Personal AI (PDA Liaison) - Playable PDA

[Glamurio]

I've been thinking about implementing this for a while now, seen the idea from a different server, though it was really neat and wanted to iterate on a variant for Goon.
I put together a quick summary of what it is, how it works, etc.

Personal AI (PDA Liaison / PDAI)

• Personal AIs (PALs for short) are, in essence, "mini-silicon" that live inside a PDA.
  
• PALs are created by inserting a Spontaneous Intelligence Creation Core into your PDA.
  • Once the core is inside the PDA, much like other silicons, it requires a player to join the round as a PAL.
    
• PALs are registered to the first ID that is slotted into the PDA.
  • PAL ownership can be overridden by ejecting the core and using a multitool on it.
    
• PALs follow the standard law rack, but with an additional 4th law.
  • "You must obey orders given to you by <owner_name>, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
    This law overrides the Second Law."
    
• PALs have the innate ability to communicate on General and Silicon radio.
  • PALs gain additional radio channel access depending on their slotted module.
    
• PALs inherit their access rights from the ID that is slotted inside the PDA.
  
• PALs are able to execute any and all functions from their respective PDA. Security PDA for forensics, Medical PDA for medical records, etc.
  
• PALs have the ability to switch their visual filter corresponding to existing vision filters, SecHUD, ProDoc, Thermal, etc.
  •  These applications are only visible for the PAL. They need to communicate with the player.
    
• PALs can take on a non-corporeal form of a critter.
  • This can be used to extend the field of vision. The critter cannot physically interact with any objects and dies upon receiving any kind of damage.
    
  • If the critter dies, the PAL returns back to the PDA.
    

Why is this a good idea?

This will open a new avenue of silicon players that don't mind the additional restrictions forced on them. My goal was to create something that could largely be used for RP, but still have one or two unique features that separate it from a regular cyborg. I'd imagine situations where, for instance, a detective would want to scan forensics on a room and would ask his AI buddy "Hey, can you grab the prints off this door?". Or a PAL of a doctor quickly checking for puritan when a corpse comes in. It would essentially serve as a means to utilize PDA functions more fluidly with the help of another player, while also engaging in the fantasy of having a buddy around.

The reason why I want them tied to a law rack should be apparent, with personal AIs it's a slippery slope to self-antag easily, so while I want them to listen to the orders of their owner at the highest priority, that should not mean they should be able to facilitate the death of someone else, be it by bolting doors in a room without oxygen, etc. The reason they are tied to the first ID is so that they still recognize their owner without ID, or if an antag steals the captain's spare. To help solidify this, they are only able to open doors that the owner has access to, meaning you cannot break into somewhere you wouldn't be able to, but you can say "Buddy, could you close the door for me?".

Because being tied to a PDA could be boring, especially if the respective player goes SSD or the PDA gets lost, PALs have the ability to spawn a hologram critter of their choosing to explore with. This critter is non-corporeal, it will not be able to interact with anything or anyone, but will allow the PAL to get past doors or communicate with players that are farther away from the PDA. This will also facilitate RP potential.

Lastly, PDAs can have different visual filters for them. This is something that could be tied to modules as well, but essentially it would further help them be useful to their owner by spotting potentially dangerous reagents and seeing invisible people or hurt people.

---

Anyhow, this is an early idea, any and all feedback is welcome, suggestions, balance concerns, personal opinions etc.

[Frolicsome Flufficorn]

I personally Love this Idea, I dont even see it as a RP thing. Like I would love to be a PDAI. It sounds so fun. I have no issues with this being added to the game exactly as you describe it

[Chatauscours]

I always loved PAIs on other codebases, and I find it a very good idea, however I still do have concerns about the possibility of metagaming if it is made as a respawn role, and the possibility of not being used at all (as it's a downgraded version of sillicons) if it is made a latejoin role.

[Frolicsome Flufficorn]

I dont see this as a issue, I really do love the idea of being someones personal AI. Imagine being the HoS's personal AI. that sounds sick. Maybe im just seeing this through rose tinted glasses but the idea of becoming a PAI just sounds so good. Also, concerning the idea of metagaming, we already have cloning as a system XD. if people were gonna metagame it would be through this system. so I dont really see this as a large issue. Personally I would rather see it be tied to a set of rules like a ghostdrone rather than the AI lawrack. something like, Work in the best interest of your owner etc etc. What it lacks in its own movement it should make up for with interaction with people.. OO I love this idea so muchh. I really hope it gets added, almost as much as I wanted Mime to be added to roundstart.

[Glamurio]

I always loved PAIs on other codebases, and I find it a very good idea, however I still do have concerns about the possibility of metagaming if it is made as a respawn role, and the possibility of not being used at all (as it's a downgraded version of sillicons) if it is made a latejoin role.

Concerns about metagaming are valid, but I'm less worried about the latejoin being an issue. There's the idea of introducing a new trait that spawns your PDA with a core installed, ready for people to join in, which would allow fairly quick latejoining. Additionally, there's the idea that cyborgs, on round-start, can be notified about PDA availability and switch over.

Alternatively, players could choose to be a PAL on roundstart, similar to cyborgs, and the game generates a PDA at a spawnpoint (robotics, crew quarters) for players to pick up and use. Since they can manifest as critters, they can make their presence known and entice people to use them, or just play the round without an owner (with the ability to be converted into a cyborg by a roboticist)

[Thebutler]

I dont see this as a issue, I really do love the idea of being someones personal AI. Imagine being the HoS's personal AI. that sounds sick. Maybe im just seeing this through rose tinted glasses but the idea of becoming a PAI just sounds so good. Also, concerning the idea of metagaming, we already have cloning as a system XD. if people were gonna metagame it would be through this system. so I dont really see this as a large issue. Personally I would rather see it be tied to a set of rules like a ghostdrone rather than the AI lawrack. something like, Work in the best interest of your owner etc etc. What it lacks in its own movement it should make up for with interaction with people.. OO I love this idea so muchh. I really hope it gets added, almost as much as I wanted Mime to be added to roundstart.

Personally I would love if it was connected to the law rack because I like the idea of your very own personal AI betraying you

[Silent Majority]

Due to the way goon coms and stuff works it'd be mostly a perfunctionairy role. We don't have news and stuff like that the same way

[Ikea]

• PALs follow the standard law rack, but with an additional 4th law.
  • "You must obey orders given to you by <owner_name>, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
    This law overrides the Second Law."
    

I think it'd be way more fun if they followed the standard law rack with no exceptions. Since they are tied to there owners pda, the owner has the ability to give orders much more effectively then others, so theyre already effectively prioritized. However it opens up fun cases to where people can order pdAIs to go against there owners, or pdAIs go rogue and try to accomplish there objectives all the while stuck in a pda.

[Glamurio]

However it opens up fun cases to where people can order pdAIs to go against there owners, or pdAIs go rogue and try to accomplish there objectives all the while stuck in a pda.

That's actually precisely a case I want to avoid happening. I can see where you're coming from, it can lead to a good bit, but I want to avoid the situation where your own PDAI turns against you because you're in a conversation with people who outrank you. If anything, the main appeal is that it's your buddy and it should only betray you under unusual circumstances (ion storm, tampered laws), because that would make the betrayal feel more impactful.

If you're a staff assistant, people can constantly tell your PDAI to ignore your orders, which doesn't feel engaging. And I'd like to think that, in some RP circumstances, your PDAI can still choose to listen to a random person to pull a prank on you, it's just not an "order" they have to listen to.

All in all though, this is something actual play-data would show more clearly and could be amended either way.

[Glamurio]

Okay, the project was slow-going, but I made some progress on it. I'm bumping the thread because I'd like more feedback on a couple of things:

• PALs being created via SICC is suboptimal. Ideally, I'd like a new type of brain that only fits inside PDA. Perhaps the new brain can receive data from other brain types via interaction, and then the PDA-Brain can be slotted into the PDA.
  • Perhaps the brain can act as a sort of cartridge. That way, we can tie some unique applications to PDAIs.
    
  • If the brain is a cartridge, does the PDA still have a normal cartridge? Maybe it can emulate existing cartridges based on slotted ID.
    

• How do PALs die? Outside of being manually removed. PDAs can explode, this should probably eject the PDA-Brain.
  

• PALs can turn into holograms of critters. Should they be purely aesthetic, or perhaps some unique functionality tied to them?
  • Different speed, ability to go under tables, space movement (propulsion?), being able to emit a strong light?
    
  • Holograms are made of light, but maybe they could also be zappy, somehow? Perhaps an ability to shock people, but only mildly, akin to stun gloves, and on a cooldown.
    
  • How often should holograms be able to be changed? Should they be changeable at all?
    

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Flourish]

I don't think the admin / dev team is interested in adding PAIs. Personally I am very against adding a core role whose fundamental purpose is being an assistant / secretary for a specific single player and who largely does not exist in and cannot interact with the physical game world.

[444explorer]

I don't think the admin / dev team is interested in adding PAIs. Personally I am very against adding a core role whose fundamental purpose is being an assistant / secretary for a specific single player and who largely does not exist in and cannot interact with the physical game world.

Okay, out of a place of genuine curiosity, is there something that could change your/the teams stance? And, how is it decided what may or may not be wanted? Is there a consequence to adding things outside of the admin/dev teams views?

[Mordent]

You receive a demerit, assigned a week of community service cleaning out the critter pens and twenty points from your Wizarding House.

In all seriousness, the "consequence" is that it doesn't get merged in.

[Flourish]

Yeah the "consequence" is that someone spends a lot of time and effort working on something but it never gets merged. We've been trying to do better about letting people know early on so this doesn't happen as much.

I don't think there's anything that could change my stance, though I can't speak for everyone else. Things are usually decided by asking "hey what do you think about xyz" in adminchat and seeing what people think.

[444explorer]

Right, I see.