computer simulation of their new artificial neural network design, they provided thousands of handwriting samples. Their neural network was able to accurately recognize 95 percent of the samples.

“If you have a camera and an algorithm for the handwriting data set connected to our neural network, you can achieve handwriting recognition,” explains Kim.

While building the physical neural network for handwriting recognition is the next step for Kim’s team, the potential of this new technology goes beyond handwriting recognition. “Shrinking the power of a super computer down to a portable size could revolutionize the products we use,” says Kim. “The potential is limitless – we can integrate this technology in our phones, computers, and robots to make them substantially smarter.”

Making homes smarter

While Kim is working on making our portable products more intelligent, Professor Sanjay Sarma and Research Scientist Josh Siegel hope to integrate smart devices within the biggest product we own: our homes. 

One evening, Sarma was in his home when one of his circuit breakers kept going off. This circuit breaker — known as an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) — was designed to shut off power when an electric arc is detected to prevent fires. While AFCIs are great at preventing fires, in Sarma’s case there didn’t seem to be an issue. “There was no discernible reason for it to keep going off,” recalls Sarma. “It was incredibly distracting.”

AFCIs are notorious for such ‘nuisance trips,’ which disconnect safe objects unnecessarily. Sarma, who also serves as MIT’s vice president for open learning, turned his frustration into opportunity. If he could embed the AFCI with smart technologies and connect it to the ‘internet of things,’ he could teach the circuit breaker to learn when a product is safe or when a product actually poses a fire risk.

“Think of it like a virus scanner,” explains Siegel. “Virus scanners are connected to a system that updates them with new virus definitions over time.” If Sarma and Siegel could embed similar technology into AFCIs, the circuit breakers could detect exactly what product is being plugged in and learn new object definitions over time.

If, for example, a new vacuum cleaner is plugged into the circuit breaker and the power shuts off without reason, the smart AFCI can learn that it’s safe and add it to a list of known safe objects. The AFCI learns these definitions with the aid of a neural network. But, unlike Jeewhan Kim’s physical neural network, this network is software-based.

The neural network is built by gathering thousands of data points during simulations of arcing. Algorithms are then written to help the network assess its environment, recognize patterns, and make decisions based on the probability of achieving the desired outcome. With the help of a $35 microcomputer and a sound card, the team can cheaply integrate this technology into circuit breakers.

As the smart AFCI learns about the devices it encounters, it can simultaneously distribute its knowledge and definitions to every other home using the internet of things.

“Internet of things could just as well be called ‘intelligence of things,” says Sarma. “Smart, local technologies with the aid of the cloud can make our environments adaptive and the user experience seamless.”

Circuit breakers are just one of many ways neural networks can be used to make homes smarter. This kind of technology can control the temperature of your house, detect when there’s an anomaly such as an intrusion or burst pipe, and run diagnostics to see when things are in need of repair.

“We’re developing software for monitoring mechanical systems that’s self-learned,” explains Siegel. “You don’t teach these devices all the rules, you teach them how to learn the rules.”

Making manufacturing and design smarter

Artificial intelligence can not only help improve how users interact with products, devices, and environments. It can also improve the efficiency with which objects are made by optimizing the manufacturing and design process.

“Growth in automation along with complementary technologies including 3-D printing, AI, and machine learning compels us to, in the long run, rethink how we design factories and supply chains,” says Associate Professor A. John Hart.

Hart, who has done extensive research in 3-D printing, sees AI as a way to improve quality assurance in manufacturing. 3-D printers incorporating high-performance sensors, that are capable of analyzing data on the fly, will help accelerate the adoption of 3-D printing for mass production.

“Having 3-D printers that learn how to create parts with fewer defects and inspect parts as they make them will be a really big deal — especially when the products you’re making have critical properties such as medical devices or parts for aircraft engines,” Hart explains.  

The very process of designing the structure of these parts can also benefit from intelligent software. Associate Professor Maria Yang has been looking at how designers can use automation tools to design more efficiently. “We call it hybrid intelligence for design,” says Yang. “The goal is to enable effective collaboration between intelligent tools and human designers.”

In a recent study, Yang and graduate student Edward Burnell tested a design tool with varying levels of automation. Participants used the software to pick nodes for a 2-D truss of either a stop sign or a bridge. The tool would then automatically come up with optimized solutions based on intelligent algorithms for where to connect nodes and the width of each part.

“We’re trying to design smart algorithms that fit with the ways designers already think,” says Burnell.

Making robots smarter

If there is anything on MIT’s campus that most closely resembles the futuristic robots of science fiction, it would be Professor Sangbae Kim’s robotic cheetah. The four-legged creature senses its surrounding environment using LIDAR technologies and moves in response to this information. Much like its namesake, it can run and leap over obstacles. 

Kim’s primary focus is on navigation. “We are building a very unique system specially designed for dynamic movement of the robot,” explains Kim. “I believe it is going to reshape the interactive robots in the world. You can think of all kinds of applications — medical, health care, factories.”

Kim sees opportunity to eventually connect his research with the physical neural network his colleague Jeewhan Kim is working on. “If you want the cheetah to recognize people, voice, or gestures, you need a lot of learning and processing,” he says. “Jeewhan’s neural network hardware could possibly enable that someday.”

Combining the power of a portable neural network with a robot capable of skillfully navigating its surroundings could open up a new world of possibilities for human and AI interaction. This is just one example of how researchers in mechanical engineering can one-day collaborate to bring AI research to next level.

While we may be decades away from interacting with intelligent robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning has already found its way into our routines. Whether it’s using face and handwriting recognition to protect our information, tapping into the internet of things to keep our homes safe, or helping engineers build and design more efficiently, the benefits of AI technologies are pervasive.

The science fiction fantasy of a world overtaken by robots is far from the truth. “There’s this romantic notion that everything is going to be automatic,” adds Maria Yang. “But I think the reality is you’re going to have tools that will work with people and help make their daily life a bit easier.”

Revolutionizing everyday products with artificial intelligence syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/