glyphstrip FAQ button
Halo.bungie.org
glyphstrip
Frequently Asked Forum Questions
 Search the HBO News Archives

Any All Exact 
Search the Halo Updates DBs

Halo Halo2 
Search Older Posts on This Forum:
Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts


Re: The Ambitions of an AI
Posted By: gspawnDate: 9/7/05 1:13 p.m.

In Response To: The Ambitions of an AI (Usul)

Dunno what this will add as I'm too lazy to really read too much today, but in Marathon, AIs were likely to go Rampant when they were plugged into a large network (planet-size, perhaps) and then cut off (say, plugged into a SPARTAN's crystal-matrix AI layer).

Cortana was originally limited to the 7-year lifespan of smart AIs in the Halo universe, but through Rampancy, she would escape her natural death to exist forever (although she'd also be quite mad, in a way). The same could have been true of Gracemind, but...

Gravemind probably isn't an AI, because to escape the lifespan of smart AIs he'd need to go rampant (much as the Monitors abviously are), and that would mean he'd have to be fairly mad. He's a little to slow and careful and thoutful for Rampancy. Rampancy also tends to make an AI pretty fixed on one goal (escaping the closure of the universe, maintaining a Halo) and Gravemind doesn't seem to be operating on such a specific course. He acts much more like a den mother protecting its cubs- in this case, probably the Flood.

So bla bla... it's much more likely that Cortana is just operating along her preprogrammed main objective (infiltration in order to protect humanity) and following up on her secondary objectives (everything else is secondary to the first objective). If the Gravemind were able to contain an AI, Cortana would simply be using the interrogation time in order to crack open its brain and analyze it on her own terms to better assess how Gravemind could serve her objectives, including as a transport vessel if need be.

Ergo, Cortana would want to use Gravemind- who is most likely the Flood's den mother- to escape her current location, regroup with Master Chief when/if possible, and continue to fight to save humanity. If Gravemind is the Flood's den mother, and therefore able to control them (at least insofar as the Flood's hunger for hosts allow them to be commanded) through the hivemind they seem to share, then the Flood could be harnessed as a more directed weapon if Cortana could find a way to barter for their help (terraforming the Halos into self-sustaining and fully contained Flood-farms, maybe?).

And to tie up a loose end, Gravemind has a lot of control over the Halo on he's on due to his physical presence alone. Now that the Flood have escaped, his control over them (assuming he is indeed in control) in addition to his physical reach (tendrils) means he can manipulate everyone else in order to get basically whatever he wants. If he wants a group of Covenant to be contained, he maneuvers the Flood such that it's in the Monitor's best interests to deal with the situation ASAP, and this pushes the Covenant such that their weak spot attracts Master Chief to move in... et cetera...

So Gravemind can do a lot of stuff that would seem AI-level because he has the physical presence to force AIs to do his work for him (even Cortana, as Flood movements could easily have had Master Chief playing as a pawn in the game, as you see when Gravemind sets Arbiter and Chief out on their missions).

Cortana can do a lot of stuff on the physical level because of all the automation around her- including her ability to hack into several different battle nets and order all the sides around much as Gravemind can do more physically.

So, in the end, Gravemind doesn't need to be an AI, and it makes more sense if he's not. He has, however, had access to a lot of AIs and his physical domain means he can access a whole lot of computers and the brains of a lot of people who know how to use them.

Insert a Flood interrogation form absorbing someone with security clearance (Halo), then infect a biped and leave its hands intact so you can operate a keyboard...


Message Index




Replies:

The Ambitions of an AIUsul 9/3/05 6:31 p.m.
     Re: The Ambitions of an AInoah! 9/4/05 12:20 a.m.
           Re: The Ambitions of an AIUsul 9/4/05 1:19 p.m.
                 Re: The Ambitions of an AIdude1 9/5/05 11:27 a.m.
                 Re: The Ambitions of an AIDark One 9/5/05 12:43 p.m.
           Re: The Ambitions of an AIJinno 9/5/05 12:38 p.m.
                 Re: The Ambitions of an AIStephen L. (SoundEffect) 9/5/05 12:41 p.m.
                 Re: The Ambitions of an AIdude1 9/5/05 3:23 p.m.
                       Re: The Ambitions of an AIStephen L. (SoundEffect) 9/5/05 9:55 p.m.
                             Re: The Ambitions of an AIdude1 9/6/05 6:56 p.m.
                                   Re: The Ambitions of an AIAin Soph Aur 10/11/05 12:47 a.m.
                                         Re: The Ambitions of an AIUrsusArctos 10/11/05 5:29 a.m.
                                               Re: The Ambitions of an AIAin Soph Aur 10/12/05 12:10 a.m.
     it would make sensedean 9/5/05 8:19 a.m.
     Re: The Ambitions of an AISly Avatar 9/5/05 8:19 a.m.
           Re: The Ambitions of an AIAI Construct 9/5/05 1:03 p.m.
     Cortana will become God with Gravemind's bodyUrsusArctos4 9/7/05 10:11 a.m.
           Gravemind....Overmind...Hm...58 9/7/05 12:24 p.m.
                 Re: Gravemind....Overmind...Hm...Dark One 9/8/05 8:32 p.m.
                       Books-A-Million, B.Dalton...58 9/8/05 9:26 p.m.
     Re: The Ambitions of an AIgspawn 9/7/05 1:13 p.m.
           Re: The Ambitions of an AInoah! 9/7/05 4:14 p.m.



contact us

The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33.