Questionable Content 12: Artificial Unintelligence

[tomandtish]

Also, as far as we know, only three characters are aware that Claire is trans: Marten, Clinton, and Bubbles. We can't assume that Faye knows.

Emily knows.

Based on the conversation here Pintsize knows.

And just because they haven't shown everyone being told doesn't mean they haven't been told. I'd assume the following probably know by now in addition to the others.

Dora, Tai, and Faye.

[Agi Hammerthief]

As a rule of thumb, you never want to do something that makes your audience annoyed. Its one thing when a character annoys other characters, but annoying your audience means they might stop being your audience.

I‘m not up to date whereabouts QC readers voice their annoyance re: characters;
but generally the annoyed are more noisy than those who are not.

[georgie_leech]

Whooo, stern disapproval. Brutal.

[Cikomyr]

Whooo, stern disapproval. Brutal.

I am happy to see where this is going.

[AuthorGirl]

We get to see Bubbles talking about stuff!

Happiness

[Cikomyr]

She brushed you off?!

Some of us would redent being compared to weapons of mass destruction.

And that's totally fair, it's an offensive comparison. But that's the kind of lizard-brain other-tribe-bad kind of thinking we have to explore.

Her entire point is that comparing AI to WMD is wrong, and understanding why humans might do it is important.

I get some people dislike academic study of topics that personally affect them; maybe a Native American woman would be displeased/disturned at the idea of a college kid doing his/her thesis on the Native American Woman Rape problem in US/Canada, but what are they expecting? That the topic never be explored academically?

[Keltest]

She brushed you off?!





Her entire point is that comparing AI to WMD is wrong, and understanding why humans might do it is important.

I get some people dislike academic study of topics that personally affect them; maybe a Native American woman would be displeased/disturned at the idea of a college kid doing his/her thesis on the Native American Woman Rape problem in US/Canada, but what are they expecting? That the topic never be explored academically?

I think theres a bit of a difference between exploring something academically and getting excited about it. A certain degree of enthusiasm for learning is understandable, but being excited about something to somebody who has explicitly said they are made uncomfortable by that topic is tactless and rude. Don't go up to somebody and say "yeah, the psychology of why youre being oppressed is really cool!"

[AvatarVecna]

She brushed you off?!





Her entire point is that comparing AI to WMD is wrong, and understanding why humans might do it is important.

I get some people dislike academic study of topics that personally affect them; maybe a Native American woman would be displeased/disturned at the idea of a college kid doing his/her thesis on the Native American Woman Rape problem in US/Canada, but what are they expecting? That the topic never be explored academically?

Not by the idea of it, by the idea of being involved in that conversation. Telling a Native American woman that the university she's studying at is conducting research into this thing might make her slightly uncomfortable, but it's at least removed enough from her life that she can choose how involved she's going to be in a conversation about it. But if that woman was a passing acquaintance with the grad student conducting the research, the grad student discussing it with her over a meal would be the kind of thing that makes her lose her appetite. Yes, she knows her ancestors were raped and slaughtered, and yes, she knows that there's probably something really interesting that can be sussed out from the rape/murder statistics that could be used to benefit humankind going forward, but could you please not discuss those statistics with her?

I imagine that the "why do humans think of AI as WMDs?" discussion would be a lot less personal for every single AI that has ever appeared in the entirety of the comic, with the possible exceptions of Station and Spooky-Bot (for whom the comparison is potentially a good deal more fair to make). But for a ex-combat droid veteran with some measure of PTSD, who we already know had to deal with being treated as a weapon and isn't very appreciative of people who see her as just a weapon? That conversation is a lot more personal. If she had volunteered to provide her observations for the research (because who better to give a first-hand opinion on combat droids being viewed as living weapons to be feared and mistrusted?), it would be one thing, but this uncomfortable and highly personal topic has been pushed onto her by somebody who is neither a friend nor a coworker - and within her place of business.

The amount of scientific knowledge we gain from studying subjects is great, but when it strays towards political subjects - and the nature of AI is explicitly very political even in-universe, let alone in our own - it starts running into feelings, and discussing it with those for whom the subject is a touchy and/or painful subject is neither necessary nor helpful for them on a personal level. Evie will likely do a great deal for the field of robotics psychology with her work - but Faye has done far more to help Bubbles deal with her personal demons than the in-training robo-psychologist, which is likely the point of why it's being brought up in-comic.

EDIT: Additionally, at the time, it comes across as Evie caring more about what this says about human psychology than what it says about the oppression of AI, which...probably doesn't help.

[Gwynfrid]

She brushed you off?!





Her entire point is that comparing AI to WMD is wrong, and understanding why humans might do it is important.

I get some people dislike academic study of topics that personally affect them; maybe a Native American woman would be displeased/disturned at the idea of a college kid doing his/her thesis on the Native American Woman Rape problem in US/Canada, but what are they expecting? That the topic never be explored academically?

There's a difference between knowing the topic is explored academically, or reading about it in the newspaper, and being face to face with the academic who oozes excitement and joy in her work, and doing so discusses the subject in a wholly unemotional manner (as you're supposed to do for a proper scientific analysis). Note how Evie's response acknowledges the unfairness of the comparison, an abstract admission, while totally failing to recognize that Bubbles might have some sort of feelings about it, or personal experience she may be willing to share - she's effectively treating her like a machine without even noticing it.

[SaintRidley]

Basically, Bubbles is verbalizing an AI-centered allusion to this piece.

Key bits for those who don't want to click through:

My classmates talk about Black people like we are some amorphous concept that they read about in that one Black studies course they had to take to satisfy their undergraduate degree. When I say, “uh, this article is racist,” my colleagues respond with “but we can’t just throw the baby out with the bath water.” Which is code for, yes this is racist, but I will still use this article to further my own research and maximize my personal scholastic gain. Personally, I think we should throw out the whole tub.

[...]

Higher learning is intentionally structured to preclude white people from truly interacting with Black people and people of color. Master’s and PhD programs alike enable white people to sit behind a desk in order to read about and theorize Blackness without actually shaking a Black person’s hand or looking us in our eyes. This practice of collecting knowledge about Black people is like reading a book about soccer and then trying out for the olympic team: just because you can dribble a ball in your mind doesn’t mean you don’t still suck at playing soccer.

[The Glyphstone]

Bubbles is so angry that the walls are turning red. That's alarming.

[Kato]

Bubbles is so angry that the walls are turning red. That's alarming.

Yeah... Now I try to recall if Jeph ever did something similar in the past. I mean, I'm sure it's not accidental.

Also, to stay away from this discussion that feels to me a bit too Close to Forum rules... isn't "Oily Boys" a pretty terrible brand name? Even for a lubricant? What's their bolt supplier called? "Screw Dudes?"

[Vinyadan]

So it's yet another "respect crisis" arc, with an absolutely foreseeable strip. I'm starting to think that this comic gave up on slice-of-life and went all out to didascalic, a genre that needs an awesome style, or is only interesting to people who still need to learn its subjects.

[Traab]

I think bubbles is taking it too personally, even though its understandable that she would. Evie doesnt know about her past. She doesnt know bubbles is traumatized by her life experiences, including being mistreated by humans and looked on with fear by those who dont know her. This wasnt a phd thesis on bubbles and her life, it was a broad over view on human/ai interactions throughout the entire timeline of ai existence, and more specifically, why humans suck so bad at dealing with "others". I dont think either of them is in the wrong in this, its just that her thesis touches on personal issues for bubbles that evie had no way of knowing about. Like if she had written her thesis on rape culture and how it forms, why it exists and what it means, and was discussing it with someone she had no idea had been raped at some point. It would be INCREDIBLY uncomfortable to discuss with someone who has suffered from the exact issue you are clinically discussing, but unless you told the student that, they have no way of knowing they are causing stress and pain to the first person.

So yeah, totally justified for bubbles to feel that way, but try not to be too hard on evie as she had no idea what minefield she was stepping in. Had she been shattering to say, pintsize, she probably would have gotten a very different reaction, momo or winslow might have found the entire topic interesting to discuss as well.

[Ibrinar]

We are in a post singularity world with super AIs and humans having no counter as far as I can see, therefore AIs are the ones with power (even if they might not use it) and should thus be treated as the majority in comparisons with civil right stuff not minorities.

[Cikomyr]

Basically, Bubbles is verbalizing an AI-centered allusion to this piece.

Key bits for those who don't want to click through:

You make a very good point, but I still feel like its not a fair comparison.

Its not like the Academic Student here is discussing AI's psychology from a removed point of view that can take a pejorative or misunderstanding position.

She is expressly discussing Human Psychology. The comparison above would be if the article's author would be offended if a white person was to research white people's psychological shortcoming when dealing with black people.

The person being discussed here is not treating the AI as some sort of removed test subject worthy of study through a magnifying glass with no interaction. She is dealing with her demographic's subjective views.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Just when I thought Bubs couldn't get any cuter.

[eee]

Wow, now THAT'S embarrassment!

Just when I thought Bubs couldn't get any cuter.

Panel three should be a meme.

[Mith]

Bubbles wasn't quite done venting after the last comic it seems.

[Max_Killjoy]

Kinda funny that the 'bots overheat when embarrassed or, um, "flustered".. there's no actual reason it should happen.

[Mith]

Kinda funny that the 'bots overheat when embarrassed or, um, "flustered".. there's no actual reason it should happen.

I would in universe say that in order to stimulate the stress of being embarrassed or flustered, the processors are overclocked (if I am recalling my terminology properly) which raises their temperature.

It falls apart under scrutiny, but it works for the level of detail I care for.

[Gwynfrid]

One of the characteristics that make QC endearing is the author's ability to mix heartfelt, cute, and silly in the same page.

[Qwertystop]

Embarassment leads to reflexive overclocking to think of what to say or a way out. It tends not to actually work, due to the embarassment.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Kinda funny that the 'bots overheat when embarrassed or, um, "flustered".. there's no actual reason it should happen.

There is also no reason for their cheeks to redden, and yet they do. They might even be connected: their emotional subroutines turn on radiators when required, which makes their cheeks glow. But excessive need for the radiators eventually cause overheating.
(This headcanon explanation is mostly tongue in cheek)
Grey Wolf

[Vinyadan]

There is also no reason for their cheeks to redden, and yet they do. They might even be connected: their emotional subroutines turn on radiators when required, which makes their cheeks glow. But excessive need for the radiators eventually cause overheating.
(This headcanon explanation is mostly tongue in cheek)
Grey Wolf

I thought about that, but there actually is an explanation for red cheeks somewhere in the comic, saying that they were added because they help cause empathy.

[Ibrinar]

Alternative theory whoever designed it just found the effect amusing. If you put in ways to display emotion why not add a few uniquely robot ones?

[Max_Killjoy]

Alternative theory whoever designed it just found the effect amusing. If you put in ways to display emotion why not add a few uniquely robot ones?

If I were an AI bot the first thing I'd do is have myself modded to disable/remove the involuntary external displays of emotion.

[Ibrinar]

Well you could and for some roles or images that can make sense but involuntary emotional displays from laughter to embarrassment to sadness can help your relation with humans quite a bit. The option to turn them off for some situation would be more useful imo.

[AuthorGirl]

Well, this looks like it'll go in the expected direction (unless Faye's capacity for obliviousness reaches a new threshold).

Also, Faye looks so cute in the second panel!

[Wraith]

If I were an AI bot the first thing I'd do is have myself modded to disable/remove the involuntary external displays of emotion.

Welcome to the Uncanny Valley, where every human you meet finds you slightly disturbing and unable to quite understand why beyond an inherent sensation of "wrongness" - just what an AI needs to try and blend into friendly society.