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If you’ve been anywhere on this planet, you’ve probably run into an AI of
some kind. Some of these are more intelligent and self-aware than others.
Some look like humans, and some are very clearly mechanical. It just depends
on their purpose, and the kind of feel they want to give the visitors. Well,
all those AI bodies have to come from somewhere. I had the pleasure of
getting a tour of a dome that we like to call Bot Farm. The official name is
Synthetic Production Dome, but that’s a mouthful, so no one actually called
it that. It’s 2500, so y’all already know, but there are different types of
substrates. Some include a consciousness that was born to an organic body,
while others were programmed, or primed for self-learning and growth. Some
are purely mechanical—referred to as mechs—while others have some organic
components. An “artificial” being that is purely organic is basically the
Holy Grail of synthetic intelligence development, and something that
researchers are still working on. It would be a quantum brain inside of a
living being with no mechanical parts—designed from the start, but
conceivably something that could have evolved naturally. Can you imagine?
With today’s technology, we can only get kind of close. Most of the AIs on
Castlebourne are skinned mechs, meaning they’re made of metals and
metamaterials, but also have a dermal layer over them, so they look more
like real humans. This isn’t to trick you, but as a way to step over to this
side of the uncanny valley. There are very few stages in between full mech
and skinned mech. We’re talking about very niche use cases, including some
with organic eyes, ears, or tongues for sensory research. They also grow
organs for medical research, though those don’t usually need a full body
anyway, unless they’re testing some sort of mobility variable. There are
also places where you can find mechs with certain other organic body parts
that are used for...adult purposes. To each their own, I guess. I never saw
a section that designed any of these types of bots. Most of these were
skinned. I’ll tell ya, though, it was a tad bit eerie to see those ones
being manufactured. While they were assembling the internal components, they
most of the time looked no different than a car, or some other machine, but
then they moved on to the skinning process. Seeing them look like half
people was unnerving, and maybe horrific? This tour will be fascinating for
some, but disturbing for others, even though again, it’s the year 2500, and
we’re all used to synthetics by now. I asked about it, and they don’t have a
tour for kids that would be a little less disquieting, so just know that if
you sign your family up. There was one kid on my tour, who seemed fine. To
be honest, maybe he was an adult in a child substrate. How should
I know? It’s not illegal, it’s just a little weird in my book. So
that’s it; that’s Bot Farm. Go see how they’re made.
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