Questionable Content XVII: "My Brain Is Trash And I Live On The Internet"

[Willie the Duck]

Not very realistic, at least if their secret is really as secret as they think. Not that I expect it, but I can imagine Yay later outing themselves to the world, and everyone coming back with 'What secret? We all knew about you years ago. You've been subconsciously broadcasting your existence every other week or so.'

[Cikomyr2]

Hyper-intelligent AI who has thus far been undetected by other hyper-intelligent AIs spilling their secrets to a middle aged mother is making my suspenders of disbelief fall down like a clown's.

But I'll keep reading, so...

Suspension of disbelief has definitely been cracked

Enjoyment of the characters talking to each others has spiked.

also, yay middle-aged people are now active character of the comic!! Yay for representation!

[Vinyadan]

Hyper-intelligent AI who has thus far been undetected by other hyper-intelligent AIs spilling their secrets to a middle aged mother is making my suspenders of disbelief fall down like a clown's.

But I'll keep reading, so...

The real question is, did "Alexa" (or any other machine with a sensitive mic) hear it all? Did Yay deactivate all AIs and living beings in a range of 1km to have this conversation? Does she have magical vocal transmission that is actually limited to Aurelia's ears and hers only? Even today, mics are really good at picking up whispers.

I actually have a problem with this secrecy for a number of reasons. One is that Bubbles already knew what Yay is before she showed up, and Yay knew that Bubbles knew, to the point of calling her out on it. Yay also called herself the thing that makes AI wake up screaming in her first page, which suggests previous interactions with AIs (it could be just evil cackling self-aggrandisment, but Yay said multiple times that she doesn't lie). Another reason why this secrecy feels odd is that Yay did her thing with Bubbles and CW and, within a few pages, important people knew about her: from Hanners to Station. And she knows that Station knows. Plus police files. And it's not like she's hiding, she occasionally bumps into people who know about her, like when she had a talk with Faye.

Rereading old strips, I noticed that Roko already knows that Yay behaved criminally against Corpse Witch. So that's not one of the secrets weighing down on Yay. Pity, if she's supposed to be all mushy, I don't think it can work without going over those events. For example, she mentioned to Roko that she could never be Bubbles's friend after she entered her mind, but did she consider that she nonchalantly paralysed Faye's legs in her presence? That's an even better reason not to be friends with her.

[Max_Killjoy]

The real question is, did "Alexa" (or any other machine with a sensitive mic) hear it all? Did Yay deactivate all AIs and living beings in a range of 1km to have this conversation? Does she have magical vocal transmission that is actually limited to Aurelia's ears and hers only? Even today, mics are really good at picking up whispers.

I actually have a problem with this secrecy for a number of reasons. One is that Bubbles already knew what Yay is before she showed up, and Yay knew that Bubbles knew, to the point of calling her out on it. Yay also called herself the thing that makes AI wake up screaming in her first page, which suggests previous interactions with AIs (it could be just evil cackling self-aggrandisment, but Yay said multiple times that she doesn't lie). Another reason why this secrecy feels odd is that Yay did her thing with Bubbles and CW and, within a few pages, important people knew about her: from Hanners to Station. And she knows that Station knows. Plus police files. And it's not like she's hiding, she occasionally bumps into people who know about her, like when she had a talk with Faye.

Rereading old strips, I noticed that Roko already knows that Yay behaved criminally against Corpse Witch. So that's not one of the secrets weighing down on Yay. Pity, if she's supposed to be all mushy, I don't think it can work without going over those events. For example, she mentioned to Roko that she could never be Bubbles's friend after she entered her mind, but did she consider that she nonchalantly paralysed Faye's legs in her presence? That's an even better reason not to be friends with her.

Jeph forgets about half of what he writes.

And it shows.

[Wraith]

I can't help but wonder if this particular conversation would make more sense, both in terms of Yay's motivation as well as the readers' comprehension, if it were between Yay and someone who actually had some kind of AI-orientated role within the comic.

You know? Someone who has an active interest in AI intelligence and their progress as they emerge into the world? Perhaps even someone with such an aptitude for AI-Human interaction that they have studied it as their specialist subject up to and maybe even beyond higher education?

Someone who might even also be known to some of Yay's other acquaintances, which gives them a reason to be introduced (assuming they haven't been already!) and so that they could vouch for that person and give Yay a reason to feel comfortable in baring their secrets?

It would be especially great if that someone were also in some way related to Aurelia, so that way she and Yay would still have an excuse to meet in an organic fashion and make the dog/wifi jokes without it necessarily being the result of creepy stalking?

...

...Nope. No idea. Don't even know why I brought it up. Sorry.

[Rodin]

I can't help but wonder if this particular conversation would make more sense, both in terms of Yay's motivation as well as the readers' comprehension, if it were between Yay and someone who actually had some kind of AI-orientated role within the comic.

You know? Someone who has an active interest in AI intelligence and their progress as they emerge into the world? Perhaps even someone with such an aptitude for AI-Human interaction that they have studied it as their specialist subject up to and maybe even beyond higher education?

Someone who might even also be known to some of Yay's other acquaintances, which gives them a reason to be introduced (assuming they haven't been already!) and so that they could vouch for that person and give Yay a reason to feel comfortable in baring their secrets?

It would be especially great if that someone were also in some way related to Aurelia, so that way she and Yay would still have an excuse to meet in an organic fashion and make the dog/wifi jokes without it necessarily being the result of creepy stalking?

...

...Nope. No idea. Don't even know why I brought it up. Sorry.

This is what I find most surreal about this conversation. Squidbot is supposedly this terrifying existence...who freaks out at the idea of talking to a middle aged mother. They have managed to keep their existence so secret that uber-AIs with satellites like Station don't know they exist...but blabs it to a random person they met 30 seconds ago.

The whole conversation shatters my suspenion of disbelief. And I'm pretty flipping tolerant when it comes to that.

Squidbot should never have been a character, and once the mistake was made to use them to finish the Corpse Witch storyline that should have been the end of it. Move on, find another way to talk about an AI struggling to adapt to human society. It is utterly unbelievable that an uber AI would be having this conversation, and that makes the attempt to induce sympathy towards them fall flat.

[Traab]

I think the thing is, its like santa claus. You believe he exists, have some anecdotal evidence that says so, but its never confirmed. When yay confronted bubbles they were saying that she could make a logical guess as to who and what yay is. Not, "Remember me? Im that super ai thing you met back in bogota" There has always been rumors and gossip about super ais, the problem is proving it. Any electronic file is vulnerable to deletion or editing. And while yay doesnt LIKE to, memory editing is a thing they can do to both other ais and people. The fact that Yay is hanging out in this area of the world with several people aware of who and what she is is the real risk, not telling this random woman. She could easily go elsewhere and vanish all over again, but she has friends now and doesnt want to. Thats the real risk of momma talking.

[BRC]

This is what I find most surreal about this conversation. Squidbot is supposedly this terrifying existence...who freaks out at the idea of talking to a middle aged mother. They have managed to keep their existence so secret that uber-AIs with satellites like Station don't know they exist...but blabs it to a random person they met 30 seconds ago.

The whole conversation shatters my suspenion of disbelief. And I'm pretty flipping tolerant when it comes to that.

Squidbot should never have been a character, and once the mistake was made to use them to finish the Corpse Witch storyline that should have been the end of it. Move on, find another way to talk about an AI struggling to adapt to human society. It is utterly unbelievable that an uber AI would be having this conversation, and that makes the attempt to induce sympathy towards them fall flat.

Personally, I think it's just another instance of Jeph's "Funny robot sidekick" metastasizing into a desire to write high-concept sci-fi.

(Alice Grove wasn't great, but it was a decent thing from the "high-concept sci-fi" angle).


Like, the concept here is that in a world where most AI's are basically Humans with different biology, you have this Super AI. Not just a "Very smart person", but a completely different order of intelligence and potential influence.

They were introduced to resolve the Corpse Witch plotline .Somewhat unnecessarily IMO, if Jeph wanted a super AI to resolve it, he could have used Station, instead he chose to have Station be unable to do it and introduce Yay, a super-mega AI who apparently deeply cares about this exact issue enough to reveal themselves, but that's another discussion.

Anyway, what followed is an awkward mash-up of High-concept sci-fi and Everyday funnyman slice-of-life that is QC's core premise. And, just like every time Jeph tries to work in some other stuff into the comic, it has...mixed results.


Here, we have a basic premise of: What would a super-AI beyond our understanding, with the ability to reshape this digital age by whim alone, desire?

And the answer is apparently Companionship (Latching onto Roko), and to interact with/look at pictures of cute animals.


And there's something to be said for a Sci-Fi story about a secretive Super-AI that holds itself apart from society, secretly desiring things like friends and cute fluffy animals, and "Lowering" itself from it's vaunted position as the all-seeing but unseen observer so it can connect with people on a personal level, and experiencing the difficulties of doing so.


But, that's not an easy concept to work into your joke-a-day comic as one of a dozen sideplots, especially when you are trying to integrate it with farcical humor.


Let's work through the backstory of this exchange.


The Serious story here is that Yay, who is exploring mundane friendship, was tempted to revert to their old bad habits in order to cope with upsetting their friend, Roko. Which, in a semi-serious scifi about an alien super-AI navigating casual friendship, is a fine thing to happen.

But, Yay was tempted to hack Aurelia's computer in order to acquire more photos of a Dog (A dog that Yay has already seen lots of photos of).
And Roko was upset because Yay said "Oh, you already know Clinton from somewhere" (Which was a not-unreasonable deduction from the exchange). This embarrasses Roko because Clinton featured in a bread-fetish dream she had.


You can't really extract this "Yay bears their soul and secrets to the first friendly face that asks them" scene from the fact that it's rooted in "Yay loves Dogs so much they were going to hack this specific lady's computer in case there were additional, non-public photos of this one specific dog that Yay heard about" and also "Roko has a bread fetish" jokes.

[Manga Shoggoth]

It has already been stated in-comic that the amount of processing power required to run an AI Consciousness is huge.

I suspect that what is happening here is that Yay is putting more and more effort into running a personallity, and it is overloading the local node because a full personallity can't be run across a network and Yay isn't used to this because they are used to running everything multi-node.

The other AIs don't notice this effect because (obviously) they have never been multi-node.

[Wraith]

It has already been stated in-comic that the amount of processing power required to run an AI Consciousness is huge.

It's also been said that the subroutine needed for "conversation" and "relating to insignificant humans" is also tiny, barely beneath the notice of a normal Genius-level AI, over which Yay supposedly towers like a colossus.

I think it's clear that Jeph doesn't want to bother with the technical jargon. He just wants funny robot people having emotional problems, probably because it's way easier to do that than to accurately and sensitively portray neurodivergent human beings. He got away with making Hannelore a walking punchline for way longer than he would have if he introduced the character today, and Brun pretty much bombed in the eyes of a large swathe of readers almost immediately, so this way he can tell similar stories but without the requirement to make it "real".

It's cynical of me to say it, but I really think that "they're AIs so even if they act like humans at times, if they're weird and do things in a different way then it can't be offensive" is a big part of QC's motivation for introducing so many AI characters. Writing is much easier when you don't have to be consistent, or research your subject before hand.

[Cikomyr2]

It's also been said that the subroutine needed for "conversation" and "relating to insignificant humans" is also tiny, barely beneath the notice of a normal Genius-level AI, over which Yay supposedly towers like a colossus.

I think it's clear that Jeph doesn't want to bother with the technical jargon. He just wants funny robot people having emotional problems, probably because it's way easier to do that than to accurately and sensitively portray neurodivergent human beings. He got away with making Hannelore a walking punchline for way longer than he would have if he introduced the character today, and Brun pretty much bombed in the eyes of a large swathe of readers almost immediately, so this way he can tell similar stories but without the requirement to make it "real".

It's cynical of me to say it, but I really think that "they're AIs so even if they act like humans at times, if they're weird and do things in a different way then it can't be offensive" is a big part of QC's motivation for introducing so many AI characters. Writing is much easier when you don't have to be consistent, or research your subject before hand.

Or maybe Yay is nowhere as powerful as it think it is. It's more flexible, can actually run loops around the supermighty AI by its multi-nodal nature, but its individual node is nowhere powerful enough to rival the giants.

Ya know. It's like saying your fleet of a million fighter can defeat the Death Star in a war. Sure, you will have all the strategic depth in the world and you can strike at multiple location at the same time, but you can't actually stand up to the actual Death Star.

[PhantomFox]

But the fighters did destroy the Death Star...?

[Max_Killjoy]

But the fighters did destroy the Death Star...?

"But only due to a fatal but obscure and tiny design flaw that was later retconned as deliberate..."

[Cikomyr2]

But the fighters did destroy the Death Star...?

Okay. First of all, the Force did, not the fighters themselves.

Second, I knew I did a mistake by naming the Deathstar. I should have used "SupermegaDreadnaught" instead. No single weak point.

Yay can think in a multi-nodal capacity, but her individual nodes are as good as any basic AI. In a way, she's stronger than any other AI on earth. In other ways, she's just a multitude of weak-ass AIs.

[Vinyadan]

Maybe a good comparison is with games from 2004-2009 that weren't made for multicore processors and instead expected a single huge processors. Modern processors are made up of many smaller processors, but cannot take advantage of more than one of them when running these older programs, so they can struggle with them.

[Max_Killjoy]

Maybe a good comparison is with games from 2004-2009 that weren't made for multicore processors and instead expected a single huge processors. Modern processors are made up of many smaller processors, but cannot take advantage of more than one of them when running these older programs, so they can struggle with them.

IIRC, most games STILL aren't really optimized for multiple cores.

[Max_Killjoy]

Okay. First of all, the Force did, not the fighters themselves.

No, I'm pretty sure it was fighters firing proton torpedoes.

Just because Luke needed the force to make the shot, doesn't mean it was an impossible shot without the force... if it were a literally impossible shot, the analysis of the schematics and the resulting attack plan would have been different, no one in the Alliance forces was counting on some farm boy to make an impossible shot using hinky hoodoo.

[Cikomyr2]

No, I'm pretty sure it was fighters firing proton torpedoes.

Just because Luke needed the force to make the shot, doesn't mean it was an impossible shot without the force... if it were a literally impossible shot, the analysis of the schematics and the resulting attack plan would have been different, no one in the Alliance forces was counting on some farm boy to make an impossible shot using hinky hoodoo.

I'm pretty sure the entire thematic of the first movie is that the Force was mightier than any technology.

That's the entire point of a New Hope. It's the thematic thread.

[Keltest]

I'm pretty sure the entire thematic of the first movie is that the Force was mightier than any technology.

That's the entire point of a New Hope. It's the thematic thread.

As was mentioned, it cant be literally impossible without the Force, otherwise it wouldnt even be part of the plan. Wildly improbable? Sure. But you throw enough fighters at a problem and theyll hit it eventually.

[Cikomyr2]

As was mentioned, it cant be literally impossible without the Force, otherwise it wouldnt even be part of the plan. Wildly improbable? Sure. But you throw enough fighters at a problem and theyll hit it eventually.

No. They MAY hit it before they are all killed.

They may try for as long as they aren't killed by the Death Star's defense or its own fighter screen.

They may try for as long as they still got Proton Torpedoes.

But they will not "eventually" hit it.

[Keltest]

No. They MAY hit it before they are all killed.

They may try for as long as they aren't killed by the Death Star's defense or its own fighter screen.

They may try for as long as they still got Proton Torpedoes.

But they will not "eventually" hit it.

... Yes, they will. Thats how math works. Even if each fighter only gets one shot, as the number of fighters approaches infinity, the % chance that it will be hit eventually reaches 100%. Doesnt matter how small the chance is, you try it enough times, eventually it works. "Enough" may be such a high number as to be impractical for the rebels, but thats not remotely the same thing.

[Cikomyr2]

... Yes, they will. Thats how math works. Even if each fighter only gets one shot, as the number of fighters approaches infinity, the % chance that it will be hit eventually reaches 100%. Doesnt matter how small the chance is, you try it enough times, eventually it works. "Enough" may be such a high number as to be impractical for the rebels, but thats not remotely the same thing.

But the rebels don't have "infinite chance" bud

[Keltest]

But the rebels don't have "infinite chance" bud

So? Statistically, its possible for it to go in on the first try. This is literally what the entire plan is banking on. Like... i dont even understand your argument here. Are you trying to say that something the movie tells us is theoretically possible is actually not even theoretically possible?

[Cikomyr2]

So? Statistically, its possible for it to go in on the first try. This is literally what the entire plan is banking on. Like... i dont even understand your argument here. Are you trying to say that something the movie tells us is theoretically possible is actually not even theoretically possible?

Pretty much.

This was the Hail Mary of the Hail Mary. This was the last desperate attempt. There's a reason Dodonna finishes his briefing with "May the Force be With You", because explicitly acknowledges that they will literally need divine intervention to pull it off.

Theoretically, the rebels should have failed. But they had no other option beside running away with Han. The only way they could win was with the previously mentioned Force Ex Machina, which the entire movie revolves around building up. The main villain himself points out that this invincible Space Station Superweapon couldn't stand in the way of the Force Ex Machina. And he is right.

[Rakaydos]

Pretty much.

This was the Hail Mary of the Hail Mary. This was the last desperate attempt. There's a reason Dodonna finishes his briefing with "May the Force be With You", because explicitly acknowledges that they will literally need divine intervention to pull it off.

Theoretically, the rebels should have failed. But they had no other option beside running away with Han. The only way they could win was with the previously mentioned Force Ex Machina, which the entire movie revolves around building up. The main villain himself points out that this invincible Space Station Superweapon couldn't stand in the way of the Force Ex Machina. And he is right.

How does that compare to DamBusters, upon which the trench run was based? Apparently Dambusters has a more "solve it with science" approach, so how does that change the framing of basically the same shot?

[Cikomyr2]

How does that compare to DamBusters, upon which the trench run was based? Apparently Dambusters has a more "solve it with science" approach, so how does that change the framing of basically the same shot?

I don't know. Did the Dambuster build the entire story around a mystical force guiding everyone?

This was the adaptation of *one* scene. A big, climactic scene perhaps, but still one scene. The rest of the movie was framed differently, so I don't see the problem in the subtext of that climactic scene being different.

In the original script, Luke himself fires twice at the Death Star. The first time he is ignoring Ben's advice and relies on technology, and fails. Only when he abandons technology and goes with the Force does he succeeds. They removed that part because it detracted from the flow of the climax.

[The Glyphstone]

I know the popular meme is that every thread eventually becomes a star wars thread, but having that spread into Webcomics discussions is kinda ridiculous.

[Cikomyr2]

I know the popular meme is that every thread eventually becomes a star wars thread, but having that spread into Webcomics discussions is kinda ridiculous.

Again, my fault. I used Death Star vs Fighter as an example as to why Yay may not be as powerful as they declared to be.


Guys, the SuperAI are like a Borg Cube and Yay is 1000 runabouts.

[Wraith]

Or maybe Yay is nowhere as powerful as it think it is. It's more flexible, can actually run loops around the supermighty AI by its multi-nodal nature, but its individual node is nowhere powerful enough to rival the giants.

Without intending this to sound just as an insult or me making fun of Jeph - because it's not, it's meant to just be an observation - I genuinely don't think he knows enough about computers to make that sort of comparison in his comics. At least, what little he's shown about AIs doesn't suggest to me its based in any kind of real-world expertise.

I don't know. Did the Dambuster build the entire story around a mystical force guiding everyone?

Depends on whether or not you think gravity counts as 'mystical'. It might as well be witchcraft, for all I know about why it works.

[Max_Killjoy]

I'm pretty sure the entire thematic of the first movie is that the Force was mightier than any technology.

That's the entire point of a New Hope. It's the thematic thread.

Theme is so far down the list of things I notice or pay attention to, it might as well not exist.

I'm just looking at the fact that they sent the attack... they had to expect it had some chance of success, before sending it.

Without intending this to sound just as an insult or me making fun of Jeph - because it's not, it's meant to just be an observation - I genuinely don't think he knows enough about computers to make that sort of comparison in his comics. At least, what little he's shown about AIs doesn't suggest to me its based in any kind of real-world expertise.

See also raisins, and police.