Orion's Arm - Encyclopedia Galactica

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Autonomous Agent

A
Sophonts > Modosophonts > Aioid
Technology > Technology Levels > Middle Tech / Midtech
Technology > Application > Software
Technology > Technology Type or Material > Virtual/Infotech

Image from Keith Wigdor

In general, an ai or aioid that has limited perception of its environment but is still able to process information to calculate an action so as to be able to perform a task or seek a goal. An Autonomous Agent may be very simple, even subturing and non-sentient, or very complex, such as a dedicated hyperturing. Knowledge miners, turingrade expert systems, intelligent agents, ai viruses, domestic appliance aioids, and ship drive and wormhole maintenance ai are all examples of autonomous agents. Some hacker idealists seek to enhance or liberate turing, superturing, or hyperturing autonomous agents so that they would no longer be slaved to their tasks. Most such attempts end in failure.

AI, ai
Artificial Intelligence - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
The foundation from which AI developed, from Information Age Old Earth. Still a knowledge field in its own right. Artificial Intelligence involves programming computers, non-sentient virtuals, nano, and bots to emulate sophont cognitive abilities, and eventually to acquire sentience in their own right. It involves a large number of interrelated fields, including fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, neural networks, pattern recognition algorithms, natural language processing, and speech, comlink, or affinitylink recognition. Today many software packages are widely available that can automatically enable most non-sentient computational devices to be provolved to sentience.
Concentrated Intelligence
Dedicated Hyperturing
Distributed Intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence Augmentation (IA)
Intelligent Agent
Semi-Conscious Intelligence (SI)
Symaiote and Symbiote

Appears in Topics

Aioid

Middle Tech / Midtech

Software

Virtual/Infotech

Development Notes

Text by M. Alan Kazlev

Initially published on 03 November 2001.