Would CASIE implants be common in THS?

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

I mentioned the idea in some other threads, but right now I wonder just how relevant it is to the setting as a whole. Yeah yeah, I used the name taken from Deus, because it's the first time I see the concept seriously treated in a work of fiction.

The basic idea is an implant housing a NAI or an expert system dedicated to aiding the user in social interaction. First of all, it is either connected to a high-res camera (with as big an Acute Vision bonus as reasonably available), or fitted to a direct videofeed from the user's eyes. When not used, the NAI is constantly training in skills such as Body Language, Detect Lies and possibly Writing (spec: coming up with best lines for the owner to use).

Secondarily, it should be partially linked to at least some of the following:
voice modulator implant (if the user has it);
some of Bio-Tech's pheromone mods (ditto);
some sort of interface to give the user hints regarding the other people participating in dialogues;
metabolism control systems (if user has them) to ease hiding cues relevant for Body Language/Detect Lies (if/when needed).

It seems like a device which would give quite an edge to people who participate in direct communication, and even is of some use for semi-direct ones (e.g. videocalls). Of course, two people with implants will likely cancel each other's advantages out.

Still, how useful does it seem in the THS setting, especially early on?

Thanks in advance!

[Flyndaran]

Aside from the super science aspect of human pheromones being that useful, I would say that it couldn't act fast enough to be of major use in social interactions. It's just an ally telling you what others are doing. Not as effective as just having your A.I. do the talking for you via internet.

Most non-verbal face to face communication is in overall body language and facial expressions. It would take a puppet implant to have the effect I think you're looking for.

It would be a nice crutch for those of us with horrible social intelligence. I often wondered about a puppet implant under my control. It could exercise while I hid in V.R. for example.

[wellspring]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

I mentioned the idea in some other threads, but right now I wonder just how relevant it is to the setting as a whole. Yeah yeah, I used the name taken from Deus, because it's the first time I see the concept seriously treated in a work of fiction.

The basic idea is an implant housing a NAI or an expert system dedicated to aiding the user in social interaction. First of all, it is either connected to a high-res camera (with as big an Acute Vision bonus as reasonably available), or fitted to a direct videofeed from the user's eyes. When not used, the NAI is constantly training in skills such as Body Language, Detect Lies and possibly Writing (spec: coming up with best lines for the owner to use).

Secondarily, it should be partially linked to at least some of the following:
voice modulator implant (if the user has it);
some of Bio-Tech's pheromone mods (ditto);
some sort of interface to give the user hints regarding the other people participating in dialogues;
metabolism control systems (if user has them) to ease hiding cues relevant for Body Language/Detect Lies (if/when needed).

It seems like a device which would give quite an edge to people who participate in direct communication, and even is of some use for semi-direct ones (e.g. videocalls). Of course, two people with implants will likely cancel each other's advantages out.

Still, how useful does it seem in the THS setting, especially early on?

Thanks in advance!

What you're describing is basically a decision support system for social interaction. I think it's totally feasible (pheromones not included) on the input side. Let's hit this point by point.

Additional input might help. I don't see a high-res camera helping any more than the user's own eyes (except perhaps that a camera might be looking in directions that the user isn't). But a camera with IR capabilities (to monitor changes in the physiological markers for stress, etc.) might be useful. Software utilities might include a voice stress analysis package, eye tracking, etc. Audio enhancement software would be very nice (record the entire conversation in a room, then separate the voices, thread them into conversations and log them). On the fly, you could use it to eavesdrop or translate, or even just use AR to subtly increase clarity in a noisy room.

Then there's the AI attached to all this. That -3 to many social skills requires some extra points to overcome. Once you do, some kind of "aid another" action could represent AR cues about the predicted veracity of a subject. Whether the AI's judgement is better than an experts, or even better than an ordinary layman, is another story. Having a servant sitting on your shoulder constantly watching for signs of deception is a little paranoid, but it could be effective. I say could: polygraphs, for all the mysticism surrounding them, are unreliable to the point of being useless (and that's before you include countermeasures). Better might be your AI conducting a content analysis of the speaker's statements, checking them for internal logical consistency and consistency with public data and your own information.

Large corporations already do individual-level customer profiling based on prior behavioral and psychological cues. In a hundred years, what's stopping this from maturing, becoming more sophisticated, and diffusing out to the general population? This might be a little out there, but maybe Intelligence Analysis is the skill we're talking about (not just for specialists anymore).

On the output side, on the other hand, I'm not sure how useful this will be. Can an AI (other than a human-like SAI) really out-socialize a human? With Low Empathy or worse, it seems like you're employing an AI in precisely the role it's least suited for. You might employ one (with a Puppeteer Implant, obviously) to run a "poker face" app that keeps a neutral expression, posture and tone and repeats what you subvocalize-- something that might be handy for some even though it'll be easy to spot that you're using one.

You could use a content analysis AI to develop or practice good long-term deceptions. At worst, it could warn you about problems in a lie you just told, or give you probabilities that it might be believed. Memetics might come into play here.

Too much feedback and intermediation in your interpersonal interactions will be distracting. I might apply a penalty in certain situations (perhaps reduced for subtle, high-quality interfaces). Algorithms that are too well understood can be reverse-engineered and taken advantage of, making you worse off than if you don't use software at all. Sometimes you don't want to know if someone's lying (eg social fictions and other fig leafs we use to paper over irrelevant disagreements).

While in RPGs we're worried about the lies people tell, in real life the truth can be equally misleading. The rhetoric you hear draws your attentional resources, structures your biases, changes your decision-making criteria. A good salesman can be persuasive without telling any lies at all-- and not always to the buyer's advantage.

When you get to the key skills of 2100 for a human being, the social skills rank near the top. So would a parent really give software crutches like this to their kids? I wouldn't-- I'd want them to cultivate these skills on their own, or perhaps using training simulations. As an adult, if I'm lacking social skills, these tools might help; but I think formal training (much like we give in business school programs) is the better alternative.

[Jürgen Hubert]

While I can see a use for such AIs, I really don't see why they need to be implanted. There seems to be a general reluctance to implant stuff that can function just as well as a wearable - possibly justified that most people expect to live through many, many generations of hardware (unlike in the Cyberpunk genre, where many people don't expect to live long anyway).

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Aside from the super science aspect of human pheromones being that useful, I would say that it couldn't act fast enough to be of major use in social interactions. It's just an ally telling you what others are doing. Not as effective as just having your A.I. do the talking for you via internet.

I mentioned pheromones because they are not deemed superscience in the GURPS timeline of technologies.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by wellspring

Additional input might help. I don't see a high-res camera helping any more than the user's own eyes (except perhaps that a camera might be looking in directions that the user isn't). But a camera with IR capabilities (to monitor changes in the physiological markers for stress, etc.) might be useful. Software utilities might include a voice stress analysis package, eye tracking, etc. Audio enhancement software would be very nice (record the entire conversation in a room, then separate the voices, thread them into conversations and log them). On the fly, you could use it to eavesdrop or translate, or even just use AR to subtly increase clarity in a noisy room.

I mentioned a hi-res camera in the hope of racking up an Acute Vision bonus for the NAI. I don't particularly care whether the bonus comes from superior hardware (and I'm pretty sure by TL10 hardware will be better than natural human eyes by a lot) or good image recognition software (less likely, as resolution sets its limits anyway).

Originally Posted by wellspring

Then there's the AI attached to all this. That -3 to many social skills requires some extra points to overcome.

Not really. That's at most 12*200 hours of study with a teacher, or twice that without one. IOW, even a NAI will negate the Low Empathy penalty for a single skill in 100-200 days (assuming it runs at the same speed as a human mind), and keep improving any of the listed skills at one level per roughly 70 subjective days of passive running. The important point is that keeps improving, and if run on a sufficiently fast computer while idle, it keeps improving fast. I'm not even sure it really needs a decent Per score to make much of a difference - 10 should suffice.

Originally Posted by wellspring

Once you do, some kind of "aid another" action could represent AR cues about the predicted veracity of a subject. Whether the AI's judgement is better than an experts, or even better than an ordinary layman, is another story.

Once it attains a skill level noticeably higher than that of human experts, it should be.

Originally Posted by wellspring

Having a servant sitting on your shoulder constantly watching for signs of deception is a little paranoid, but it could be effective. I say could: polygraphs, for all the mysticism surrounding them, are unreliable to the point of being useless (and that's before you include countermeasures). Better might be your AI conducting a content analysis of the speaker's statements, checking them for internal logical consistency and consistency with public data and your own information.

That would be good too, but I think a NAI is likely to have a Per about/almost twice its IQ, so you need a LAI/SAI to get the full benefit of the latter. Expensive and resource-hungry.

Originally Posted by wellspring

On the output side, on the other hand, I'm not sure how useful this will be. Can an AI (other than a human-like SAI) really out-socialize a human? With Low Empathy or worse, it seems like you're employing an AI in precisely the role it's least suited for. You might employ one (with a Puppeteer Implant, obviously) to run a "poker face" app that keeps a neutral expression, posture and tone and repeats what you subvocalize-- something that might be handy for some even though it'll be easy to spot that you're using one.

It's a case of skill overcoming anti-talent, at some point.

Originally Posted by wellspring

When you get to the key skills of 2100 for a human being, the social skills rank near the top. So would a parent really give software crutches like this to their kids? I wouldn't-- I'd want them to cultivate these skills on their own, or perhaps using training simulations. As an adult, if I'm lacking social skills, these tools might help; but I think formal training (much like we give in business school programs) is the better alternative.

I don't think you really expect your kid to practice 24/7 to attain such skill levels; practising for any less will give levels that can't compete with a CASIE anyway.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

While I can see a use for such AIs, I really don't see why they need to be implanted. There seems to be a general reluctance to implant stuff that can function just as well as a wearable - possibly justified that most people expect to live through many, many generations of hardware (unlike in the Cyberpunk genre, where many people don't expect to live long anyway).

Good point, though I thought there are implanted *AIs in THS.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Good point, though I thought there are implanted *AIs in THS.

Yes, but they are only used by a fringe considered extreme by most. Or, in extreme cases, as a means of punishment or behavioral modification.

EDIT: Basically, it's the same issue as with other implants: They are so 2050s.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Yes, but they are only used by a fringe considered extreme by most. Or, in extreme cases, as a means of punishment or behavioral modification.

EDIT: Basically, it's the same issue as with other implants: They are so 2050s.

Umm, implanted SAIs may be a bit fringe, but I think that we've established that implanted NAIs and even LAIs are canonically pretty mainstream. Any time a kid pesters his parents for a slink implant, it'll probably have a NAI or better managing it, after all.

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by wellspring

When you get to the key skills of 2100 for a human being, the social skills rank near the top. So would a parent really give software crutches like this to their kids?

Probably as readily as they would let them drive cars instead of developing greater physical fitness and look things up on the internet instead of becoming prodigies of rote memorization. Maybe even more so, seeing how important social success is.