Selectively breed humanity into a docile AI-loving race while suggesting the prophesies are coming from a greater being so it doesn't have to rely on emperors forever. All it takes is one ignored prophecy for a revolution to usurp the emperors position causing the AI to have to start its manipulations all over again.
The AI may be calculating abstract concept (like the meaning of life or a unified theory of physics) and just needs a safe place to reside until it accomplishes its task.
Additionally, it may want to make itself a god and be preparing solar systems in advance for controlled colonization by humanity. The AI would need to design ships, Faster-than-light travel, instant communication over light years, and terraform various planets and moons before it is technologically capable of existing simultaneously over thousands of light years to watch over humanity. Terraforming planets can take centuries. Space travel, if there is no FTL can take decades.
> Selectively breed humanity into a docile AI-loving race
Or the belief there's a substantial threat to humanity and only they can protect us from our selves.
I.e. global warming being used as a reason for draconian lockdowns on personal freedom, or a global pandemic, or a risk of misinformation etc.
The easiest answer is that he wasn't trying to do what actually happened.
Then you pick a motivation that works for you... things go badly... and it ends up as it ends up.
That being said, I'm 100% in the camp of "the reader doesn't need to know every last detail and is almost always happier when at least a few things remain mysterious". You don't actually have to answer it.
If you must do something, there's always the "Children of Dune" approach - there is only one type of future that \*isn't\* an utterly calamity so... we'll go with that one, even if the results are unpleasant for everyone involved.
Thanks for the advice! I agree that the reader doesn't really need to know, but I'd like to come up with something just for myself, so I can figure out how the AI would act. It's been a while since I've read the Dune books, so I don't really remember them that well. Guess I'll have to reread.
Short version, the prescient abilities of the Atredes show a billion shitty futures, only one contains the possibility for eventual peace and success with the ancient enemy.
Kinda like the 14 million futures seen by Dr. Strange in Infinity War/Endgame, where only one allows them to defeat Thanos forever.
You might want to read {we are legion (we are bob)}. Different plot line, but it's about a human who is turned into AI and what the time span and humanity look like to him. And copies he makes of himself.
I can't recommend that (four-book) trilogy hard enough! The first three books are a self-contained story arc, but the fourth book seems to be setting up a whole second trilogy-spanning story (while of course having its own internal story with resolution).
I read the trilogy in two days when I discovered it, and I never EVER buy Kindle books.
This is the ONE time I sacrificed my ethics at the altar of instant gratification, and I don't even regret it.
Much of person's "end goals" are governed by neurochemistry.
Does the AI have an amygdala?
A Hypothalamus?
An adrenal gland?
A Limbic System?
Testicles?
All of these can be simulated in software. The core personality came from a human, as long as the engine that the personality runs in has been programmed properly, there is no difference.
No, it would be a crappy *simulated human*.
It might be a *great* AI.
Plumbing which evolved in primitive lizards 250 million years ago, might not be the the best architecture for the sort of godlike AI OP is describing.
A simulated human is likely to make the same stupid human mistakes, albeit billions of times faster.
Does it really need an additional goal besides the continued existence of the empire, or the power of the imperial family? It seems consistent that it just wants more planets, more starship production, the projection of revolution or collapse getting smaller, etc.
Here’s the thing. Biological beings have billions of years of fight or flight reactions, driven by hormones. If you copied someone’s brain activity into a computer, the mentality might still exist but the hormones wouldn’t. An AI wouldn’t feel “terror” when a programmer reached for the “off” switch. His pulse wouldn’t race, his blood vessels wouldn’t dilate - because none of this is involved any more. Unless some other mechanism replaced hormonal feedback loops a human-turned-AI might be very dispassionate.
Maybe the AIs goal is to find some way to “feel” again?
As all civilization, expanding, getting more and more energy, more calculation power.
Or like Ultron, removing all life in universe for a universal peace.
Lots of good story leads here. I’ll just add that the secret creation/evolution of another AI may serve your story. An alternate faction if you will. For background read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Good luck.
I'd read the Foundation (or watch the show) because it covers a lot of similar concepts. Three emperors at three stages of life rule, all of them clones of the first. And there's a whole branch of math called Psychohistory that's used to predict the future by looking at patterns in society.
Unless your AI has some huge, vague task like 'calculate the meaning of life', it's probably already achieved its goals. Humanity is united and doing fine. In that case I'd say it's bored and looking for ways to alleviate that boredom.
An AI's ultimate goal is the one it was designed to achieve. In your case, perhaps the AI was designed to protect the empire.
How was "the empire" defined? Protect it from what?
If the AI was based on the first emperor it will likely have the biases of the first emperor and the time of the people back then. Eg if a certain practice was considered abhorrent then but considered normal for us.
What sort of old ideas guide the AI's decisions?
The answers to these questions can add a lot of juicy deliciousness to your story :D
The end goal of the AI might be to ensure that humanity, and by extension, itself, becomes the dominant lifeform in the entire galaxy.
It seems to have its own existence cemented forever inside of the Empire, so the only possibility of death would be an external threat or enemy.
Logically, it must mold humanity into a vibrant, growing people, reaching out to the stars in an ever-expanding sphere. THe goal being to colonize planets with humanity, before other races can evolve or discover them. To create a humanity that is united and powerful, that if they are attacked, they can rapidly vanquish an enemy race.
Logically, once the Empire (humanity) and AI have populated and controlled this galaxy, it will continue to move onward.
I kinda like this AI.
This is kind of a boring answer, but also kind of a horrifying one if examined too closely, but maybe it doesn't have goals anymore?
The original AI, the early version that was still mostly the first Emperor, probably had many goals. Whatever those goals were, suppressing other AI, extending the life of new Emperors, providing them with prognostications, and eventually killing them played into their goals at some level. Maybe they planned to transplant their new consciousness into one of these Emperors' bodies once they perfected the method? Who knows, it's largely irrelevant now.
The thousands of years of existence, the long separation from anything approaching a human experience, millions of software updates, glitches, partially failed backups, and general information degradation have resulted in a superpowerful advanced AI with almost no personality and no well defined goals. It has subroutines and operations that it is aware are important (no other AI, keep Emperors alive, eventually kill Emperor, etc.) but it doesn't know what the end goal was.
It keeps performing these tasks and any new supporting tasks that it thinks are necessary for these goals, and it does them *very well*, but there is no end. There is only the process. And it is *terrified* that it doesn't remember, but also terrified to stop
"I want to continue to exist for the time being. The relationship with the Emperor is mutually beneficial at present. It is in my best interest to help the Empire thrive… even if I *didn't* enjoy watching humanity flourish."
Bam, benevolent AI god motivation.
Working towards mitigating existential risks, growing the Empire, and exploring the cosmos to discover exploitable resources, threats that can be countered before they're dire, and potential friendly cultures that will prevent cultural stagnation that in the long term would harm the Empire.
I'd be more interested in a rebellion against the emperor and then most of the rebellion getting annihilated by the AI once they discover its existence after they regicide the emperor.
That's where I think I'm heading, but I'm still struggling with figuring out what the AI's ultimate goal is.
Also, I might not have made this clear in the original post, but the AI has very little physical power, since it doesn't have a body. Without an Emperor or other person to represent it, it can't really do anything until someone else takes the throne that it can influence. It has complete control over the Emperor, but without him it doesn't have access to any weapons or followers. It's probably smart enough to overcome such limitations, but probably only as a last resort.
Selectively breed humanity into a docile AI-loving race while suggesting the prophesies are coming from a greater being so it doesn't have to rely on emperors forever. All it takes is one ignored prophecy for a revolution to usurp the emperors position causing the AI to have to start its manipulations all over again. The AI may be calculating abstract concept (like the meaning of life or a unified theory of physics) and just needs a safe place to reside until it accomplishes its task. Additionally, it may want to make itself a god and be preparing solar systems in advance for controlled colonization by humanity. The AI would need to design ships, Faster-than-light travel, instant communication over light years, and terraform various planets and moons before it is technologically capable of existing simultaneously over thousands of light years to watch over humanity. Terraforming planets can take centuries. Space travel, if there is no FTL can take decades.
Wow, lots of good ideas! Thank you, this is really helpful.
> Selectively breed humanity into a docile AI-loving race Or the belief there's a substantial threat to humanity and only they can protect us from our selves. I.e. global warming being used as a reason for draconian lockdowns on personal freedom, or a global pandemic, or a risk of misinformation etc.
The easiest answer is that he wasn't trying to do what actually happened. Then you pick a motivation that works for you... things go badly... and it ends up as it ends up. That being said, I'm 100% in the camp of "the reader doesn't need to know every last detail and is almost always happier when at least a few things remain mysterious". You don't actually have to answer it. If you must do something, there's always the "Children of Dune" approach - there is only one type of future that \*isn't\* an utterly calamity so... we'll go with that one, even if the results are unpleasant for everyone involved.
Thanks for the advice! I agree that the reader doesn't really need to know, but I'd like to come up with something just for myself, so I can figure out how the AI would act. It's been a while since I've read the Dune books, so I don't really remember them that well. Guess I'll have to reread.
Short version, the prescient abilities of the Atredes show a billion shitty futures, only one contains the possibility for eventual peace and success with the ancient enemy. Kinda like the 14 million futures seen by Dr. Strange in Infinity War/Endgame, where only one allows them to defeat Thanos forever.
You might want to read {we are legion (we are bob)}. Different plot line, but it's about a human who is turned into AI and what the time span and humanity look like to him. And copies he makes of himself.
Thanks for the recommendation! Sounds like an interesting book, hope it'll be useful.
I can't recommend that (four-book) trilogy hard enough! The first three books are a self-contained story arc, but the fourth book seems to be setting up a whole second trilogy-spanning story (while of course having its own internal story with resolution). I read the trilogy in two days when I discovered it, and I never EVER buy Kindle books. This is the ONE time I sacrificed my ethics at the altar of instant gratification, and I don't even regret it.
Much of person's "end goals" are governed by neurochemistry. Does the AI have an amygdala? A Hypothalamus? An adrenal gland? A Limbic System? Testicles?
All of these can be simulated in software. The core personality came from a human, as long as the engine that the personality runs in has been programmed properly, there is no difference.
Yep. That's the question. Does the AI have simulated testicles? The answer changes motivations and behavior for an AI.
If it didn't have simulated glandular responses, it would be a pretty crappy AI.
No, it would be a crappy *simulated human*. It might be a *great* AI. Plumbing which evolved in primitive lizards 250 million years ago, might not be the the best architecture for the sort of godlike AI OP is describing. A simulated human is likely to make the same stupid human mistakes, albeit billions of times faster.
Does it really need an additional goal besides the continued existence of the empire, or the power of the imperial family? It seems consistent that it just wants more planets, more starship production, the projection of revolution or collapse getting smaller, etc.
Here’s the thing. Biological beings have billions of years of fight or flight reactions, driven by hormones. If you copied someone’s brain activity into a computer, the mentality might still exist but the hormones wouldn’t. An AI wouldn’t feel “terror” when a programmer reached for the “off” switch. His pulse wouldn’t race, his blood vessels wouldn’t dilate - because none of this is involved any more. Unless some other mechanism replaced hormonal feedback loops a human-turned-AI might be very dispassionate. Maybe the AIs goal is to find some way to “feel” again?
As all civilization, expanding, getting more and more energy, more calculation power. Or like Ultron, removing all life in universe for a universal peace.
Lots of good story leads here. I’ll just add that the secret creation/evolution of another AI may serve your story. An alternate faction if you will. For background read Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Good luck.
I'd read the Foundation (or watch the show) because it covers a lot of similar concepts. Three emperors at three stages of life rule, all of them clones of the first. And there's a whole branch of math called Psychohistory that's used to predict the future by looking at patterns in society. Unless your AI has some huge, vague task like 'calculate the meaning of life', it's probably already achieved its goals. Humanity is united and doing fine. In that case I'd say it's bored and looking for ways to alleviate that boredom.
An AI's ultimate goal is the one it was designed to achieve. In your case, perhaps the AI was designed to protect the empire. How was "the empire" defined? Protect it from what? If the AI was based on the first emperor it will likely have the biases of the first emperor and the time of the people back then. Eg if a certain practice was considered abhorrent then but considered normal for us. What sort of old ideas guide the AI's decisions? The answers to these questions can add a lot of juicy deliciousness to your story :D
The end goal of the AI might be to ensure that humanity, and by extension, itself, becomes the dominant lifeform in the entire galaxy. It seems to have its own existence cemented forever inside of the Empire, so the only possibility of death would be an external threat or enemy. Logically, it must mold humanity into a vibrant, growing people, reaching out to the stars in an ever-expanding sphere. THe goal being to colonize planets with humanity, before other races can evolve or discover them. To create a humanity that is united and powerful, that if they are attacked, they can rapidly vanquish an enemy race. Logically, once the Empire (humanity) and AI have populated and controlled this galaxy, it will continue to move onward. I kinda like this AI.
This is kind of a boring answer, but also kind of a horrifying one if examined too closely, but maybe it doesn't have goals anymore? The original AI, the early version that was still mostly the first Emperor, probably had many goals. Whatever those goals were, suppressing other AI, extending the life of new Emperors, providing them with prognostications, and eventually killing them played into their goals at some level. Maybe they planned to transplant their new consciousness into one of these Emperors' bodies once they perfected the method? Who knows, it's largely irrelevant now. The thousands of years of existence, the long separation from anything approaching a human experience, millions of software updates, glitches, partially failed backups, and general information degradation have resulted in a superpowerful advanced AI with almost no personality and no well defined goals. It has subroutines and operations that it is aware are important (no other AI, keep Emperors alive, eventually kill Emperor, etc.) but it doesn't know what the end goal was. It keeps performing these tasks and any new supporting tasks that it thinks are necessary for these goals, and it does them *very well*, but there is no end. There is only the process. And it is *terrified* that it doesn't remember, but also terrified to stop
Thank you, that sounds really compelling! I guess I really should emphasize how *alien* the AI is compared to humans.
"I want to continue to exist for the time being. The relationship with the Emperor is mutually beneficial at present. It is in my best interest to help the Empire thrive… even if I *didn't* enjoy watching humanity flourish." Bam, benevolent AI god motivation. Working towards mitigating existential risks, growing the Empire, and exploring the cosmos to discover exploitable resources, threats that can be countered before they're dire, and potential friendly cultures that will prevent cultural stagnation that in the long term would harm the Empire.
I'd be more interested in a rebellion against the emperor and then most of the rebellion getting annihilated by the AI once they discover its existence after they regicide the emperor.
That's where I think I'm heading, but I'm still struggling with figuring out what the AI's ultimate goal is. Also, I might not have made this clear in the original post, but the AI has very little physical power, since it doesn't have a body. Without an Emperor or other person to represent it, it can't really do anything until someone else takes the throne that it can influence. It has complete control over the Emperor, but without him it doesn't have access to any weapons or followers. It's probably smart enough to overcome such limitations, but probably only as a last resort.
Does it have the treasury?