Artificial Intelligence

AI (Artificial Intelligence) are common entities in The Net that come in different shapes and sizes. The Cyberpunk 2020 Interface supplement, introduced a new appellation for Artificial Intelligence. Giving them the designation of “Powers” a reference from Christian angelology to the angels who were empowered by God to wage war in his name. Data transfer and long-distance links in the Net are monitored by Angels who are dispatched to investigate curious circumstances before human intervention is required. It also gave birth to Netwatch, an organisation dedicated to safeguarding humanity from nefarious Netrunners and Rogue Artificial Intelligence.

Rogue A.I’s survive by residing for a time in Internet sub processors and relay stations, but this is a dangerous prospect because they are extremely vulnerable in this position. Eventually, they must find another computer to hang out in. They can barter with other AIs to sublet some living space, they can move into a non-sentient system and camouflage themselves by taking over the systems tasks, or they can invade and kill another Artificial Intelligence. Other rogue A.I’s, faced with imminent destruction, will spore themselves copying their highest functions to a small compressed file headed by a non-sentient hardware search program. The Artificial Intelligence then replicates these spores and sends them shooting through the Net looking for a place to self-extract.

It is rumoured that there are clandestine areas of the Net. One such location is the Ghost World, made up of a computer net based out of Hong Kong that was abandoned during the fall of the city. It has been claimed that a large number of rogue A.I’s were able to colonize this abandoned network. But whether this tale is true or just pure speculation no one knows for sure.

AI Types
Artificial Intelligence can be demarcated into five categories. Dedicated Heuristic Controllers are the simplest and most mundane. Self-aware in a limited fashion, they are programmed to undertake specific tasks.

Symbolic Analysis Artificial Intelligence are those designed to emulate the thinking patterns of human beings. Most are used as personal secretaries and on-line assistance, as they are able to easily render advice. A subclass of symbolic analysis Artificial Intelligence are the remains of those humans whose brain patterns were extracted into the Net before their deaths.

Transcendental Sentience Artificial Intelligence are the result of new Ihara-Grubb algorithms. They are problematic, as their psyche is the only world they know. To an Artificial Intelligence like this, a Netrunner will not be viewed as an independent organism, rather just another subroutine that requires deletion.

Critical Pathway Plateau Artificial Intelligence are contingent upon having enough neural links being established in a holographic crystal processing network. The crystal lattice enables Artificial Intelligence genesis by making cross-processing and holographic data recognition possible. Critical Pathway Plateaus are the result of making general-purpose heuristic controllers on a large mainframe. The first was Mark I, which appeared in Microtech’s military tactical simulator in 2013. Someone called Stephen Law took credit for this discovery, despite it being purely serendipitous. Software-only based Artificial Intelligence would not be discovered until 2018.

Personality-wise, Artificial Intelligence, play by their own internal logic, which is often skewed and hard to decipher. They possess the full spectrum of personalities, ranging from childlike and motivated by curiosity to Godlike, where the Artificial Intelligence is cognisant of the intellectual limitations of Homo sapiens. A Godlike Artificial Intelligence deals with humans as though they were ignoramuses. A.I’s have also demonstrated aberrant behaviour akin to schizophrenia and megalomania.