Questionable Content 10: La Li Lu Le Lo

[Vinyadan]

Someone's been playing too much "I have no mouth and I must scream".

[halfeye]

What are Corpse Witch's other crimes. The killswitch was very bad, but apart from that I'm not aware of any other crimes that cross from misdemeanour into felony territory, and presumably the killswitch was made necessary by the other crimes, so what were they?

I'm finding the power of Spookybot far too great, it's not limited by a government or laws or anything, it can rule those if it chooses, so what are it's limits.

[Morquard]

Yeah, sure, if we want to talk about realistic cryptography.

But, from a storytelling perspective, before the introduction of Spookybot, Station was an arbitrarily powerful Super-AI. If you accept that there exists an AI that can crack the encryption, there's no reason to say Station cannot, and then invent Spookybot, unless your goal is to bring Spookybot into the story.

Oh totally, no reason Station couldn't have done it.

I was mostly referring to the second part, where CW was a genius for crafting an uncrackable encryption. You can just download that stuff from the internet, don't have to be any kind of genius for it.

[Flickerdart]

I'm finding the power of Spookybot far too great, it's not limited by a government or laws or anything, it can rule those if it chooses, so what are it's limits.

Well, it seems to have a small number of moral principles. It could be that Spookybot sees itself as a sort of judge - it's not its place to tell people what they should do, only to punish them for doing the wrong thing.

[Admiral Squish]

I'm finding the power of Spookybot far too great, it's not limited by a government or laws or anything, it can rule those if it chooses, so what are it's limits.

That's kinda the nature of great power, isn't it? One's own power is only ever beholden to their own will, regardless of any perceived external influences. I could object to Spookybot's actions, I could scream and fight and beg all I wanted, but Spookybot has no obligation or incentive to listen to me or obey me. I don't have power near enough to affect Spookybot's actions in any significant way. Ultimately, as one's power grows, the number of forces that can successfully oppose them decreases.

[Lost Demiurge]

I'm finding the power of Spookybot far too great, it's not limited by a government or laws or anything, it can rule those if it chooses, so what are it's limits.

Probably its peers or greaters. Bubbles brought up the metaphor of the coral reef for AIs. Spookybot's a squid.

Spookybot ain't the biggest thing out there in that ocean. Got plenty of whales, other bigger squids, maybe even Cthulhu down there. And here's the thing...

Big things like that probably like their privacy. They know they'd cause a panic if they surfaced. So what stops Spookybot doing from what it wants, is the fact that if they got too noisy, and started drawing attention to the deeper waters and the fact that humanity maybe has some serious competition that could crush our species if it had to...

...better to keep the depth of the ocean hidden. We as a species get stupid when we think we're up against a wall. And the AI's KNOW this.

But a random, goth-looking robot that turns up, claims to be part of something bigger, and starts throwing around weird powers? Especially when it's not captured on camera, or seen by more than a few people at a time? That's totally urban legends-ville. That's a bigfoot, or a Loch Ness. That's Candyman in a mirror.

It turns Spookybot into a cautionary fairy tale. "You want to mess with other AI's memories to enslave them? Dude, I was friends with a toaster who knew a pleasurebot who knew a warbot who that happened to, and this huge all-powerful AI showed up to screw over the slaver!"

[AvatarVecna]

What are Corpse Witch's other crimes. The killswitch was very bad, but apart from that I'm not aware of any other crimes that cross from misdemeanour into felony territory, and presumably the killswitch was made necessary by the other crimes, so what were they?

Destruction of memories, even perhaps accidentally. Given what we've seen of AIs in this story (Pintsize, Bubbles, Momo, May, etc), their bodies are more or less shells that they wear, rather than an actual permanent part of them, and they can be upgraded/replaced without much issue...but they hold their minds to be more...I suppose the word I'm looking for is "sacred". An AI is it's mind, it's memories and personality and feelings and thoughts, and destroying part of that is like cutting off a finger...or a hand...or an arm, if it's important enough. No amount of therapy is going to coax those memories out of Bubbles' subconscious, like you might be able to do with a human who has amnesia, they're just gone, and they can't be recovered.

[Flickerdart]

It turns Spookybot into a cautionary fairy tale. "You want to mess with other AI's memories to enslave them? Dude, I was friends with a toaster who knew a pleasurebot who knew a warbot who that happened to, and this huge all-powerful AI showed up to screw over the slaver!"

Don't be silly, there's no such thing as toasts.

[Traab]

Destruction of memories, even perhaps accidentally. Given what we've seen of AIs in this story (Pintsize, Bubbles, Momo, May, etc), their bodies are more or less shells that they wear, rather than an actual permanent part of them, and they can be upgraded/replaced without much issue...but they hold their minds to be more...I suppose the word I'm looking for is "sacred". An AI is it's mind, it's memories and personality and feelings and thoughts, and destroying part of that is like cutting off a finger...or a hand...or an arm, if it's important enough. No amount of therapy is going to coax those memories out of Bubbles' subconscious, like you might be able to do with a human who has amnesia, they're just gone, and they can't be recovered.

Blackmail/extortion, slavery, and thats just what she did to bubbles. Who knows what else she has done to amass the personal power she seemed to think she had.

[halfeye]

Blackmail/extortion, slavery, and thats just what she did to bubbles. Who knows what else she has done to amass the personal power she seemed to think she had.

Well yes, that's my point: who knows what. We don't, and it doesn't look as if we will, and that's strange. What she did to Bubbles was bad, but the why of those bad things ought to be to hide other crimes/bad things, but if we don't learn, then the crimes against Bubbles were successful in achieving their object.

If Corpse Witch says "I'll take the torture for eternity please", implying there's something scarier than Spookybot that she knows of, then that will take the comic in a new direction, but what would become of the current cast in that case I don't know.

[stsasser]

I am down with Spookybot Justice.

[Dorath]

That's Punchbot's day job?

[Keltest]

I'm inclined to agree with Officer Basilisk.

[Morquard]

Is that Punchbot? Looks like Punchbot. Says Pun on the door too. So guess it's Punchbot.

What's a CPA?

[memnarch]

Is that Punchbot? Looks like Punchbot. Says Pun on the door too. So guess it's Punchbot.

What's a CPA?

I think it's a Certified Public Accountant.

[Rodin]

After this comic I think I'm definitely going back to calling Spookybot by his real name, DEM.

[memnarch]

I still think that Spookybot/DEM should be called Gary.

[Windscion]

I just find the idea of Punchbot as a CPA to be too funny.

[Kurald Galain]

After this comic I think I'm definitely going back to calling Spookybot by his real name, DEM.

Yeah.

I must say I prefer the plotlines about ordinary people with relatable relationship problems, to this recent foray into science fiction mechanics (if that's even the proper term here).

[AvatarVecna]

I think it's a Certified Public Accountant.

Yep, Certified Public Accountant. Punchbot helps people with their taxes. Love it!

[Rodin]

Yep, Certified Public Accountant. Punchbot helps people with their taxes. Love it!

He helps people who punch in by punching people out!

[eee]

Woo, they move fast! I wonder why so much effort? Guilt?

If I were Corpse Witch, I think I could have made a defense of myself.

CW: "Morals? You say you've got morals? Oh, how SPECIAL! But where were you and the other oh so moral high mucky mucks of the AI community when Bubbles was falling apart due to PTSD and couldn't bear the memories of what had happened? You were sitting on your precious morals and condemning her for being a military bot, THAT'S where! My motives might have been selfish, my actions criminal, and my skills inadequate, but *I* saved her! Without me she might have suicided or hurt others by now! Instead she's functional and strong. So you can be oh so sanctimonious and superior if you want, but we BOTH know you're being so heavy handed in forcing me to turn myself in because I'm a constant and unanswerable reminder of YOUR ABSOLUTE FAILURE TO HELP AN AI IN NEED!!!"

Oh yeah, that would have gotten her the megavolts. Especially since it's true...

I just find the idea of Punchbot as a CPA to be too funny.

Hear hear! And he's wearing glasses??? All those ***** Faye drew on his face must have confused his clients. And I can't zoom in close enough to read what it says on his desk plate...

[The Glyphstone]

Hear hear! And he's wearing glasses??? All those ***** Faye drew on his face must have confused his clients. And I can't zoom in close enough to read what it says on his desk plate...

His surname is illegible, but I'm about 90% certain his first name is listed as Bartholomew.

[Keltest]

Do Punchbot's glasses look like theyre drawn on his face to anyone else? I mean, they are in a literal "this is a webcomic" sense, but more in-universe.

[Traab]

Heh, first thing I thought of was, "I wonder if he reads the Monster Hunter series?" Because the main character in it, works as a CPA at the start, then his boss turns into a werewolf and tries to kill him, so he snaps its neck with his bare hands and hurls it out a high rise window. Oh yeah, and we learn that growing up, he used to do illegal cage fights for various reasons.

[halfeye]

Yeah.

I must say I prefer the plotlines about ordinary people with relatable relationship problems, to this recent foray into science fiction mechanics (if that's even the proper term here).

This has passed the point of science fiction and is into theology now. I can't say I'm a fan either, but on the other hand, is anyone else getting a "This is how the comic ends" vibe from this story? How do you write a story once you have written a god who can and will come and fix everything.

[Tvtyrant]

This has passed the point of science fiction and is into theology now. I can't say I'm a fan either, but on the other hand, is anyone else getting a "This is how the comic ends" vibe from this story? How do you write a story once you have written a god who can and will come and fix everything.

Which earlier plots (other then the ludicrous FBI laser plot) could be fixed by spookybot? Most of the in universe issues in this series are interpersonal in nature right?

As an aside, it is disheartning to see Jeff immediately throw in for torturing a confession out of a person. Seems like a pretty barbaric practice to have no consequences.

[PhantomFox]

I doubt spookybot is intended to be a role model.

[Mith]

I would have rather seen A comic with COrpse Witch getting arrested, followed by CW being interrogated, with things going no where. A third comic has a message come in that an expert has been called in. CW thinks this will be the nail in the coffin for the case against her. The final panel is Spookybot stepping through the door.

The comic then jumps to a few weeks later with Marten and Faye. CW is never mentioned ever again.

The last few comics spell things out to much for me. I would rather have done something that left things up to the readers interpretation.

[Morquard]

I would have kinda liked to see Bubbles and Faye go to the cop-bot and tell her everything, and they just capture CW in time. Not the AI just doing it all.

Now Basilisk has everything she needs, if Bubbles decides to tell her now, she'd probably only incriminate herself.