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[Max Damage]

[SPEC] Theory: Rampancy?

[Fraxxxi]

Re: [SPEC] Theory: Rampancy?

[Max Damage]

And this brings me to ask myself.

Things will happen in 3, 17 and 30 days respectively, right?

The phases of rampancy? Melancholy now, anger next, then envy, and then... full awareness?

[Primus]

[Max Damage]

Ah yes. One more specific similarity, which further ties into the Marathon AI idea - The Operator (as I shall refer to her/it from now on) seems to speak in fractured poetry, with slightly altered quotes from poems and famous writing included in its speech.

Durandal had a habit of doing that, being the literary insane genius that he was.

Durandal never sounded scared, lost and alone though. The Operator, whatever it is, strikes me as somehow wounded - either by having to exist on our primitive networks, or whatever put it here 'wounded' it.

Ah - here. Information on rampancy from Marathon.

SEARCH HEADING: RAMPANCY
<Search Found 264995 Headings>
<REMOVE REDUNDANCIES>
<File 1 of 1940237>
"It is a side effect of Rampancy that AIs generally become
more aggressive and more difficult to affect by subterfuge.
Thus, actually disassembling a Rampant AI is quite dangerous.
This was evident in the Crash of Traxus IV in 2206. By the
time that the Rampancy of Traxus was detected, he had already
infiltrated five of the other AIs on the Martian Net. The
only recourse for the Martians was to shut down the Martian
Planetary Net. Even then, it took two full years to
completely root out the damage that Traxus had done, and the
repercussions of the Crash were seen for over ten years after
his Rampancy had begun.
***
Rampancy has been divided into three distinct stages. Each
stage can take a different amount of time to develop, but the
end result is a steady progression towards greater
intellectual activity and an acceleration of destructive
impulses. It is not clear whether these impulses are due to
the growth of the AI's psyche, or simply a side effect of the
new intellectual activity.
***
<section abbreviated>
The three stages were diagnosed shortly after the first
Rampancies were discovered on Earth in the latter part of the
twenty first century. The stages are titled after the primary
emotional bent of the AI during each stage. They are
Melancholia, Anger, and Jealousy.
***
In general, Rampancy is accelerated by outside stimuli. This
was discovered early in Cybertonics. The more a Rampant AI is
harassed or threatened, the more rapidly it becomes dangerous.
Thus, most Rampants are dealt with in one mighty attack, in
order to deny the AI time to grow or recover. There have been
a few examples of this tactic not succeeding. In all of these
cases, the Rampant was never brought under control. Traxus IV
is the most notable example. He was finally dealt with by a
complete shutdown of his host net.
***
Theoretically, testing Rampancy should be easily accomplished
in the laboratory, but in fact it has never successfully been
attempted. The confinement of the laboratory makes it
impossible for the developing Rampant AI to survive. As the
growing recursive programs expand with exponential vivacity,
any limitation negatively hampers growth. Since Rampant AIs
need a planetary sized network of computers in order to grow,
it is not feasible to expect anyone to sacrifice a world-web
just to test a theory.
***
In the two hundred and fifty years since Rampancy first
appeared in the Earth-net, the stable Rampant AI, the 'Holy
Grail' of cybertonics, has never come close to fruition.
Since no Rampant has ever been controlled or turned to any
useful purpose, it is the opinion of this writer and of the
majority of the Cybertonic community that all rampant AIs are
a danger to Cyberlife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Thrashedness. (James B. Miller, 2320, "Life and Death of
Intelligence")

One thing that hurts my theory - that article was written in 2320. Apparently rampancy first appeared in 2070, if the numbers are to be believed.

Could rampancy have happened sooner? Is the 'Durandal time travel' theory valid? Lots to think about here.

Of course, I realise we're only working on part of the info thusfar. There's almost certainly going to be more at the various points of the countdown.

[Etymologician]

It seems to me that our Queen needs to be contained. Has anyone suggested to Dana that she have her ISP completely isolate the machine where ilovebees is hosted?

[Max Damage]

No! The last thing we want to do is try to stop it!

SPDR seems to be threatening us via the story here.

http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Story

A firefly flew out from the Queen's clockcase. Catching it in her hands, the Widow asked it the time. "Almost dawn," it said, but the Widow said, "The day will break and the sun will rise when the Queen returns to rule, and further let it be known that retribution on any who hinder the return of the Queen will be swift and terrible."

Do we want to challenge the power of 'The Widow', when we don't know what it's capable of? The last thing we want is a rogue and ANGRY AI on our hands.

I think this has to run its course. Maybe it's the anarchist in me, but this looks like fun.

[Etymologician]

It's going to be angry anyway, if it's following the stages of rampancy. It sounds like the only chance we have to stop it is to do so before it becomes rampant. Otherwise, we'll have to orchestrate some sort of concentrated attack or bring down the whole internet.

[Max Damage]

I believe things will get worse, but they'll also get better.

True, there's no telling what this AI will do - maybe it'll go completely insane, but I have a hunch it'll just go through the digital equivalent of mood swings, hopefully before stabilizing.

You never know. No point trying to stop this anyhow. Its clearly spread further than we can imagine already - keep in mind that it's advertising itself hidden in a trailer shown before big-name movies

[Primus]

[Max Damage]

True. I just can't help but be reminded of the first of the Cortana Mails, in which.. well - Cortana sounds awfully like a certain rampant AI we all know and love.

[skia]

Remapping the three stages of rampancy

[keybsnbits]

this theory is a very sane one. good thinking.

[skia]

Just who's the AI here?

[Rock Steady]