SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

So a big thing I've learned over the years is that there is a huge difference between what people THINK artificial intelligence is, and what it really is.

For instance HAL, of 2001 A Space Odyssey- Everyone views him as AI, but I'd argue he's just a computer following a program.

Well then what is AI?

If it's just "copying human persona" then it's nothing special.
But if it's an actual thinking machine having the ability to do things which have basically nothing to do with commands.. that's something.

What are some of your favorite artificial intelligence... or synthetic intelligence creations in Sci-Fi, and why?
What makes a good one, good?

Neal Asher's Sniper
Simon Morden's Michael
Daniel K. Moran's EVERYTHING

Best AIs in the "business". Check them out - you won't regret it.

Mycroft "Mike" Holmes in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is still one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

The Last Question by Asimov is a great story charting the progress of a computer not only to sentience but essentially to Godhood.

Perdido Street Station has an artificial intelligence, but is essentially more magical than scientific - still cool though.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is obviously a prime candidate - but PKD deals a lot with the question of what makes us human - I actually like the term simulacra in the place of robots, I don't know why - so the novel with the Lincoln simulacrum is a fairly good one (can't remember the name).

There are a lot of good AI stories from the 50's/60's when I believe science fiction used robots to comment upon the civil rights movement.

Perdido Street Station was one of the most unpleasant reading experiences of my life.
I could not stand how the author writes and could not continue the book.

Mike wrote: "Perdido Street Station was one of the most unpleasant reading experiences of my life.
I could not stand how the author writes and could not continue the book."

Such is life, I loved it. De gustibus non est disputandum as they say. You like Orson Scott Card though, so all is forgiven. ;)

using the maxim show, don't tell...
“No impulse subroutines in your code then?”
“Impulse is a human anomaly. Works at times but also a cause for regret many a time,” he said.
“So what you're saying is AI does not need to ape human intelligence.”
“I would prefer it didn't. But to make AI more acceptable, my code does have some randomness thrown in.”
“Within parameters, I suppose?” I asked.
“Yes, the random subroutine will only execute within safe parameters when straying from the norm.”
"OK. But humans have emotions."
"Emotions are like a virus. They disrupt the flow of logic in a mind. Do you want an emotional AI wasting CPU cycles or would you rather it use those threads to execute constructive code?" he said.
***********

I believe that good AI comes from being able to process or categorize visual information. An AI that can make sense of a visual data feed (computer vision, stereoscopic processing and segmentation of video stream) and then execute appropriate code based on what the "AI" sees, is what makes AI intelligent.

The important thing for AI in my book (literally) is that it not ape human intelligence but augment it.

Margaret wrote: "Mycroft "Mike" Holmes in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is still one of my favorite fictional characters of all time."

Agreed. Heinlein did have a way with AIs.

Mike wrote: "For instance HAL, of 2001 A Space Odyssey- Everyone views him as AI, but I'd argue he's just a computer following a program."

Interesting interpretation. Since HAL was never programmed to "kill the humans," I'd say its response to conflicting programming was arrived at independently, based on the realtime input from Bowman and Poole suggesting their doubts about the mission and HAL's reliability.

As far as having a favorite, I can't really say I have. But I might side with either R. Daneel Olivaw or K.I.T.T.