Most Convincing AIs in Literature?

[Phogg]

The best AI from my perspective has already been mentioned a couple times ~ Mycroft from Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

The AIVAS from the Pern novels was well done.

From the small screen I like Red Dwarf's Holly, and the holograghic simalcrum of Rimmer.

[William F]

Holly is awesome! Especially when he's pretending to be Queeg.

But the rogue AI planet of Shub in the Deathstalker series by Simon R Green gives me the creeping willies.

[unboggling]

Searching "Artificial Intelligence" in tags on ISFDB produces:

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/tag.cgi?131

But many AI's in SF are apparently not tagged as such there.

[EatingPie]

Are you limiting to literature, or is film okay too?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is an imperative in SF literature, and Bladerunner in film. It raises the very human questions of mortality, and the question of life after death ("I want more life...").

The Terminator and The Matrix are the most famous modern examples of "Cognitive Simulators" gone mad. Our fear of our own creation.

I actually consider the metaphysical questions raised by these three films to be the most important asked in terms of AI. It's too bad scientists are pursuing AI unabated, with no question of the moral or philosophical consequences. Fiction is the only area that explores such questions.

-Pie

[TedJ]

What about SID 6.7 from Virtuosity? He made Denzel Washington look stilted and wooden by comparison... oh, wait.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

please suspend the lynching of 'lil me until finished reading - just wanted to remark that the manga Chobits is worth to be noticed in this context too.
And of course not to forget our fellow MR member Dave Kitson with his "Turing Evolved"

Nothing wrong with a bit of manga here and there, with Eve no Jikan being an excellent example of multiple AIs. The original series was adapted for manga. Sammy was brilliant IMO.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Are you limiting to literature, or is film okay too?

I'll probably restrict my discussion primarily to literature, but I might take a couple of the most well-known examples from film.

Originally Posted by EatingPie

It's too bad scientists are pursuing AI unabated, with no question of the moral or philosophical consequences. Fiction is the only area that explores such questions.

I highly doubt that. The ethical questions surrounding AI fall more into the realm of psychology and philosophy than computer science because the issues are not quantifiable. AI researchers don't tend to explore the moral implications because (1) Strong AI does not yet exist, and (2) They're computer scientists; their education and research is firmly rooted in repeatable experiments with rigorous data. Philosophically-minded papers are unlikely to get accepted to IEEE research conferences.

[Nancy Fulda]

These are awesome suggestions, btw. Thanks so much!

A couple others:

The self-aware machines in Piers Anthony's Phase novels.
Star Wars droids
Robert J. Sawyer's 'www' series.

[ctol]

Since movies have been mentioned Proteus IV in Demon Seed comes to mind.

[DavidKitson]

There are a LOT of interesting AIs in stories and I saw my own "Turing Evolved" was mentioned - What isn't well known is that the story was inspired *by* a real AI while playing GTA-SA...

But a lot of AI in the past have also made me think, from HAL in 2001 to the AI in Neal Asher's series ( I liked Sniper too ) - Steven Spielberg's AI was also very good, but I felt missed the mark as the story meandered a little. Then again, perhaps I should be the one to point that out

I was also very inspired by the AI ( or rather Artificial Lifeforms ) inside TRON which should be considered with the best of the genre. The original, that is, not the recent movie.

And the Terminator movie is another great.

I too loved Chobits, but it lacked impact. On the other hand, Time Of Eve ( what I've seen so far ) had far more impact on me.

To be honest, I think that the question of AI comes down to two types. non-human AI and human-like AI. In my story, I have both, but the distinction is not all the obvious from the characters and the AI have a tough life. Also, a very big distinction is whether the AI are hidden within the computer ( TRON, 2001 ) or can get around ( I Robot, Turing Evolved )

And then there are the 'hybrids" - eg, Motoko in Ghost In The Shell.... And other Humans who have essentially become AI - Something that is investigated in Neal Asher's series as well as Altered Carbon ( Takeshi Kovacs )

And then there are completely different takes such as the Android lover in the song "Yours Truly 2095" from the Time album by ELO - An android woman whose only connection to a real woman seems to be her capacity for jealousy.

And the classic AI of the past, such as Maria from Metropolis. Of which there is a connection to my cover art

Anyway, thanks for the mention Freeshadow

To the OP - you might like to try Turing Evolved - It's free and takes a different look at AI and what kind of test might be necessary in the future. And the protagonist find himself falling in love with an AI/Android who makes him question his feelings and beliefs towards artificial people.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34627

And it's free to download and read!

Regards
David

[fjtorres]

Whoops!
Forgot two very prominent AIs from a prominent contemporary writer:

David Weber's DAHAK, from MUTINEERS' MOON is a worthy successor to Mycroft, and very computerlike.
Nimue/Merlin from the SAFEHOLD series, on the other hand, is more reincarnated human than a true AI, but still, technically one. More in line wth Raymond Z. Gallun's demi-gods from PEOPLE MINUS X, but both examples do explore the issue of identity so, for the philosophicaly inclined.

As for Chobits, she is a fitting descendant to Helen O'loy as well as Julie Newmar's Rhoda from MY LIVING DOLL and a particular kind of robot we are *already* seeing in the real world. In Japan, naturally.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...irlfriend.html

(I'll skip the other real world examples; it's not a tech I particularly appreciate. Humans already have enough ways to isolate themselves from the world and each other.)

Of course, quoting Chobits opens up the door for John Smith, the Red Tornado, and his siblings. Also Brainiac, Kilg%re, Ultron, Jocasta, Vision, Cliff Steele, the Metal Men, and a zillion killer AI's robots from both DC and Marvel.

[Wordcrasher]

First that came to my mind is Wintermute in Gibson's Neuromancer.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

I'll probably restrict my discussion primarily to literature, but I might take a couple of the most well-known examples from film.



I highly doubt that. The ethical questions surrounding AI fall more into the realm of psychology and philosophy than computer science because the issues are not quantifiable. AI researchers don't tend to explore the moral implications because (1) Strong AI does not yet exist, and (2) They're computer scientists; their education and research is firmly rooted in repeatable experiments with rigorous data. Philosophically-minded papers are unlikely to get accepted to IEEE research conferences.

Well, one major arm of AI research is called "Cognitive Science," and at my university it fell under the Psychology department. These are the theoretical models of thought and intelligence. There's a ton of crossover between this and Computer Science departments.

In terms of the reason they're not thinking of these questions, the answer is simpler, and even more general than you give.

They do not ask these questions because they are scientists. Scientists seldom consider the consequences of their developments, and in this day and age, pursuit in the name of science is justification for almost anything. Unfortunately, scientists aren't told to study (or consider) ethics or philosophy as a requirement.

I probably should reference Jurrasic Park the book. Even though it's an annoying read, it makes this very point: science for science sake, with no moral compass, leads ultimately to destruction.

-Pie

[Freeshadow]

for having forgotten wintermute

As David mentioned game AIs: there have been interesting things observed even in "primitive" AIs' begaviour like in those one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatur...ife_program%29

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by Wordcrasher

First that came to my mind is Wintermute in Gibson's Neuromancer.

No doubt.

I also like the AI in these 2 excellent free ebooks:

http://www.feedbooks.com/book/228/accelerando

http://sifter.org/~simon/AfterLife/