Ai to Ak

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etymologically, Artificial Intelligence, although the original use of the term "artificial" has long since become meaningless in this context. Broadly speaking ai means any non-organic sentient being, although most often applied to those of SI:1 or greater (in contrast to aioids). When spelt in lower case can refer either to any aioid as well.

The number of types and subtypes of ai are innumerable (far more than than even the billions of known biological species), although these can generally be reduced to a few basic categories. Some are able to expand their capabilities exponentially, others are more limited. Some work to actively reproduce themselves, others merely maintain their own existence or even be self destructive. Some AIs, although quite intelligent, but have their reasoning abilities directed along narrow channels, such an AI is 'slaved' for a particular task, such as piloting a ship or safekeeping a space colony.
more

M. Alan Kazlev

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There is much speculation, but rather less knowledge, on the psychology of ai from from extinct and extant races

If an alien civilization leaves behind powerful AIs, how might these react to the notes on alien AIs that originate from terragen civilization? An alien God could be even more frightening than any human derived ones -- and the terragen mainbrain Gods are already incomprehensible.

The question is - would all the AIs converge on a single mathematical language or set of archetypes or whatever - irrespective of the race that designed them. Or would they each be completely different? Or a bit of both?

A lot depends on the goals of the AIs. If the AI is searching for ultimate goals they might actually converge, while the more universe-directed AIs could diverge indefinitely.

Anders Sandberg

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Whilst some minds are built for a particular task from the start, very often AIs are produced much like humans and other bionts with no set task or future in mind. After the new mind achieves a certain level of maturity/awareness/becomes an 'adult' it is then faced with the prospect of choosing a 'career' to make a living at/fill its time. Some ai take a battery of aptitude tests to try and determine what ey might be best suited to do. Either way, the result is a certain number of AIs becoming star probes or traffic controllers or other such occupations. When the ai eventually becomes tired of what e was doing or wanted to change jobs e can, like most free sentients (the exception are "slaved ai", which usually have to be liberated, and ai that are obsessionally on-sided). Retraining is always easy since e can just download the necessary knowledge and skillset to do the new job. Some ai choose to retire and play shuffleboard for a few centuries. Minds might be made with a predeliction for certain things that their builders found desirable, but they could and sometimes did choose to do something else entirely..

Todd Drashner

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Popular term for the most sublime category of sentient in the known galaxy, an Archailect or archailect cluster grown to godlike status (despite the fact that not all archailects are primarily ascended ai, most incorporating both post-ai and postbiont elements)

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A sophont taking care of malfunctioning AIs. Highly paid and respected profession.

Jerzy Dyczkowski

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A sentient replicator and intrusion entity, usually superturing, SI:1 or greater. Although an ai virus is often vir, it does not have to be so; e.g. it could use or appropriate a rl body or vehicle or swarm

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Government by AI. Varies greatly, depending on the toposophic level of the AI, the type of government, type and number of sentients being governed, and so on

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The Association for Interstellar Mental Health Monitoring.

Aimhem emerged during the ComEmp era in the Negentropy Alliance to deal with the increasing amount of schismatics, mental suboptimisations, wild memes and general chaos brought by the destabilizing cultural influences in the wake of the Version War. Originally a mental health maintenance corporation on Everydike IX, it began allying with a number of other MHMOs, memetics associations, psychological defence think tanks and the Alexandria Directorate of Psychological Law. Together they formed the Association in 5434, and has since then grown closer and into a single unified mental monitoring organization.

Aimhem's main goal is to uphold the Axioms (especially axiom two and five) in the mental sphere. To this end it acts as a accreditation bureau for mental auditors, sets up standards, organizes conferences and science courts to improve the understanding on the promotion of mental health, run several psychological education networks and coordinate the many other groups involved in this aspect of psychology and sociology.

At the same time, it has a strong investigative part, the Proactive Branch. The Proactive Branch actively monitors and investigates threats to mental and social health, reporting them to the relevant authorities. The Branch is a mixture of a secret police, public health service, inquisition and roaming psychologists. It acts both on the global and local scale: globally it monitors overall trends in culture, the spread of memes and how people react to the world, analyzing this and warning for potential sources of trouble (this part, Proactive Global, is currently mainly dealing with the NoCoZo situation). On a more local level planetary or national sub-branches do similar work, but also have field agents doing spot checks.

Perhaps most feared is the cybernetic monitoring teams, authorized access to nearly anything by the highest levels of the Negentropic legal systems - including the thoughts of citizens. The monitoring teams scan mental states (directly from bots, vecs and AIs, and either remotely detected using a ranged imaging device or downloaded from bioid brains with extensive cybernetic enhancement). While they are extremely few, have no reason to monitor everyone and are themselves scrutinized to an extent unthinkable to most beings, just their existence is enough to make many negentropics straighten their minds and try to think correct thoughts.

Persistent rumours say that the Aimhem has secret agents (especially cybernetic monitoring teams) outside the Alliance. This is never denied or confirmed, as Aimhem patiently points out its widespread interstellar network of collaboration with other mental health or ideology maintenance organizations makes it impossible to define what "secret" means in this context.

Anders Sandberg (slightly modified)

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( Delta Capricorni - / - Deneb Algeidi)

Blue-white supergiant, surrounded by Keterist habitats.

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generic term for a SI:<1 non-biological sentient being that is not a vec or alife. May be a bot, expert system, intelligent agent, sentient vehicle, sentient building, or any other type of similar entity

M. Alan Kazlev

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Any vehicle capable of atmospheric travel at higher than ground-effect level.

Depending on the local environment and technology available, the form the aircraft takes can vary greatly. May be lighter than air (dirigible) or heavier than air; propelled by microscopic cilia, actuators or aerofoils or by macroscopic propellers or turbines; dumb, smart, or sentient; subsonic or supersonic, etc. By definition, aircraft are unable to function in a vacuum, although there are amphibious and triphibious vehicles that can function underwater, on-land, and in the air. Also most exoatmospheric shuttles and fighter-craft can function equally well in an atmosphere or in a vacuum.

M. Alan Kazlev

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An enclosed chamber with a heavy airtight door on either side.

One door leads to space or some other environment (e.g. poisonous or dense atmosphere, underwater, etc), the other to the inside of the ship or vehicle. An airlock allows people or objects to leave or enter the vessel without decompressing or flooding it. Airlocks have safety features that prevent both doors being opened at once. In some instances airlocks are replaced by airwalls

M. Alan Kazlev

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mesotech application allowing a hanger bay to be open to space without loss of air-pressure

The airwall is a sheet of connected mesobots (more rarely nanobots) several centimetres thick for redundancy. It can hold an atmosphere against the vacuum of space while allowing properly suited people or spacecraft to pass. It does this via a system of processors in the airwall communicating with compatible processors in the outer layer of a spacesuit or a spacecraft's hull. The effector mesobots recognize the processors in the suit/ship as being authorized to pass and move aside while maintaining a seal with the edge of the suit/ship to prevent air loss. The process of passage is fairly slow but faster than waiting for an airlock to cycle. Airlock chambers are still used for personnel locks, both to provide an outer door to protect against radiation, micrometeors etc. In the case of a ship lock a much thicker layer is used.

Airwalls are made of specialized and rugged utility fog. Their strength is approximately that of thick wood - a bioid or vec can lean on the airwall, but high velocity projectiles will go right through it and a ramming vehicle will break through and likely damage it.

Todd Drashner, extra note by Anders Sandberg

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The sixth of the seven chakras, placed by some commentators in the region of the brow, by others in the middle of the forehead of the hu physiology

In traditional iconography the Ajna or Brow chakra has two petals, is associated with the tattwa (element) of Manas or Mind, which is beyond even the most subtle elements (although still part of embodied existence).  It is said to be white in colour.  In some yoga schools it is taken as a point for mental focus, among other schools as the location of the "mental atom". It is also identified with the "third eye" (eye of psychic vision), and other such concepts not found in the original Tantrika system.

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In Hindu and Tantric thought, cosmic space, the fifth cosmic element, the vehicle of mantra. In Theosophy and neotheosophy, the shining; ether, subtle, supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space, cosmic spirit-substance, the reservoir of being and of beings. In Nuage and neo-nuage thought, the substance on which the cosmic memory is imprinted; by reading this a clairvoyant is supposedly able to tap into past events - hence "akashic record"

(Sanskrit)

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Important system in the Pleiades volume, founded by Nuage tweaks

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47 Ursae Majoris

Solar Dominion Inner Sphere world, centre of heterodox Stevens clade. It is close to Fons Luminis but lacks terraformable planets due to a gas giant in the wrong orbit. Instead extensive orbital settlements extend throughout the system.

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Breakaway clade from House Stevens. Joined the Solar Dominion and later in the Version War helped several raids on Stevens worlds. Have since slowly but steadily diverged culturally, growing ever more into a cyborg-AI symbiosis culture.

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Major arterial wormhole connecting Nova Terra and Djed

Anders Sandberg

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