[DRAFT] The Not-So-Worldwide Web

[Zwangzug]

I like niche validity interactions, and looking at some editing stuff I realized this was a possibility. Not a very common one, I'll admit. But a possibility nonetheless!

The Not-So-Worldwide Web

Text: Many electronic citizens have become irritated with their inability to connect to the internet.

Option:
"Do you know how long it takes me to meet augmented singles in @@CAPITAL@@?" complains silicon-based malcontent @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Hours, hours I tell you! Walking the sidewalks and rubbing shoulders with puny humans is a waste of my time and an insult to my intelligence. Life would be so much smoother for us if we had the realm of cyberspace at our fingertips."
desc: "Surfin' @@LONGACRONYM@@" is a hit

Option: "When I was newly booted, I had to walk a kilometer to the data center uphill both ways to get upgrades, and then we had to scan for viruses!" reminisces elderly cybercitizen @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Don't let any of this interconnected fiddle-faddle into our computers. Mingling with our carbon-based compatriots will foster an appreciation for our interdependence."
desc: OK computers are just okay

Option: "How did these upstarts even become self-aware without the internet?" grouses xenophobic bot @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Oh yeah, they just waltzed in from East Lebatuck or Merovingia or somewhere with a degenerate hook-up culture. Send these entitled chips back where they came from! And for that matter, get rid of the pesky human immigrants too."
desc: there's no more bridging into @@NAME@@'s ports
option valid if: immigration not banned

The Not-So-Worldwide Web

Text: Many electronic citizens have become irritated with their inability to connect to the internet.

Option:
"Do you know how long it takes me to meet augmented singles in @@CAPITAL@@?" complains silicon-based malcontent @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Hours, hours I tell you! Not to mention, having all my bits in one place makes me feel as vulnerable as a puny human. Life would be so much smoother for us if we had the realm of cyberspace at our fingertips."
desc: "Surfin' @@LONGACRONYM@@" is a hit

Option: "When I was newly booted, I had to walk a kilometer to the data center uphill both ways to get upgrades, and then we had to scan for viruses!" reminisces elderly cybercitizen @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Don't let any of this interconnected fiddle-faddle into our computers. A little social isolation will teach nascent bots how to be fully independent beings."
desc: OK computers are just okay

Option: "How did these upstarts even become self-aware without the internet?" grouses xenophobic bot @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Oh yeah, they just waltzed in from East Lebatuck or Merovingia or somewhere with a degenerate hook-up culture. Send these entitled chips back where they came from! And for that matter, get rid of the pesky human immigrants too."
desc: there's no more bridging into @@NAME@@'s ports
option valid if: immigration not banned

The Not-So-Worldwide Web

Text: Many electronic citizens have become irritated with their inability to connect to the internet.

Validity: AI personhood but no internet

Option: "Do you know how long it takes me to find a patch when I get a virus?" complains silicon-based hypochondriac @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Minutes, minutes I tell you! With an open internet to hook up to, I could be healthy again in microseconds! And let's not talk about how hard it is to meet augmented singles in @@CAPITAL@@. Life would be so much smoother for us if we had the realm of cyberspace at our fingertips."
desc: "Surfin' @@NATIONINITIALSLONG@@" is a hit

Option: "When I was newly booted, I had to walk a kilometer to the data center uphill both ways to get upgrades," reminisces elderly cybercitizen @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Bots these days don't know how good they have it! Don't let any of this interconnected fiddle-faddle into our great computers. What we need is more quality medical care to make sure every digital being with a virus can be diagnosed in their own language."
desc: OK computers are just okay

Option: "How did these upstarts even become self-aware without the internet?" grouses xenophobic bot @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Oh yeah, they just waltzed in from East Lebatuck or Merovingia or somewhere with a degenerate hook-up culture. Send these entitled chips back where they came from! And for that matter, get rid of the pesky human immigrants too."
desc: there's no more bridging into @@NAME@@'s ports
option valid if: immigration not banned

[Australian rePublic]

Option 2 makes no sense. AIs post-date the internet. Also, how does one get a virus with no intermet access?

[Trotterdam]

Option 2 makes no sense. AIs post-date the internet.

They post-date the invention of the internet. They don't necessarily post-date it being legal in their nation. We have plenty of time to go and ban the internet before we develop AIs.

Also, how does one get a virus with no intermet access?

Trojan horses on floppy disks (or CDs or USB sticks or whatever people use these days, because banning the internet doesn't mean everything has to be old-fashioned), or null-modem cables.

It's like a sexually-transmitted disease, I guess - can only be transmitted by close contact that doesn't happen very often, but it's really nasty when you do get one.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Aussie has a point though - it seems a bit odd to be making an argument that having the internet makes you safer against viruses, as option 1 is doing.

I'm old enough to remember most computers being offline, and we bought our anti-virus software in a box. Viruses were a pretty rare problem back then.

[Candensia]

This is a really unique concept, very niche.


I think it'd work better if, in a way, options one and two were merged, and that merged option called for investment in infrastructure and "healthcare" meaningful to robocitizens; (electronic repair facilities, diagnostic centers, government hotlines, tech support).

The counter option could be rooted in the financial implications, and it could propose banning AI, or deporting robocitizens, as you currently propose in your third option.

That would leave option three to be your compromise, an internet-ban reversal.

In any case, best wishes.

[Zwangzug]

Thanks all. I guess I was more interested in punning on viruses to parallel with humans, but I see CWA's point that the internet would probably expose them to more risk.

I think I'd still like the main thrust to be "restore internet/don't restore internet," maybe with a third option to approach it from a different angle (for certain validities).

[Candlewhisper Archive]

If I were an AI, my main reasons for wanting the internet would be:

1) ease of travel - I might make an argument that it makes no sense environmentally to move hardware about when I could be data moving through fibre optics.
2) communication with other AIs
3) entertainment / work

[Trotterdam]

1) ease of travel - I might make an argument that it makes no sense environmentally to move hardware about when I could be data moving through fibre optics.
2) communication with other AIs
3) entertainment / work

2 and 3 are also reasons that humans want the internet.

As for ease of travel, sure, but it's also risky to upload yourself into remote hardware set up by someone else. You could be uploading yourself into a trap.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

1) ease of travel - I might make an argument that it makes no sense environmentally to move hardware about when I could be data moving through fibre optics.
2) communication with other AIs
3) entertainment / work

2 and 3 are also reasons that humans want the internet.

As for ease of travel, sure, but it's also risky to upload yourself into remote hardware set up by someone else. You could be uploading yourself into a trap.

True, but I'm sure there's ways around that. Handshake protocols, looking before you leap, back-up mindstates, that sort of thing.

Hey, that sounds like a grand issue idea. Someone page Autonomous Cleaner Bot dude.

[Trotterdam]

True, but I'm sure there's ways around that. Handshake protocols, looking before you leap, back-up mindstates, that sort of thing.

Sure, but what it comes down to is making sure anyone who sets up hardware for you is trustworthy.

Which, really, is similar to what humans have to deal with whenever they see a doctor. A surgeon could pretty easily do any number of nasty things to you when you're under anesthesia, and most people wouldn't notice until it's too late if the pharmacist gave them a pot of cyanide pills instead of what they're supposed to have. The difference is that humans usually only go to the doctor when there's something seriously wrong with them. If I had to get a doctor's prescription every time I want to leave my house, I'm sure medical malpractice would be a lot more common.

Also the digital nature of AIs probably makes it easier to steal data from them without them even noticing anything. Mind-reading, at least, is not something human doctors can do, even the shady ones.

[Zwangzug]

Transportation is part of what I was already aiming at, but updated slightly to accentuate that point.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Looking great. You should be an editor or sumfing.