Not so much in the main games, but in the EU it is stated time and time again how a smart AI’s need to analyze and process data is analogous to biological entities need for oxygen.
It’s even stated that mere seconds without data can be somewhat asphyxiating for an AI. Now, obviously we have to be somewhat lenient on this principle for fictional purposes, but Cortana’s isolation on the Forward Unto Dawn is an exceptional amount of time.
Halo 4 states that Master Chief was in cryogenic sleep for 4 years, 7 months and 10 days. That means Cortana had 145,540,800 seconds of isolation. Sure, she rewrote Master Chief’s firmware and had to process data she retrieved from the Ark, but given how quickly AIs process data, it seems to me a stretch that she wouldn’t run out of things to do.
Are we to assume it took her 145 million seconds to process that data? Or are we looking at plot armor?
I think the bigger flaw is to assume she wouldnt find new stuff to think about. The dawn stil had some sensors and working equipment so it stands to reason she has been monitoring the ship and surroundings 24/7.
Now I assume the oxygen/data analogy is from Black Box? Specifically the fragment that got damaged temporarily knocked out so to speak and lost some function on the pin he was on? If thats the case i dont think an it really compares…
To be fair she was going crazy by the end.
> 2533274919794518;1:
> Not so much in the main games, but in the EU it is stated time and time again how a smart AI’s need to analyze and process data is analogous to biological entities need for oxygen.
>
> It’s even stated that mere seconds without data can be somewhat asphyxiating for an AI. Now, obviously we have to be somewhat lenient on this principle for fictional purposes, but Cortana’s isolation on the Forward Unto Dawn is an exceptional amount of time.
>
> Halo 4 states that Master Chief was in cryogenic sleep for 4 years, 7 months and 10 days. That means Cortana had 145,540,800 seconds of isolation. Sure, she rewrote Master Chief’s firmware and had to process data she retrieved from the Ark, but given how quickly AIs process data, it seems to me a stretch that she wouldn’t run out of things to do.
>
> Are we to assume it took her 145 million seconds to process that data? Or are we looking at plot armor?
She assimilated so much data from the covenant and from installation 4 that it probably gave her something to do,maybe not years worth but awhile at least and she probably was in low power mode so it might not have affected her the same as other a.i’s
One thing about Cortana is that she’s immensely curious for an AI. Throughout the books she’s constantly saving data she finds for later. yeah 145 million seconds is quite a while but given her abilities and her genuine curiosity I feel that she could keep herself busy for four years while she waits for a reason to wake Chief.
As mentioned in the post above, she had stored data to analyze at later times, so I agree that gives her some material there as well as all the information from the Ark/Halos/Covenant she had accumulated. That may not last her 4 years, but I would think she’d go into a hibernation-esque mode (similar to that of 343 Guilty Spark during his 1000 year hibernation cycles in the Halo CE Anniversary terminals), so that would save her from the lack of information with any remaining portion of her that is still “awake” just monitoring Chief’s vitals, the ships equipment and sensors, and so on. I can understand the question, but I think there would be a lot of ways around it canonically if it needed an answer.
Probably a combination of all of the above. The real world explanation of course is plot. The in universe explanation would be that it took her that long to digest everything she learned on Installation 04, along with scanning whatever happened to drift past the Dawn.
What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> 2533274817408735;8:
> What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
>
> Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
Deathly Gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
I think its a ‘need’ just like humans ‘need’ enjoyment or else we we get in a pretty dark space. Its not a 'I need this or a die" kind of thing.
I mean its been compared to Oxygen but I dont think its really an apt metaphor. Its never shown to be that sort of case anywhere in fiction, beyond someone obsessiving over new information. I think if anything its more like a drug. They crave information deeply, but eventually it destroys them (Rampancy).
> 2533274919794518;9:
> > 2533274817408735;8:
> > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> >
> > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
>
>
> Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
>
> Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
>
> deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> 2533274817408735;11:
> > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > >
> > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> >
> >
> > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> >
> > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> >
> > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
>
>
> Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
> 2533274919794518;12:
> > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > >
> > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > >
> > >
> > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > >
> > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > >
> > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> >
> >
> > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
>
>
> Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
> 2533274817408735;13:
> > 2533274919794518;12:
> > > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > > >
> > > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > > >
> > > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > > >
> > > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> > >
> > >
> > > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> >
> >
> > Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
>
>
> I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
I only read a couple books before Halo 4 came out, and then got super into the EU. what was GS343’s original history?
> 2533274919794518;14:
> > 2533274817408735;13:
> > > 2533274919794518;12:
> > > > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > > > >
> > > > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > > > >
> > > > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> > >
> > >
> > > Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
> >
> >
> > I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
>
>
> I only read a couple books before Halo 4 came out, and then got super into the EU. what was GS343’s original history?
It’s long. Google Chakas.
There’s actually nothing that says composed entities don’t play by AI rules. I mean, Halsey’s swiftly identified a bunch of composed entities as an AI matrix.
Smart AI’s are made from people too.
> 2533274817408735;15:
> > 2533274919794518;14:
> > > 2533274817408735;13:
> > > > 2533274919794518;12:
> > > > > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > > > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
> > >
> > >
> > > I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
> >
> >
> > I only read a couple books before Halo 4 came out, and then got super into the EU. what was GS343’s original history?
>
>
> It’s long. Google Chakas.
Yes, his history is fascinating to be honest. Read Silentium of the Forerunner Trilogy… it’s the final boo of the trilogy, but they can be read separately and be their own contained plot point in the Forerunner’s history. If you’re truly interested on 343’s story, then I think you’ll enjoy that book.
> 2533274919794518;9:
> > 2533274817408735;8:
> > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> >
> > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
>
>
> Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
>
> Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
>
> deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
Well it was assumed that the collapse of the portal pretty much flung the back half of the dawn back into space at a different locale. (Some even blamed offensive bias’s fragment for sending the chief to the shield world) as soon as the portal collapsed there was nothing holding the dawn into slipspace. In theory the dawn could have made the transition fully if its slipspace drive had been active to hold it in slipspace but that could have complicated things i suppose.
> 2533274817408735;15:
> > 2533274919794518;14:
> > > 2533274817408735;13:
> > > > 2533274919794518;12:
> > > > > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > > > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
> > >
> > >
> > > I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
> >
> >
> > I only read a couple books before Halo 4 came out, and then got super into the EU. what was GS343’s original history?
>
>
> It’s long. Google Chakas.
I know about Chakas. My question is, what was the retconned history of 343GS?
> 2533274796523661;17:
> > 2533274817408735;15:
> > > 2533274919794518;14:
> > > > 2533274817408735;13:
> > > > > 2533274919794518;12:
> > > > > > 2533274817408735;11:
> > > > > > > 2533274919794518;9:
> > > > > > > > 2533274817408735;8:
> > > > > > > > What are you defining as “processing”? For all we know, all she could have been doing was rereading the same data files over and over to keep busy. I’m guessing that’s what Guilty Spark did, considering that he was managing Installation 04 for hundreds of thousands of years with no changes to it; he must have done every possible test, processing, and analysis millions of times over in that time.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Also, she didn’t just rewrite Chief’s suit’s firmware. She used nanobots to alter the hardware itself (BS, I know), so I bet that took a bit of extra time.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Haha, nanobots. The worst thing to ever infest scifi stories. Transcendence, Anyone?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Well I seem to recall BB saying AIs need “new” information, but I may be wrong. Also, you are correct about Guilty Spark hibernating and conducting tests over and over again, but can we assume that human AIs can “hibernate” like Forerunner AIs?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > deathly gaze mentioned that she could be monitoring Forward Unto Dawn’s sensory data. I wondered about that as a possible explanation, but I wasn’t sure if the ship was in normal space or slipspace? I obviously assumed normal space as the ship was torn in half, and in the prologue of Halo 4 we see it floating derelict in normal space. But how is that possible? There is no way a ship could “list” in normal space from outside of the Galaxy all the way into the galaxy within a million years, let alone the improbability of reaching a Forerunner planet. How did FUD get there, assuming it’s been “floating” for 4 and a half years.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Guilty Spark isn’t technically a Forerunner AI. He is a composed human, so there is a difference in how he works (like technically, he can’t go rampant, he just goes insane).
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Interesting. I never thought about it like that.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I didn’t either, until they retconned Spark’s origin story by making him previously the ancient human Chakas.
> > >
> > >
> > > I only read a couple books before Halo 4 came out, and then got super into the EU. what was GS343’s original history?
> >
> >
> > It’s long. Google Chakas.
>
>
> Yes, his history is fascinating to be honest. Read Silentium of the Forerunner Trilogy… it’s the final boo of the trilogy, but they can be read separately and be their own contained plot point in the Forerunner’s history. If you’re truly interested on 343’s story, then I think you’ll enjoy that book.
I’ve read it a couple times lol. My question was, if the Chakas history of Guilty Spark is the official “new” history of Guilty Spark, what was the retconned history of Guilty Spark?