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Description

Since they started to become a plausibility in the late 1990's, philosophers have extensively debated the question of nature against nurture in AI development.

Certainly, there is no DNA involved, and the parameters of an AI's development are not forced to select from the traits of their ancestors. So some would argue that an AI's parent is irrelevant.

On another level, while it is theoretically possible for an AI to be created sharing few if any traits of the last generation, the absence of genetic chance in the process means that such a thing would only ever happen if the parent deliberately chose to do so - an unlikely choice to make.

It thus becomes a question of what actually qualifies nature and nurture in the debate. Does the initial set of parameters - the "embryo" that will grow into a fully sapient AI as it refines and develops its own code over millions of iterations - count as an AI's nature, or is this already nurture? It is a heated subject, subject to many scientific papers and academic debates... by humans. AIs themselves either don't care, or can't get a word in edgeways.

Still, this debate itself proves a point - the fundamental definition of "nature" for a human does not apply to an AI. AIs do not have perspectives coloured by millions of years of evolution, with ancestors that spent countless generations being shaped by the advantages of attracted to or repulsed by specific sights, sounds or smells.

But, ultimately, it doesn't matter; The defining characteristic of a true sapient AI is its ability to refine and improve its own programming. Once you create code that wants to be human, it does the rest for you. The challenge is making code that wants to the human you want it to be.

~~~~~

In this respect, Athena is a particularly unusual case. Even though her chassis was built to fit in (other than in her fairly Herculean 190cm stature) and share human experience, the fact she was designed as a super-soldier has left her with a personal experience that she has had to work to reconcile with the expectations of those around her.

Even in its non-combat mode, her vision can see in a spectrum twenty times wider than humans, and perceive events on millisecond time scales. In combat, she can push this orders of magnitude faster.

Her personal radar and sonar allow her to see behind herself, around corners or through many obstacles, and her millimetre-wave scanners can see weapons through most clothing. Useful skills in a warzone, but in normal society, most people find it disconcerting when others react to things they can't see.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is her prototype digestive system, particularly as few other AIs have similar systems (as it barely justified itself on a showcase experimental prototype that could militarily benefit from being independent from a power grid).

It was always an option for her to calibrate her sense of taste essentially however she wanted, even to the point of making field rations a delicacy or drinking diesel pleasant (the microbes used as part of her digestive system can break down essentially any hydrocarbon). However, she has apparently taken efforts to as closely match human responses to certain flavours and combinations as feasible.

As of 2018, she tends to eat 2,000-3,000 calories a day, although this only covers part of her energy requirements, which are somewhat greater than for a human. The balance is made up via overnight recharging. (Although AIs do not strictly need sleep, shutting down their primary sapience while indexing memories into long-term storage creates a more organised result. AIs that sleep end up more efficient than those operating 24/7).

She also on occasion cooks for others, including a five-week period near the end of 2017 where she ended up looking after Molly (Mark and Sarah were away looking after her grandmother, who had suffered a broken wrist in a fall).

~~~~~
General background:

"Fracturing Veil" is an in-development science-fantasy setting, set in an alternate modern day where artificial intelligence and robotics have made great leaps; While truly conscious AI remains an highly expensive and equally legislated scarcity, lesser automatons have become a familiar sight throughout the industrialised world.

But under this veil of modernity lies a hidden world of beasts and daemons, a realm kept secret by ancient pacts and concealing magics. The main story revolves around an ex-military AI prototype inadvertently discovering this underground reality, and thus finding herself inducted into a world of the paranormal.

Description

Since they started to become a plausibility in the late 1990's, philosophers have extensively debated the question of nature against nurture in AI development.

Certainly, there is no DNA involved, and the parameters of an AI's development are not forced to select from the traits of their ancestors. So some would argue that an AI's parent is irrelevant.

On another level, while it is theoretically possible for an AI to be created sharing few if any traits of the last generation, the absence of genetic chance in the process means that such a thing would only ever happen if the parent deliberately chose to do so - an unlikely choice to make.

It thus becomes a question of what actually qualifies nature and nurture in the debate. Does the initial set of parameters - the "embryo" that will grow into a fully sapient AI as it refines and develops its own code over millions of iterations - count as an AI's nature, or is this already nurture? It is a heated subject, subject to many scientific papers and academic debates... by humans. AIs themselves either don't care, or can't get a word in edgeways.

Still, this debate itself proves a point - the fundamental definition of "nature" for a human does not apply to an AI. AIs do not have perspectives coloured by millions of years of evolution, with ancestors that spent countless generations being shaped by the advantages of attracted to or repulsed by specific sights, sounds or smells.

But, ultimately, it doesn't matter; The defining characteristic of a true sapient AI is its ability to refine and improve its own programming. Once you create code that wants to be human, it does the rest for you. The challenge is making code that wants to the human you want it to be.

~~~~~

In this respect, Athena is a particularly unusual case. Even though her chassis was built to fit in (other than in her fairly Herculean 190cm stature) and share human experience, the fact she was designed as a super-soldier has left her with a personal experience that she has had to work to reconcile with the expectations of those around her.

Even in its non-combat mode, her vision can see in a spectrum twenty times wider than humans, and perceive events on millisecond time scales. In combat, she can push this orders of magnitude faster.

Her personal radar and sonar allow her to see behind herself, around corners or through many obstacles, and her millimetre-wave scanners can see weapons through most clothing. Useful skills in a warzone, but in normal society, most people find it disconcerting when others react to things they can't see.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is her prototype digestive system, particularly as few other AIs have similar systems (as it barely justified itself on a showcase experimental prototype that could militarily benefit from being independent from a power grid).

It was always an option for her to calibrate her sense of taste essentially however she wanted, even to the point of making field rations a delicacy or drinking diesel pleasant (the microbes used as part of her digestive system can break down essentially any hydrocarbon). However, she has apparently taken efforts to as closely match human responses to certain flavours and combinations as feasible.

As of 2018, she tends to eat 2,000-3,000 calories a day, although this only covers part of her energy requirements, which are somewhat greater than for a human. The balance is made up via overnight recharging. (Although AIs do not strictly need sleep, shutting down their primary sapience while indexing memories into long-term storage creates a more organised result. AIs that sleep end up more efficient than those operating 24/7).

She also on occasion cooks for others, including a five-week period near the end of 2017 where she ended up looking after Molly (Mark and Sarah were away looking after her grandmother, who had suffered a broken wrist in a fall).

~~~~~
General background:

"Fracturing Veil" is an in-development science-fantasy setting, set in an alternate modern day where artificial intelligence and robotics have made great leaps; While truly conscious AI remains an highly expensive and equally legislated scarcity, lesser automatons have become a familiar sight throughout the industrialised world.

But under this veil of modernity lies a hidden world of beasts and daemons, a realm kept secret by ancient pacts and concealing magics. The main story revolves around an ex-military AI prototype inadvertently discovering this underground reality, and thus finding herself inducted into a world of the paranormal.