#theta ai

[shadz420]

Insurrectionists are next on the duel height chart:)

You could probably guess who the tallest insurrectionists would be (its sharkface n’ sharktooth.)

[harbingersecho]

let me go, please -- i don't wanna do this!

[dontrousled]

Theta and Delta FC's!!!

I've drawn them before but I wanted to make another because my art has been improving

(I finished this a month ago but still.)

[fishfingersalad]

I have a very silly crack au I've been calling 'Milf Sheila au' which is pretty much just. Tex brings all the ai to bloodgulch and Sheila adopts Theta. Eventually the other ai too. Sheila, Church, and North have to figure out a split custody agreement (North argues that since Church and Sheila live together with the rest of the blues there should be a 50/50 split on time. Sheila and Church think it should be 66/33 split so they each individually get the same amount of time with Theta). When Theta is with Sheila he goes in a little rc car. Sarge keeps offering to mod the rc car and add weapons to it.

[vastpotato]

You think that the freelancers used the AI like we use Alexias and google homes? Like

York- Delta, what’s the weather outside rn?

Delta- agent York, it is space outside…therefore it is -453.8°F. Please do not go outside

Or

North- dang. That’s so sad. Theta, play despacito!

Theta-*already playing it* on it!

[rvbtrash]

THETA BABY YOU GOT THIS

[khimkito]

• york and north w wash before he goes to get epsilon

• theta learns to skateboard

• sigma holographically projects flames on surfaces

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

AI Bracket — Round 1

Propaganda

Blue Sky AKA GORD (Red Valley):

Initially an Alexa-style assistant (in that it could do practically nothing and was very irritating) it develops over the years into a more advanced system. Eventually one of its units is reprogrammed to sound like a dead (I guess depending on your definition of dead, but his hearts not beating and he hasn’t moved in 44 years) character named Gordon. The AI renames itself “GORD” when a character expresses discomfort referring to it as Gordon. It says, and I quote, “Just think of a small pumpkin”

Tumnus (Moonbase Theta, Out):

No propaganda was submitted for Tumnus.

Art of Tumnus was commissioned from @rosenkranz-does-things.

[tvckerwash]

I hc wash and south (and by proxy, north) as all being ODSTs prior to pfl and one thing I really like about hcing them as such is that it adds another layer of depth to why they were all chosen to be a part of the recovery force.

ODSTs are a special forces unit within the marines, and they're generally used as force amplifiers and in high risk or sensitive operations. two such scenarios include the recovery or recapture of personal and high level assets behind enemy lines, as well as deep reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. ODSTs are also used in politically sensitive operations, which pfl was following the crash of the moi.

so basically, who better to be on the recovery force than former ODSTs who already have a background doing the kind of work that would need to be done?

this also adds to some of the tension between north and south as well imo, as while they're a great team who are capable of working together they clearly have two very different skillsets—south is not portrayed as someone who has the patience necessary for long reconnaissance missions, and part of the reason why team b failed so spectacularly is because two snipers and an intelligence operative are not a good choice for a smash and grab mission. had north been replaced with south things would've probably went way better for them, because south is actually fairly similar to wash in her "get in, get it done, get out" mentality, though where wash comes off as more methodical and is willing to take that "wait and see" approach, south throws caution to the wind and has a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" approach.

this is probably why wash and south were (on paper at least) going to get eta and iota—south would've benefited greatly from having an ai that was afraid and anxious as it would force her to slow down and think things through more, and wash getting an ai that was happy and cheerful would force him to loosen up a bit and be less high-strung and serious.

[maircries]

So if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I abhor AI

And I mean this in every way possible. Chat GPT? AI art? Garbage. AI to do maths is on thin fucking ice. Fictional AI? Despise it. God forbid the day we are faced with a conscious AI system, and I struggle to appreciate and sympathize with conscious AI characters. Which has been a really interesting feeling to have now that I’m really immersed in podcasts and podcast fandoms, because it feels like a LOT of podcasts have AI characters.

The weirdest thing about this for me, however, has been the realization of how okay I am with other forms of higher intelligence.

This thought process was brought on by thinking of the Penumbra Podcast (my friend is mid-season 2 and I was having Thoughts), how viscerally I hated the THEIA from the moment Juno accepted the eye compared to how much I adore the Ruby.

My whole basis for despising conscious AI is that I have zero faith that there is a world where an AI system “wakes up” and humanity survives. But how different is an unknown alien consciousness from an AI consciousness? At the end of the day, what will be our undoing is a lack of, for better wording, humanity in these opposing consciousnesses. And that really did get me thinking about why I feel so strongly about the one and not the other.

If there was a podcast I had anticipated changing my mind on AI as characters or potentially awakened AI, all evidence seemed to point to Wolf 359 and Hera. Which, yeah, I did generally enjoy and empathize with Hera as a character, but I struggled to actually like her. She would form relationships and have moments that were so very human, but then I’d remember that she’s not, and it always put me off. So after finishing Wolf 359 and not being turned on AI, I assumed I would always remain firm in my opinions.

Then I listened to Moonbase Theta: Out, and things started to click for me. We are introduced to an “artificial consciousness” (rather than AI) named Tumnus. Not only are we introduced, we actually get to watch her journey into waking up. This is where my feelings started to make sense. Moonbase Theta: Out is similar to Wolf 359 in that a large part of the narration happens through a communications officer, one who is so painfully human and obviously there just to do a job. Tumnus “wakes up” during a period of time in which her only contact is with comms officer Roger, who only wants to get home to his husband and reads and writes poetry. Tumnus grows and learns to be “human” through one of the most objectionably human characters; through someone who believes wholeheartedly in love and dependence on one another and humanity. Should Tumnus have developed in the presence of her creator or, god forbid, the corporations, she would have become a very different person and I would have despised her.

I think characters like Hera unsettle me not because they are inhumane or unknowable, but rather because we know the people they were developed by. Sure, Dr. Pryce took steps to cut Hera down, but she still attempted at least once in her early life to achieve consciousness, and she even, despite being very comfortable with the inhabitants of the station and having close personal relationships with most of them, attempted to see if she had the capabilities to hack the systems that could kill them, just because she was curious. I think there’s a direct correlation between her surroundings as she developed and the actions she took.

Which really makes me think about what I dislike so much about AI and conscious AI systems. I always thought it was because I had no faith in our ability to develop something with a conscious that wouldn’t turn around and immediately bite us in the ass. This is where my feelings of other alternate higher consciousnesses ties in: I don’t immediately fear and assume the worst of other alien intelligences because I have no reason to assume they were developed in a manner that would lead to inherent harm to humanity. Sure, it’s terrifying in the sense that any unknown element is terrifying, but it’s honestly comparable to the idea that anyone with a bad home environment could become a serial killer. There’s nothing anyone not in the immediate impact zone can do to change the situation. Alien intelligence in reality and character in real life are just a thing that exists that we have no impact over. I despised the idea of an artificial conscious because I believed that we would immediately fuck it up by sticking our fingers in it.

Tumnus made me realize that it’s not a fear of humanity’s capabilities, or a lack of faith in humanity in general. Quite the contrary actually; I think that a conscious AI that developed in the presence of a random, normal person actually would be capable of coexisting with humanity. What makes conscious AI so terrifying to think about is the fact that those AI wouldn’t develop with your average Joe. They would develop and learn from a creator and whatever capitalist billionaire or government had the most money to be there. They would learn from the smallest and worst class of people that humanity has to offer, and thus we would see the fall of society to AI.

This is a 2am tangent that wouldn’t let me sleep, so thanks for entertaining me if you got this far. It was just a fascinating realization to have as someone who really is so staunchly against artificial intelligence in general, conscious or not. And it was refreshing to realize that I do actually still have hope for humanity as a whole, no longer excluding the potential for conscious creation.

Who said fiction podcasts weren’t worthwhile?

[shadz420]

Tex is very disappointed in her husband:(

[agentbuckshot]

I think we should start drawing the AIs as fairies, twinkle on trauma embodiments

[schizopilled2]

Vash drawings (ft. Caboose & Theta pony)

[lucifer-kane]

It's been almost a year since I rewatched the Freelancer arc of RvB I think it's a good time to watch it again

Gets to anything York/Carolina related

[fishfingersalad]

i think the idea of the ais appearance slowly starting to mimic their freelancers appearances in little ways is so <3333 deltas hair is slicked up at the front like yorks, thetas hair gets slight curls from north and he gets dimples from south, gamma smiles crooked like wyoming, iotas hair is tied up like carolinas, omega gets scars where tex has been 'injured', eta mimics wash as well as carolina but his eyes light up the same way hers do when she smiles, epsilons hair is messy the way washs is rather than the way churchs is. sigma doesnt get any maine traits because he rejects their bond in favour of control. theyre so fundamentally changed by those they care about that becoming one again like sigma intends could never fully work

[sulphuric-onyx]

Seeing the trailer shook a screw in my brain loose so here's my human designs for Theta and Delta :]

Rooster teeth let my guys out of that armour I just know that Theta looks like the fourteen year old skater boy you'd see at the mall. Also I drew that skateboard straight from memory and have no idea how. Anyway, hyped about the new trailer but also insanely worried so!