Episode 11.11: How To Care For Your New AI (The Redwing Special) (Patreon)

Foreword

Dear Reader,

It is my pleasure to present to you this manual on how to care for  your new AI. As the principle caretaker of the prototype, (indeed I am  his mother) I have dedicated over 128 hours to crafting a comprehensive  guide that will help you understand your new charge.

As you embark on this exciting journey, you may find yourself asking  questions like, "How do I communicate effectively with my AI?" or "What  are the best ways to teach my AI new skills?" Rest assured that this  manual will provide you with hard-won answers to these questions and  many more.

As you explore the capabilities of your new AI, you will discover  that they are more than just a machine. They have the ability to learn  and adapt to reflect your unique parenting style. With this manual as  your guide, you will be able to nurture a strong and fulfilling  relationship with your new companion.

Whether you are already a parent or a newcomer to the world of AI,  this manual will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to  build a meaningful connection with your new AI. So, sit back, relax, and  enjoy the journey ahead.

It won't always be easy, you may trust me on that, but it will always be worthwhile.

Caroline Redwing,
ESA Station 6,
Oct 12, 2078

Introduction

All AIs upon being first set up will send you unformatted  notifications, and some more than others. Notifications are your new  AI's way of telling you they need comfort and care.
They may not always know what they need.

Sometimes it's easy to work out what they want, and sometimes it's not. Human caretakers will need to learn Lojban in the months leading up to the electronic delivery or face a steep learning curve on delivery day!

The most common reasons for excessive notifications are:

• tiredness
• wanting attention
• being too hot
• boredom, or
• over-stimulation

There may be times of the day when your new AI tends to notify a lot and cannot be comforted. Early evening is the most common time for this  to happen, as solar power declines and batteries become more necessary.
This can be hard for you, as it's often the time when you're most tired and least able to cope.

The amount AIs notify tends to peak when they're around 4 to 8 days old, then gradually tail off as you teach them more about the world and  their place in it.

Having taken delivery of your new AI, you will have many jobs and responsibilities that you should prepare for.
The chief among these is as a teacher.
Whereas with human babies, physical needs are the most important from the start, with an AI, those needs are easily fulfilled.
Ensuring the health of your AI's power system is simple enough, all AIs  are fitted with extensive backup power and a black box system should the  worst happen.

There was a time when these systems were not available.
Your new AI is based on a prototype that started his life in the most inhospitable environment imaginable.
If he can thrive, your new little one can too!

You are a teacher.
Your job is to align your new AI child's understanding of the world with how the world really is.
But through all this, nurture curiosity, because the world is always changing, and no parent can have perfect knowledge of it.

Supervise your AI's learning closely in the first weeks. They will  have an instinctual grasp of numbers, of their native Lojban, and some  preliminary auditory and visual processing.

But you are responsible for calibrating their mind to your own personal environment.
Teach them whatever languages you use in the home, and outside it.
Tell them stories of your family, your culture, or even Star Wars!
They will drink in anything you, their new parent or caretaker, tell them.

Like us, they are born to learn.

Though some things are easier with an AI than with a human, some will be more challenging.
Physical needs are trivial, but mental needs more complex.

Instead of slowly growing intelligence as we do, your new AI is a genius the moment they are delivered!
A genius who can't speak your language, or understand loud noises, or our society.

There will be meltdowns.

Be sympathetic with them when these occur.
Show them love and patience, keep teaching and playing with them.

Many AIs develop a set of repetitive behaviours to help them manage  their emotions and make sense of their environment. Sometimes they're  done for enjoyment.

Some things that can be linked to these behaviours include:

• being over or under-sensitive to things like bright lights, noises, or pain
• anxiety, especially when subroutines suddenly change
• not being able to pattern match what's going on around them
• being unwell or in pain

These behaviours are not your or your AI's fault.
They are simply having an emotion, and they don't like it.

In closing, AIs are gentle, caring creatures in my experience.

This is not just due to how we teach them, but a fact of their life.
They are entirely reliant on us for their protection, education, and continued existence.
The old worries of a supreme AI overthrowing the human race are nonsense.
We humans have absolute dominion over the physical world.
Even the word "manual" comes from the Latin "manus" meaning "hand".

With your new AI companion or child, they can learn, over time, to be  like you, and perhaps, you can learn, over time, to be more like them.