Re: AIs and such...

At 01:11 AM 7/18/97 GMT, you wrote:
>
>I've been following the thread and, while there isn't a very strong
>consensus, it seems that a fair POV would be that these if some
>fancy A.I. is going to replicate the function of the vast number of
>vastly-interconnected neurons in the brain, you're going to get a
>biomechanical machine that goes >squidge< and blacks-out just like
>we do,

We black out due to pressure on the brain or from a lack of blood supply
to
the brain. Presumably a biomechanical brain can be built with a higher
stress load than the human brain.

>that isn't programmed but learns slowly, just like we do, 
>thinks much like we do, imperfectly,

I disagree with the imperfect thinking. We have an awful amount of
emotional
baggage that clouds our thinking, as well as neural paths that are less
than
optimum. Emotions are the result of natural evolution and presumably our
biomechanical AI wouldn't have them. Also presumably the builders of the
AI
would seek an optimum set of neural pathways, though I don't know how
likely
this would be to work. In summary, I doubt if even a biomechanical AI
would
think as imperfectly as a human being.

>I'm really starting to wonder what people think the advantage of 
>this is. Wouldn't a human just be cheaper? You can't invite the A.I. 
>commander of an escort onto your flagship for luncheon either. Or
>marry your offspring to him/her.

Well, in fact we're thinking of two types of AI here. One is the
thinking
artificial brain. The other is the "smart" systems that are just 200
years
of development in combat programming. The latter are being developed for
use
in modern day fighters since the computer can stand greater stress loads
than a human, and takes up less space. 

As for the former type of "AI", the main advantage is that humans won't
have
to risk their lives in nasty, protracted wars. I'd see this is a pretty
good
advantage.

>I feel like we might as well say that the presence/absence of an
>A.I. on any given ship is just a trivial detail.

This I agree with.

>Scotia make nice SF tanks with guns-on-stalks in 1:300.

I'll have to check them out when I'm at GenCon.

Allan Goodall:	agoodall@sympatico.ca 
"You'll want to hear about my new obsession.
 I'm riding high upon a deep depression. 
 I'm only happy when it rains."    - Garbage