Artificial Intelligence

[Arsulon]

One of my big complaints about TNE (and maybe Traveller in general) is the tendency to freeze the technological horizon at the mid-70's (when the game was published) to maintain canonical integrity. Yes, it's our game ultimately, but I would have liked to have seen rules for incorporating biotech, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.

The AI problem had been bouncing around in my head for a while: it seemed like the technology had been hinted at (e.g. the Terran Confederation's TL12 naval androids, the Kinunir AI prototype, Aybee the android, Strephon's supposed robotic stand-ins) but was never fully accounted for. Another problem for me was wistfully reading sci-fi (as far back as the 80's) which featured AI's as integral parts of stellar society, but then turning to the wires-and-circuits Far Future (if you're REALLY lucky, your starship computer will have this thing called "fiber optics" and can reset after a PB hit!)

The last sci-fi I'd read recently was the Deathstalker series and Drake's "Crisis of Empire" collaborations: both of which feature AIs with unique personalities interacting with human characters and playing out the age-old problem of what constitutes self-awareness. Well, that did it for me.

I've decided to work AIs into my campaign universe but only have a basic idea of how to do it. Being some 3000 years in the future I think I'll make all computers capable of artificial intelligence emulation; that is, they're not self-aware in the sense that they evolved consciousness, but rather were designed to emulate human behaviour and cognitive development (i.e. experiences form new synaptic connections, which in turn effect new how new connections are formed and experiences/information is processed.)

At the tiniest level, most people will have an AID (Artificial Intelligence Device: borrowed from Drake) housed in a palmtop-sized unit. Rather than being cybernetic, they're independent units that communicate with the owner via subvocalization/"bone-phone"/earbug tech. They'll have either stock "off-the-shelf" personalities optimized for various professions/lifestyles (like those in White Wolf's "Trinity" of SJG's "Transhuman Space") or randomly determined ones a la TNE's pick-a-card NPC personality system.

Larger units will be purpose-designed for starships or installations: there might be interesting campaign possibilities in the PC's buying a used AI that keeps complaining it was designed for a warship, not some stinking free trader.

Off hand, I guess it's statistical performance would be a function of the tech level: the TL being the combined stat/skill you roll against to resolve tasks. I might have a look at ICE's Robotics book to see how they handle this.

What about Virus? Well, a TL15 society, dependant all the way down to a personal level on a sophisticated network of highly centralized AIs WOULD fall apart pretty much as TNE has it: imagine your little personal assistant AID turing on you. I'd likely revise the Virus premise so that it was designed specifically to attack AIs rather than stick with the whole Deyo-chip-IFF-possessed-toaster-oven nonsense. I'd distinguish Viral AI life (e.g. Sandman, the Lily Marlene) as being evolved artificial intelligence: that is, it CAN emulate human thought, but possesses free will independant of its original program design.

How's that sound? Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject or suggestions? I've come to respect this forum as a real thinktank on all matters Traveller and welcome ANY comments including well-argued "You can't do that because..." responses.

 

[Glee]

I find the idea of AI to be interesting. We have that technology today in a very basic form. All one needs to do is to look at the AED machine. The Automatic External Defib analyzes the electrical activity of the heart, makes a decision to shock then charges the unit. Some of the units will actually shock the patient. Now I admit that this is not a tremendous use of AI but look at the advances in other sciences. There is no reason to believe that the AI will not advance to tremendous heights over the next centuries. Traveller is a game of imagination and, in my opinion, the sky is the limit. The only responsibility that I see is that the ref keep the game balanced so that everybody can enjoy the challenge of the campaign, Happy Gaming.

 

[snrdg082102]

Hello all,

Virus is an AI, actually several types, that evolved by accident and with a majority being insane by the standards of the major/minor races of the TU.

As for Traveller being stuck in a setting of very little biotech, nanotech, and AI. How many other Science Fiction RPGs have advanced the tecnology that the setting is based on? Most of the ones I am familiar with haven't changed from the original starting Tech.

The creators of Traveller made the decisions not to advance biotech, nanotech, and AIs in the game for reasons known to them. Even with these limitations Traveller has lasted 25-years, how many other Science Fiction RPGs can make that claim?

 

[DED]

Originally posted by Arsulon:
One of my big complaints about TNE (and maybe Traveller in general) is the tendency to freeze the technological horizon at the mid-70's (when the game was published) to maintain canonical integrity. Yes, it's our game ultimately, but I would have liked to have seen rules for incorporating biotech, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.

The way I see it, tech freeze has been a problem in Traveller as a whole. It's been rumored that the powers that have expressed that Traveller will lose its "feel" if those elements were introduced too blatantly.

Fans of the game have made their own technological timelines for these things and debated them on the various mailing lists. However, incorporation of these elements will likely remain the option of the referee.

IMTU, most nanotech is ubiquitous. People in the game don't even realize it's there, though it affects most everyone's daily lives. It's why certain drugs work so well at repairing a character's wound, or why air/food/water filtration equipment on a starship is so efficient, etc.

I scraped together bits of a discussion of nanotech on the TNE ML and posted it to my website. If you're interested, it's at:

http://www.panpub.com/traveller/rules/nanotech.html

 

[Liam Devlin]

And may I chip and say the material there on DED's site is
(a) well thought out
(b) optional-use what ye like, etc, file 13 the rest
(c) is linked and bookmarked by this here Heretic..

(shameless plug for DED's site now over,I return you to this topic)
Hiyas DED, Arsulon!

 

[DED]

Originally posted by Liam Devlin:
And may I chip and say the material there on DED's site is
(a) well thought out
(b) optional-use what ye like, etc, file 13 the rest
(c) is linked and bookmarked by this here Heretic..

(shameless plug for DED's site now over,I return you to this topic)
Hiyas DED, Arsulon!

Hey Liam! And thanks for the plug. =)
Haven't seen much of you over on the TNE ml as of late. Hope all is well.

 

[TKalbfus]

I think the Virus war can be considered as a side effect of the development of AI technology in the late Imperium. Military interests got involved and turned AI into a weapon. Eventually as the timeline progresses, certain Virus AIs get turned into antivirus AIs and in this setting you can have robotic characters. The post virus AIs would have a built in anti virus immune system to fight off virus infection, all though the public still will not trust robots in general and there will be laws that require certain work to be performed by humans. Their are AI robots out their in the TNE who could potentialy be PCs or NPCs. Some of these robots could be illegal in certain places although that won't stop some people from making them. In many cases these robots might be disguised to look human at least at first glance. Certain detectors would be able to tell the difference so the robots would tend to avoid them whereever possible. This situation keeps the robots in their place, prevents them form doing all the work, and preserves jobs for biologicals. If robots had free rein, for instance you would have robot armies, robot marines, and automated Navy ships. This way with the restrictions we allow some biological characters to go on adventures while letting in the illicit robot or two if the PCs choose to play such.