AIAC Nanotech System

By: Colin Cashman
Created: October 23, 1999

Preface

I originally wrote this as part of an attempt to provide an alternate space setting to Mutants In Orbit (one that made more sense). It never really got off the ground, but it did spawn some interesting ideas, most of which were never completed. So I'm posting this stuff for others to look at, modify, and feel free to use for their own games or to post back to the list. All I ask is that if you do distribute your modifications publicly, you at least acknowledge that I had some role in it. :)

AIAC Nanotech System: The AIAC system is an artificial intelligence broken down into millions of tiny pieces, and then injected into the body. Each piece, each nanite, contains a bit of information and programming. Separate, they're next to useless. Combined, they become a useful addition to the body. Perhaps the first commercial AI in either pre- or post-Rifts Earth, the AIAC is a virtual powerhouse. While not augmenting the user's physical strength and power, the system contributes to sensory processing, regulates body functions and condition, and can even provide some extra skills to the user. The functions are as listed below. The cost of the system is based upon the intelligence of the system, and the amount of skills the user would like (if any).

The AI is, of course, intelligent. In terms of categories, it would most likely fall under the title of Neural intelligence. It's not quite as complex as a standard NI, due to the seperation of pieces, but is beyond the aspects of a simple robot intelligent.

• Bio-monitor: The AIAC system keeps track of and monitors the body's vital signs. The information can be transmitted to the user in one of several ways, either through an ear implant, a wrist-watch like read-out, through a retinal display, or through a fingerjack onto a computer. The data measured includes pulse, blood pressure, respiration, body temperature, unusual conditions, and anomalous readings (such as poison, strange chemicals, unknown implants, etc.)
• Regulates Automatic Body Functions: Some body functions, such as breathing, are automatic and do not require concentration (they happen with or without our consent). Even though AIAC system monitors the entire body, the AI can also, in case of emergency, resume automatic body functions that have stopped due to injury or complications. Such body functions include keeping the heart beating, the lungs breathing, and making sure enough oxygen is reaching the brain. While not powerful enough to bring a person out of a coma, it is strong enough to support their body until better medical attention is brought. Should damage to the body occur that makes life support futile (such as the head being destroyed, or large portions of the torso), the AIAC will not engage. The user has no control over whether the system enages or not; it is an automatic function (not withstanding the said exception).
• Sensory Processing: The AIAC is connected to the brain, and helps to process and screen information as the brain receives it. The system scans the auditory and visual information. Because the system is a computer, it can do this with much better efficiency and accuracy than the brain. The brain receives clearer, more accurate information, and the brain is also freed from the strain of processing everything, allowing for more creativity and free-thinking on the part of the user.
• Visual/Auditory Recognition Systems (VARS): The VARS systems in the artificial intelligence are micro-computers designed to compare and match sounds and images previously experienced. The sound analyzer listens, matches, and remembers sounds based on pitch, frequency, etc. Virtually any sound can be recorded and "saved". Such sounds might include different types of engines, gun shots, humming, etc. The computer can then compare a sound previously heard to any sound stored. If there is a match, the AI is alerted, who then gives the result to the user. The same thing with the visual analyzer. Sights and images are stored in memory. When an image is to be compared, the computer scans and contrasts the current image to any stored. The key phrase for this function of the AI, though, is the phrase "previously experienced". The AI does not come with any pre-recorded sounds or images. The memory banks of the AI have room for over 100,000 sounds, and over 50,000 images. VARS can recognize a person by visual appearance and by voice. If voice is used, 88% likelihood of recognition. Visual is 92%. Combined, the percentage is 99%.
• "Sixth Sense"" Due to the AI's sensory processing and the VARS systems, the AI can provide a rudimentary form of sixth sense. Unlike the psionic power, this sense is applied only to that which can be extrapolated from visual or auditory information (because the information must be processed by the AI). The sense is not universal, and has no way of detecting objects or beings if there is no sensory details. Things in the corner of the eye, or snapping branches made by a creature fall under the category of the sixth sense, but laser fire from the rear does not, unless the laser made some noise previous to firing. This means that assassins and spies can remain safe provided they make no noise prior to an action.
• Photographic Memory: Through the AIAC's sensory processing function, it also copies the incoming information, compresses it , and then stores the information in "unused" portions of the brain. "Natural" memory is still active and working, but the AIAC augments it's ability. Because the AIAC system is so thorough in it's storage, it can also recall the "memories" when the user wishes. The memory is as accurate and real as the day it was stored, unaltered by time. The ability becomes a sort of Total Recall, but requires no I.S.P. to perform, and in fact, does not require the user to be psychic at all. This is also augmented by the VARS systems, which can match and recall images with perfect clarity.
• Skills: As with conventional artificial intelligences, the AIAC can be programmed with an amazing number of skills, considering its lack of a personal body. Therefore, most of the skills programmed tend to be non-physical, such as anthropology, literacies, lore, etc. The system can be programmed with up to 8 skills. There is no such thing as a "skill program" for this AI, because the designers wanted a client to pick any available skills he wanted. The user can gain some rudimentary use of the programmed skills, due to the connection with the AI. But since most of the skills are knowledge-based, and not physically-oriented, it's faster and more efficient if the AI uses the skill and then informs the user about the results. The AI uses it's sensory processing to gain information, such as visual clues, descriptions, information, and then collects and analyzes the whole mess. Available skills for the AI programming include:
  • Streetwise, Streetwise: Drugs
  • Anthropology
  • Astronomy
  • Biology, Botany, Chemistry
  • Mathematics: Basic, Mathematics: Advanced
  • Computer Operation
  • Any Literacy
  • Any Lore
  It's not necessary for the AI to be programmed with any of the above skills, since everything it needs to operate correctly has already been entered. The skills are merely a luxury for those who can aford them. The AI performs the skills at 94% rating. Should the user try and use the skills himself, the skill percentage is reduced to 32% (the computer has to coax him and tell him exactly what to do) and the task takes three (3) times as long to perform.
• Non-Transferable: The AIAC, upon implantation, is attuned to the body and neural frequencies of the user, permanently. This means that once the system is in place, it cannot be removed and reused. Few persons would want to remove the system, as getting the millions of nanites would be incredibly time-consuming and quite expensive, but FSNI took no chances. If the system is not calibrated, the AI will not work. In fact, no other company has been able to reproduce the AI system. The problems are three-fold. One, the AIAC is so small, it's virtually impossible to get the full system. Two, the nanotechnology involved is so complex, almost nobody possesses the capacity to recreate it. Third, AI experts are extremely hard to come by these days, and one is needed to make heads or tails of the AIAC system, plus the system doesn't work if not attuned correctly.
• Bonuses: +1 on initiative (only when the Sixth Sense is applicable)
• Vulnerabilities: No computer or machine is absolutely foolproof, and the AIAC is no exception. The developers have discovered two phenomena that will impede the AI. The first is exceptionally strong magnetic fields. While not permanently damaging, the fields do tend to scramble the AI. Basically, the AI itself works, but it's other systems tend to be flaky and unreliable (45% chance of working). What constitutes a strong field I leave to the discretion of the GM. The second phenoma, much more serious, is an EMP (electromagnetic pulse). A concentrated electromagnetic burst will not only scramble the AI completely, but a chance exists of total erasure of the circuits!! 1-25% chance the AI is completely erased, 26%-00% that the AI is disrupted. A disrupted AI has no special functions available, and I.Q. is halved. An erased AI is gone forever, until one can be purchased and calibrated anew. Bear in mind that the memories (see Photographic memory) are still there, but until a new AI can be implanted, they are accessible only by normal memory (which may be unreliable).
• Cost: Depends on the I.Q. and number of skills. Base cost is 5 million credits. For each point of I.Q. of the system, add 500,000 credits (base I.Q. is 10). For each skill programmed into the AI, add 250,000 credits each to the price.

AIACNanotechSystem.php -- Revised: January 27, 2021.