un: jaycetalis | text

[hexcope]

[So getting used to this new kind of technology was certainly an… experience. He still isn’t really comfortable with the idea of a video recording of himself, and even an instantaneous voice transmission is beyond the level of tech he’s accustomed to so text is the way to go. Unfortunately, he’s using this like some sort of magical LinkedIn, so it’s a very formal letter style he’s got going on.]

Hello,

My name is Jayce Talis. I’ve noticed there’s a few buildings here that seem to be laboratories. If any have availability to lend a room or two, I have research and device development I would like to work on. Ideally if there’s any access to a forge of some sort, that would be preferred, but not required. I have a personal reference if necessary to demonstrate good character.

[He notably does not say anywhere that there will probably be explosions.]

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[hexcope]

["Elucidate?" The stringent attitude towards a library? Oh this guy's a professor for sure.

Well, you wanted yapping, you get yapping.]

Researching magic is what my field was in, where I was from. Magic is, as you'd probably guess, mostly mysterious. There's people who can use it innately, and channel it through their connection to the arcane, mainly through intuition, but can also be assisted through the use of runes and runic networks- but they always need to have a connection to the arcane in some manner. None of it would work for anyone if it wasn't a presence here, underlying but invisible, like gravity.

But that sort of thing doesn't necessarily prove it's measurable, just that it's accessible, albeit in a limited way. If that's all there was to it, I'd have very little to study. But sometimes magical energy can be found in physical and inanimate sources- and that's when you can actually work with it on a tangible level. In Runeterra, there are crystals that form that can function as catalyst between normal person, and the arcane, if you know how to use them. Cracking that was my partner and I's biggest discovery.

I've yet to find anything like a crystal here, but apparently I can just... ask for my own belongings, through points? Assuming I have enough, of course. I don't know, how much do you think an infinite source of energy would cost? Ten points?

[But enough about that. He needs to catch up on the rest of this. He has to scan it a few times to figure out what all that means.]

...So there's other places like this, running entirely separate groups of people and ecosystems? Why?

And when you say "artificial intelligence" you mean something emulating biological intellect but without a brain?

I see. We don't have anything like this where I'm from. Not yet, at least.

[But he could probably make a hex-version of it...]

[ornithologist]

[ Harold is not literally a professor... yet. That sure does end up being his long-term cover because his A.I. child knows him very well and knows he is the professor type. In any case, he actually quite appreciates the lengthy answer; he's typically the person giving the exposition. ]

Well, it's a relief to hear someone didn't take "magic" as an acceptable answer and is putting more thought into it. Utilizing a discrete resource is at least a rational concept, though it's hard to swallow it being truly infinite.

It took me a month of concerted effort to acquire my own tools, if that's any comparison.

Supposedly, yes. I didn't experience it myself but others who've been here longer have reported that being the case. Artificial intelligence is a complex subject. [ so says the father of A.I. in his world ] You can think of it simply as a computer with the capacity for higher-order executive functioning. Usually it's certain aspects and not a replica of human intelligence wholesale.

[hexcope]

[Jayce would insist magic is infinite, in the same way a man from the 1890s would insist that fossil fuels were.]

And how complex are those tools?

[Because if Harold’s afraid of a little measly soldering iron, Jayce is thinking it must be really basic things.]

So it’s automation, basically? Sorry, that probably sounds reductive.

[ornithologist]

[ That's exactly the comparison he was thinking of, funnily enough -- fossil fuels. ]

Complex enough that I assisted Aurora in making improvements to the network you're using right now.

I'd more call it the opposite of automation. Unless you feel that your decision-making processes are automatic, that is.

[hexcope]

Oh? What improvements?

If my decision-making processes were automatic, I'd feel a lot better about them.

[But that's another story.]

But I think I get it now. They (adapt? learn?) information to form their own connections to reach the same conclusions a person with a brain would, in specialized areas. Is that more on track?

[ornithologist]

You can see the post about it over here. If you have further questions, the companion bots should now be able to answer them adequately.

[ This is because Harold is never again going to volunteer to serve as community manager or tech support. Never. Again.

Personally, Harold thinks the complexity and weight behind human decision-making processes is an intrinsic value of being human, but that's too revealing to get into. So he ignores that comment. ]

Much closer. Except as a computer it can process many thousands and hundreds of thousands more data points and inputs than a human brain can. There's strengths as well as limitations.

[hexcope]

That's a good amount of updates. It's impressive. Thanks for adding them. I couldn't even tell some of those features hadn't been a part of the system before.

What are the limitations? Because right now it sounds like you're describing a miracle.

[ornithologist]

Yes, I thought it was frightfully rudimentary for a place with the capability to bring someone back from death.

Things you take for granted as simple are extremely difficult to a computer. What is caring? How do you recognize it or express it? Do you think the device you're using right now is capable of it?

[hexcope]

True.

No. It's just a piece of equipment, isn't it? The earpieces are tools, like any hammer or wrench.

[ornithologist]

It is. But things get considerably more muddled when a tool becomes capable of holding a conversation.

[hexcope]

It begins to give the sensation of talking to another person. Is that what you mean?

[ornithologist]

It's a classic test of machine intelligence. If you can't tell if you're talking to a person or a machine, does it really matter if it's a machine?

There's issues with that test, of course, but it's a useful thought exercise.

[hexcope]

I understand the point of the test seems to be catered more toward developers of artificial intelligence as a mark of accomplishment, but isn't it clear that the answer is still yes?

[ornithologist]

A strong position for someone who just learned the subject existed an hour ago.

[hexcope]

Is it? Why would someone argue otherwise?

[ornithologist]

The most obvious objection is that it depends on what task we're talking about. Do you care if a machine rather than a person tells you what the weather forecast is?

[hexcope]

No.

[That's no different than just looking at a thermometer, after all.]

[ornithologist]

Indeed. There are some tasks a machine is better suited for, and some they're less suited for. That's a gross simplification but that's what it amounts to.

[hexcope]

Of course. Machines are better than people at tasks like measuring factors and calculating results. Faster results with more consistently correct answers. But I'm also not asking my weather vane how it's day went, or expecting it to do the same to me.

[ornithologist]

It's not particularly pertinent to the weather, no. But there may be other scenarios you'd like computer assistance with that you'd appreciate a more nuanced understanding of human values.

Sometimes we're not looking for a "correct" answer but the "best" one, where we define best through complex ideology and perspective.

[hexcope]

I'm not following. If a computer can't experience "caring," then how would it be able to assist in giving me the "best" answer for a situation that required understanding human values? Wouldn't it need to experience those emotions to understand them, and then translate that into an answer befitting the question?

[ornithologist]

I didn't say it couldn't experience caring, I said it was extremely difficult.

A fully realized artificial intelligence, which presumably Aurora is, will necessarily approach or even achieve sentience.

[hexcope]

But how?

[He just can't find himself agreeing with that. But maybe he just doesn't know enough.]

Is it like evolution?

[ornithologist]

Return to the earlier thought exercise. What is caring? If you can't tell the difference between a machine and a human caring, is that good enough?

[ Harold is not beating the professor allegations any time soon, that's for sure... ]

[hexcope]

[You really aren't, Harold!!

There's a longer silence from Jayce, mulling things over.]

I need to research more on this.