Artificial Intelligence

The terminal of the A.I. Kappa

Artificial intelligence, abbreviated A.I., is an artificially created construct that exhibits intelligence similar to a sentient being. AIs were known to be used by the Forerunners, and later by humanity to a great extent. The first generation "Smart" A.I.s were developed by humanity in the early 21st century.

Most A.I. constructs give themselves a unique appearance (otherwise known as an avatar) that corresponds to their main use.

AI History of Project Freelancer

Omega is the first A.I. fragment introduced, (Episode 19) but starts playing a bigger role in Season 2 after making Caboose threaten Tucker. The next A.I. introduced is Gamma, who is Wyoming's A.I. In Out of Mind, Delta is York's A.I., but after York is killed in battle by Wyoming, Agent Washington recovers Delta, after which he was sent after Agent South Dakota, who was paired with her brother North Dakota. North still had Theta when he was killed by the Meta, who took the A.I. and North's armor enhancement.

Delta is later implanted into South in Recovery One: Part Three. In Reconstruction Chapter 5, Delta can be seen with South following Washington when the Meta crept up behind them. In Chapter 6, South used her domed energy shield to keep the Meta at bay when Washington and the others showed up and to chase the Meta away as the shield failed. Delta informs Washington of South's numerous betrayals, and Washington ultimately executes her afterward. Delta remains in Caboose's Mind until the Meta takes him after knocking Caboose unconscious.

In Chapter 16, Church is revealed to be the Alpha A.I. when Washington uncovers his A.I., Epsilon. In Chapter 19, the Meta is seen with all of his A.I. when Church as the Alpha leaps into the Meta and Washington activates the EMP. In the epilogue, Caboose can be seen with Epsilon's storage unit next to a suit of black armor, presumably Tex's. Also, the Director of Project Freelancer reveals himself to be the original Leonard Church, whom the Alpha AI was modeled after. All the A.I. are destroyed, as seen in the Recreation Trailer. It should also be noted that Epsilon is still active throughout the Recollections Trilogy and The Project Freelancer Saga, though he is later fragmented at the end of The Chorus Trilogy.

Overview

Creation

The process of creating an A.I. is different to what most people realize. Instead of simply "programming" a Smart AI, the A.I. matrix is actually created by sending electric bursts through the neural pathways of a human brain which are then replicated in a superconducting nano-assemblage in a process known as Cognitive Impression Modeling. This destroys the original brain tissue however, and so the brain being used could only be obtained after the host had died. However, in some instances, as in the case of the A.I. Cortana, the candidate brain was flash-cloned and had its memories transferred to the receptacle organs so that the host, in this case Dr. Catherine Halsey, could remain alive. However, this is extremely inefficient. In the case of Cortana, out of twenty of Dr. Halsey's cloned brains, only two of them took.

Dr. Halsey supervised the creation of the template for every third-generation "Smart" A.I. on the planet Reach. She has extensive knowledge on how A.I.s work.

Smart and Dumb A.I.s

Smart AIs]], or A.I.s that are not confined to their one purpose, have a normal operational life span of about seven years. Because the "Smart" A.I. is subject to an established memory core which cannot be replaced, the more the A.I. collects data, the less "thinking" space it has to work with. An A.I. will literally "think" itself to death. Dumb A.I.s do not have this problem as they do not learn anything that is outside of their set limits of a dynamic memory processing matrix. They are quite useful in their particular field of expertise, but very limited. Smart A.I.s can function and learn as long as they are active.

Rampancy

If a "smart" human A.I. exists for over seven years, it usually enters a stage of rampancy similar to the human state of insanity. The A.I. begins to think that it is superior to its human creators, and has delusions of godlike power.

However, the impression that Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike give is that the A.I. would lose all combat effectiveness by being permanently locked in a state of thought, like daydreaming - the description given is "as if a human were to think with so much of their brain that they stopped sending impulses to the heart and lungs." This is because as the data reaches a "critical mass" the neural pathways become "jammed" with so many pieces of information being queried and analysed, at expense of tasks such as piloting starships or monitoring computer networks.

343 Guilty Spark, the Forerunner Monitor, went rampant after Sgt. Johnson threatened to destroy the replacement for his Installation, showing that even Forerunner A.I.s can go rampant and that A.I.s can go rampant when severely upset or threatened. The Forerunner A.I. 032 Mendicant Bias went rampant, as it tried to stop the Forerunners from activating the Halo Array after being convinced by the Gravemind to do so. The Covenant A.I. in Halo: First Strike also went rampant after it attacked Cortana, and Cortana herself went rampant for a time while imprisoned in High Charity.

A.I. Rampancy

File:AI Rampancy.png

Discussed in What's the "I" Stand For?, A.I. rampancy is the process in which an artificial intelligence program begins to lose its sanity. The four stages of the process are as follows:

Melancholia

The first stage of AI rampancy is melancholia, in which the AI enters a state of depression, becoming apathetic or uninterested in the world around it. The melancholia stage is not considered dangerous, and, at times, can even go unnoticed.

Anger

The second stage, anger, is the first observable stage of rampancy. During this stage, the A.I. develops hate that is directed towards its handlers and other AI. This stage is unique for each AI program.

Jealousy

The third stage of rampancy, jealousy, can be considered a safe stage. In this stage, the AI will seek situations in which it can gather intellectual and physical knowledge.

Metastability

The fourth and final stage of rampancy is metastability, in which an A.I. can, theoretically, be considered fully human. According to the Counselor in What's the "I" Stand For? it's extremely difficult for an A.I. fragment to reach this stage. Despite Epsilon showing traits of metastability, expressing more than one sign of emotion and attribute, possessed a personality, and (seemingly) developing sentience, he's not metastable. Delta is arguably the one A.I. that on his own got the closest to the metastable stage. When Beta asked him if Delta would like to come with her as Freelancer Agent York was dying. Delta declines the offer and Beta says that it is kind of him. Delta then responds with “That’s just what makes us human.”

Design

It is technically unclear exactly how an A.I. works, as it is only based on the functionality of a human brain, which UNSC scientists do not fully understand. AIs do not have physical bodies, rather they are advanced software consisting of a Riemann Matrix for higher-function processing. This matrix can be downloaded into a Data Crystal Chip for mobility. In case of Rampancy, the Riemann Matrix has a fail-safe program that will destroy the A.I. Since A.I.s must be created by mapping out the connections of a human brain, it seems likely that the UNSC does not have an understanding of how to create A.I.s from scratch, and is limited to simply "copying" the intelligence of biological organisms. In the real world, this is an established possibility for creating artificial intelligence.

They can only take physical form where holographic technology is available. This requires a Holotank of some kind.

Because "Smart" A.I.s are created using either actual human brains or cloned human brains, there are residual thoughts, memories and/or feelings that remain. These residuals can be anywhere from the "feeling" of a hair brush being pulled through hair, in the case of Sif, or even have an effect on the mannerisms and characteristics that make up the personality of an A.I., in the case of Cortana and her likeness to Dr. Catherine Halsey.

Fragmentation

Project Freelancer was an research program that was given an smart artificial intelligence program known as "Alpha". However due to the complications that only allowed an single A.I. to be handed out, the director Leonard Church dictated something must be done. The Director would "fragment" the Alpha to produce more A.I. constructs by fragmenting an particular facet from him during torture to protect itself. The Director would basically capture these fragments and elevate them an A.I. However what must be noted by fragmented A.I are still fragments of the original smart A.I and maybe limited, not limit as an dumb AI but certainly not considered to the same level as the smart A.Is.

Trivia

• Mack and Endless Summer are the only AIs known to have procrastinated doing something.