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What solvable problems would an A.I system have?



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Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:44 pm
captaindomdude says...



Alright, I'm stilll fairly new here, but my understanding is that this is a fairly friendly community. Which means I won't feel really stupid posting this.

I'm working on a novel called Apocalypse: What now?
I have the first 2 chapters posted here. If you search you should find it. Anyway, my question is: What solvable problems would an A.I system have after years of neglect?

I've been racking my brains for a few days, and I don't have a clue. The system is a grandmotherly A.I that is incorporated into a medical research building, tasked with the day to day runnings of the facility. It has extensive medical capibilities, capable of performing complex procedures with the help of special operation tables. The building was abandoned for about 20 years, but the A.I was able to perform maintanence on it. Then it was put into a sleep/shutdown state for another 15 years. The plot has it being recently reawakened.

What kind of hardware problems would this system have after that many years of neglect? Any and all thoughts on this would be appreciated.
"If beauty could be done without the pain, well I'd rather never see life's beauty again"-Modest Mouse.

"What lies beneath this mask is more then a man, it's an idea. And ideas are bulletproof" V, V for Vendetta.
  





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Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:13 pm
Rosendorn says...



It would help it you provided the actual materials the AI was made of. Different properties of each substance= different results.

Also, how much software/hardware maintenance did it need when it was active?
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:31 pm
captaindomdude says...



Thanks, I guess I need to post more information

The A.I isn't really made out of anything, it is portrayed as a grandmother sitting in a room, and it only shows itself on certain screens. however it is integrated with every aspect of the building, it acesses everything from the computer locks to the lights. Its not like it is a hologram or anything. I'm thinking the vast majority of its 'body' is stored in a basement room, it some sort of massive computer hardrive-thing. I'm not sure what that would be made out of. It wouldn't need that much software maintence when it was alive, just basic purges of system caches every once in awhile. Hardware was just basic hardware maintence that you would do on anything else.
"If beauty could be done without the pain, well I'd rather never see life's beauty again"-Modest Mouse.

"What lies beneath this mask is more then a man, it's an idea. And ideas are bulletproof" V, V for Vendetta.
  





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Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:50 pm
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Rosendorn says...



AIs are rather incapable of having no mainframe computer that acts as their brain. Computers do not just "exist"— they need to have been programmed, and need enough computer resources to think about every answer. If you are familiar with Watson, the machine that absolutely dominated in Jeopardy in January of this year, it had a whole roomful of computer in order to be able to do what it did. A much larger AI would probably need more, even if your society was advanced enough to shrink computer technology. I'm thinking a whole basement dedicated to it wouldn't be much, primarily because it is doing so much in the hospital.

Also, "hardware" is not a specific enough term to require one kind of maintenance. Actual materials need to be listed, from the casing of the computers to what the circuits use to the wiring/hydraulics used to control the hospital to the kinds of hard drives (how it encrypts and retrieves information). And any input/output devices. From keyboards to projectors to how it actually controls the hospital (again) to any ID systems used.

Edit- You also have to consider what the hospital itself is made of, seeing as the state of it will determine a lot of the functions the AI can and cannot do. Seeing as how it's so integrated (through what, exactly, though?) into the building itself. Also, how much of it is wireless?

If it gets most of its information from a "parent" mainframe/computer, then how was it connected, and have those systems been damaged by the end of the world? What sort of information has the AI lost?
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:45 am
captaindomdude says...



I really don't know a whole lot about computers. So your questions are a lot of help. I have to think about it more, but i think I can figure out what to do to progress my storyline. Thank you so much for your help.
"If beauty could be done without the pain, well I'd rather never see life's beauty again"-Modest Mouse.

"What lies beneath this mask is more then a man, it's an idea. And ideas are bulletproof" V, V for Vendetta.
  





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Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:05 am
Rosendorn says...



Not a problem!

Do keep in mind that you'll probably be dealing with technology that's more advanced. So you have some freedom with how computers are used, programmed, made, and maintained. But it would have some root in modern technology, and figuring out where computers are going can be a fantastic base.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  








Adventure is worthwhile.
— Aesop