From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Mon Apr 21 2003 - 15:51:56 MDT
On Mon, Apr 21, 2003 at 04:19:30PM -0700, Rafal Smigrodzki wrote:
> > Putting aside comical comments about Dominionites hunting out of
> > season or bagging more than their limit, or even killing endangered
> > species, I ask the list: Who is your favorite AI?
>
> ### Rhadamanthus.
Who seems to be a bit related to all the friendly Culture AIs. While
there are many Minds worth mentions, I think the drone Sisela Ytheleus
1/2 (start of _Excession_) is my favorite. A dedicated, smart little
being that did what it could and never let hopeless odds deter it.
In the mid-range of bright but not transcendent entities I found Darling
from Scott Westerfeld's _Evolution's Darling_ charming. Shows that an AI
can have a hedonistic and sensual side.
In the category of really bright beings, I like Golem XIV - who manages
to convey a sense of just how immense the space above it in intelligence
is, and how humble it actually is while still being increadibly aloof.
Other honorable mentions: Ratio of Damien's _The White Abacus_, Colossus
in _The Forbin Project_ and Yatima in Egan's _Diaspora_.
As for robots, Sladek's Ticktock is another favorite. But I wouldn't
want to be close to it without armed security guards.
In anime, I'm rather fond of Shirow's cheerful Fuchikoma/Tachikoma
robots, who download their experiences after a mission to a mainframe
and "wake up" next morning with a new, shared memory/knowledge base.
When you build a military battlebot and give it a personality, why not
make it happy and cheerful?
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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