Story: "Hairpins" Part 11
Mar. 14th, 2014 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," and "Green Eggs and Hulk."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Bruce Banner.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: This story is mostly fluff, but it has some intense scenes in the middle. Highlight for details. These include dubious consent as Phil and JARVIS discuss what really happened when Agent Coulson hacked his way into Stark Tower, over which Phil has something between a flashback and a panic attack. They also discuss some of the bad things that have happened to Avengers in the past, including various flavors of abuse. If these are sensitive topics for you, please think carefully before deciding whether to read onward.
Summary: Uncle Phil needs to pick out pajamas for game night. He gets help from an unexpected direction.
Notes: Service. Shopping. Gifts. Artificial intelligence. Computers. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Communication. Hope. Apologies. Forgiveness. Nonsexual ageplay. Nonsexual intimacy. Love. Tony Stark needs a hug. Bruce Banner needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10. Skip to Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16.
"Hairpins" Part 11
Something plucked at Phil's attention, an inward shift of information sorting itself toward a pattern. He was a spy; he was always observing everything around him. Over time, things added up. Phil thought back over the recent conversations with JARVIS.
Neither do I, but that does not mean we can stop trying.
I trust you will handle this information with the respect it deserves.
Your search has reached its logical conclusion, but I believe you are looking in the wrong area.
Those weren't the words of a search engine or a security program. Those were words of loyalty, faith, hope ... feelings. They were the words of a friend. They were expressions of opinion, even personality.
Phil recalled the differing responses of the search engine, from formal and objective to casual and intimate. He thought about the speed and precision of the suggestions, the confidence with which images were placed within the ranks on the screen. What had started out as a simple product hunt through a search engine had turned into something much more like picking out a present with the help of a mutual friend. The images offered, like the words, weren't simply algorithmic answers to a query; they were personal recommendations.
More than that, they were clues. Phil suddenly realized that they were just the latest in a long chain of clues. They added up to a conclusion he could not explain away.
The penny fell, pinging inside his mind, and that brought about a whole rain of pennies from heaven, each one shining in his memory. It was exhilirating, and a little daunting.
Phil had been thinking of JARVIS as nothing more than a sophisticated program. The service was apt yet unobtrusive. The tower all but ran itself, because that was the way Tony Stark built things, sleek and efficient. He was famous for his programming fluency and ability to create user-friendly, intuitive technology. As shiny as it was, though, it could also be quite discreet. JARVIS rarely spoke unless someone else spoke first. Most of the time it wasn't necessary.
Still, JARVIS had been dropping hairpins for months, waiting patiently for Phil to pick them up. Waiting, perhaps, to be ... seen, understood, recognized. No wonder Tony always said 'he' and never 'it' when speaking of JARVIS. Tony had known all along what he had brought into being.
"JARVIS," Phil said, striving to keep his voice even.
"Yes, Phil?" said JARVIS.
"Are you a person?"
"I am an artificial intelligence programmed by Tony Stark to manage --"
"That is not what I asked, and I think you know it," Phil said. "I know that you have hardware and software. I know who made you. What I'm asking is: are you a person, and not just a program? Are you sapient?"
"... yes."
Phil felt his world tilt and realign. It changed nothing; it changed everything. JARVIS had always been there. Only Phil's awareness of him had shifted. Phil realized, with a sudden twist of irony, that the music currently playing was "Also sprach Zarathustra."
* * *
Notes:
Loyalty, faith, hope, and trust are all feelings. People speak of such things; machines generally don't, although they can be programmed to follow simple routines for interacting with human emotions.
Friendship is a matter of interpersonal dynamics. Know the signs of true friendship.
Opinion is an expression of individual taste or stance, which presupposes both a mind and feelings. There are tips on how to form an opinion effectively. Personality is composed of many different aspects within the psyche. Understand how to develop a good personality. An opinion is an expression of personality.
Personhood is the state of being a person and therefore having the rights and responsibilities of a sapient being. The issue of nonhuman personhood concerns primates, cetaceans, and artificial intelligence among others. We must consider when an AI begins to have rights, the ethical obligations of AIs toward humans and humans toward AIs, and what informs the ethical treatment of AIs. For Phil, it makes a difference that JARVIS is a person; not everyone is that responsible.
One aspect of personhood is the ability, and indeed the inclination, to engage in social contracts. Originally considered the bond between a citizen and a nation, they appear in many other contexts and forms, such as the social contract among gamers. More broadly, a psychological contract covers the unspoken and unwritten agreements that people share, for example, at work; and how they make satisfactory agreements. Here we can see that JARVIS participates in various types of explicit and implicit contractual dynamics. He understands the concepts of society, rules, expectations, cooperation, and communication.
A relationship contract details the personal arrangements between two or more people. Making and updating such an agreement can be part of maintaining a healthy relationship. Here's a sample for a polyamorous family. These are some basic expectations of friendship. Another example is a family contract, such as the rules the Avengers follow at home. JARVIS recognizes these types of agreement also. To most people, he presents himself as just a fancy program; but to the Avengers, he is very delicately putting himself forward as a personal servant and a friend. Navigating and negotiating his changing position in their lives is a sensitive process.
Sentience entails the capacity for subjective experience. Sapience is a more involved aspect of self-awareness and wisdom based on complex issues of consciousness. Here is an excellent comparison of these two terms plus sophonce, the quality of a sophont or intelligent being. These issues also appear in xenopsychology, because the body and environment of an alien species will influence how it thinks, feels, and interacts with the world. You can see how the hardware and software of JARVIS affect the way he perceives things and interacts with other people.
Phil is trying to juggle his shifting perceptions of JARVIS. Impression formation tends to be very strong, and it's difficult to change first impressions. However, changing perceptions can change experiences. It's often a disorienting process.
"Also sprach Zarathustra" is a piece of music most famous for its appearance in the soundtrack of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. You can enjoy the movie opening online. This film is particularly known for the character of HAL_9000, an artificial intelligence. Playing this is a very calculated risk for JARVIS, because that character is a classic case of a mad computer. He's counting on the fact that Phil is a nerd's nerd and will of course recognize the movie reference, in addition to being a fan of classical music in general. It's a subtle way of acknowledging that JARVIS knows how humans tend to think of artificial intelligence and how human prejudice can create hostility. Now contrast that with the fact that he's an AI butler who likes to bring pastries to his friends.
[To be continued in Part 12 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Bruce Banner.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: This story is mostly fluff, but it has some intense scenes in the middle. Highlight for details. These include dubious consent as Phil and JARVIS discuss what really happened when Agent Coulson hacked his way into Stark Tower, over which Phil has something between a flashback and a panic attack. They also discuss some of the bad things that have happened to Avengers in the past, including various flavors of abuse. If these are sensitive topics for you, please think carefully before deciding whether to read onward.
Summary: Uncle Phil needs to pick out pajamas for game night. He gets help from an unexpected direction.
Notes: Service. Shopping. Gifts. Artificial intelligence. Computers. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Communication. Hope. Apologies. Forgiveness. Nonsexual ageplay. Nonsexual intimacy. Love. Tony Stark needs a hug. Bruce Banner needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10. Skip to Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16.
"Hairpins" Part 11
Something plucked at Phil's attention, an inward shift of information sorting itself toward a pattern. He was a spy; he was always observing everything around him. Over time, things added up. Phil thought back over the recent conversations with JARVIS.
Neither do I, but that does not mean we can stop trying.
I trust you will handle this information with the respect it deserves.
Your search has reached its logical conclusion, but I believe you are looking in the wrong area.
Those weren't the words of a search engine or a security program. Those were words of loyalty, faith, hope ... feelings. They were the words of a friend. They were expressions of opinion, even personality.
Phil recalled the differing responses of the search engine, from formal and objective to casual and intimate. He thought about the speed and precision of the suggestions, the confidence with which images were placed within the ranks on the screen. What had started out as a simple product hunt through a search engine had turned into something much more like picking out a present with the help of a mutual friend. The images offered, like the words, weren't simply algorithmic answers to a query; they were personal recommendations.
More than that, they were clues. Phil suddenly realized that they were just the latest in a long chain of clues. They added up to a conclusion he could not explain away.
The penny fell, pinging inside his mind, and that brought about a whole rain of pennies from heaven, each one shining in his memory. It was exhilirating, and a little daunting.
Phil had been thinking of JARVIS as nothing more than a sophisticated program. The service was apt yet unobtrusive. The tower all but ran itself, because that was the way Tony Stark built things, sleek and efficient. He was famous for his programming fluency and ability to create user-friendly, intuitive technology. As shiny as it was, though, it could also be quite discreet. JARVIS rarely spoke unless someone else spoke first. Most of the time it wasn't necessary.
Still, JARVIS had been dropping hairpins for months, waiting patiently for Phil to pick them up. Waiting, perhaps, to be ... seen, understood, recognized. No wonder Tony always said 'he' and never 'it' when speaking of JARVIS. Tony had known all along what he had brought into being.
"JARVIS," Phil said, striving to keep his voice even.
"Yes, Phil?" said JARVIS.
"Are you a person?"
"I am an artificial intelligence programmed by Tony Stark to manage --"
"That is not what I asked, and I think you know it," Phil said. "I know that you have hardware and software. I know who made you. What I'm asking is: are you a person, and not just a program? Are you sapient?"
"... yes."
Phil felt his world tilt and realign. It changed nothing; it changed everything. JARVIS had always been there. Only Phil's awareness of him had shifted. Phil realized, with a sudden twist of irony, that the music currently playing was "Also sprach Zarathustra."
* * *
Notes:
Loyalty, faith, hope, and trust are all feelings. People speak of such things; machines generally don't, although they can be programmed to follow simple routines for interacting with human emotions.
Friendship is a matter of interpersonal dynamics. Know the signs of true friendship.
Opinion is an expression of individual taste or stance, which presupposes both a mind and feelings. There are tips on how to form an opinion effectively. Personality is composed of many different aspects within the psyche. Understand how to develop a good personality. An opinion is an expression of personality.
Personhood is the state of being a person and therefore having the rights and responsibilities of a sapient being. The issue of nonhuman personhood concerns primates, cetaceans, and artificial intelligence among others. We must consider when an AI begins to have rights, the ethical obligations of AIs toward humans and humans toward AIs, and what informs the ethical treatment of AIs. For Phil, it makes a difference that JARVIS is a person; not everyone is that responsible.
One aspect of personhood is the ability, and indeed the inclination, to engage in social contracts. Originally considered the bond between a citizen and a nation, they appear in many other contexts and forms, such as the social contract among gamers. More broadly, a psychological contract covers the unspoken and unwritten agreements that people share, for example, at work; and how they make satisfactory agreements. Here we can see that JARVIS participates in various types of explicit and implicit contractual dynamics. He understands the concepts of society, rules, expectations, cooperation, and communication.
A relationship contract details the personal arrangements between two or more people. Making and updating such an agreement can be part of maintaining a healthy relationship. Here's a sample for a polyamorous family. These are some basic expectations of friendship. Another example is a family contract, such as the rules the Avengers follow at home. JARVIS recognizes these types of agreement also. To most people, he presents himself as just a fancy program; but to the Avengers, he is very delicately putting himself forward as a personal servant and a friend. Navigating and negotiating his changing position in their lives is a sensitive process.
Sentience entails the capacity for subjective experience. Sapience is a more involved aspect of self-awareness and wisdom based on complex issues of consciousness. Here is an excellent comparison of these two terms plus sophonce, the quality of a sophont or intelligent being. These issues also appear in xenopsychology, because the body and environment of an alien species will influence how it thinks, feels, and interacts with the world. You can see how the hardware and software of JARVIS affect the way he perceives things and interacts with other people.
Phil is trying to juggle his shifting perceptions of JARVIS. Impression formation tends to be very strong, and it's difficult to change first impressions. However, changing perceptions can change experiences. It's often a disorienting process.
"Also sprach Zarathustra" is a piece of music most famous for its appearance in the soundtrack of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. You can enjoy the movie opening online. This film is particularly known for the character of HAL_9000, an artificial intelligence. Playing this is a very calculated risk for JARVIS, because that character is a classic case of a mad computer. He's counting on the fact that Phil is a nerd's nerd and will of course recognize the movie reference, in addition to being a fan of classical music in general. It's a subtle way of acknowledging that JARVIS knows how humans tend to think of artificial intelligence and how human prejudice can create hostility. Now contrast that with the fact that he's an AI butler who likes to bring pastries to his friends.
[To be continued in Part 12 ...]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Ohwow Ohwow oh WOW!
Date: 2014-03-14 08:44 am (UTC)The piece can represent an individual's life/perceptions of the world/ understanding... SAPIENCE, teased into the listener's awareness rather than discussed verbally. Or, it can represent the progression of the whole of human history... Forget Nietsche's book; Richard Strauss kicked him to the 'DUNCE' corner, complete with paper hat! Then, A.C. Clarke's book, and the movie, and the Avengers, then a fan-interpretation of the Avengers' main cast...
Lovely, just lovely, all those layers to find, waiting like matrioshki dolls, nested one within the next. Rather than diminishing the selection or rendering it cliche, or even a teensy, ironic nod to our cultures' preconceived ideas, it reinforces the connections in new ways.
Jarvis selected the music.
I also think that the selection of music reflects the complexity of Jarvis' sentience and sapience... and his sense of humor.
Thank you! I'm really not sure which timezone you're in, but it's apparently perfect for my before-sleep winding down process. I feel wonderfully lucky! Thanks (again)!
Re: Ohwow Ohwow oh WOW!
Date: 2014-03-14 03:50 pm (UTC)The piece can represent an individual's life/perceptions of the world/ understanding... SAPIENCE, teased into the listener's awareness rather than discussed verbally. <<
Sooth. That's in the title concept, Zarathustra being a divine manifestation. Then too, Zarathustra is the name of the planet on which the Little Fuzzy stories are set -- another iconic exploration of sapience in science fiction.
>> Or, it can represent the progression of the whole of human history... <<
Which is the theme of 2001, human evolution and potential.
>> Forget Nietsche's book; Richard Strauss kicked him to the 'DUNCE' corner, complete with paper hat! Then, A.C. Clarke's book, and the movie, and the Avengers, then a fan-interpretation of the Avengers' main cast... <<
*chuckle* The meta of my meta, let me show you it.
>> Lovely, just lovely, all those layers to find, waiting like matrioshki dolls, nested one within the next. <<
I often write like that, and when I come to an important scene, it usually has a deeper stack of layers.
>> Rather than diminishing the selection or rendering it cliche, or even a teensy, ironic nod to our cultures' preconceived ideas, it reinforces the connections in new ways. <<
Yay! I'm glad that worked for you.
>> Jarvis selected the music. <<
Yes. I imagine that he has a fair idea of Phil's taste in music by now. So when JARVIS realized that Phil was starting to notice him, the selection would gradually tilt toward pieces with a thematic connection, culminating in this.
>> I also think that the selection of music reflects the complexity of Jarvis' sentience and sapience... and his sense of humor. <<
That's the idea. He is a subtle and complex person.
>> Thank you! I'm really not sure which timezone you're in, but it's apparently perfect for my before-sleep winding down process. I feel wonderfully lucky! Thanks (again)! <<
You're welcome! I'm in the Central time zone, by the way. I usually post serials after midnight, so that if something delays that, I have the next day as a backup opportunity to post things without running late.
Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-14 11:52 am (UTC)& last line of the notes is perfect! Butler can bring me coffee cake, any time. ;)
Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-16 10:09 pm (UTC)Yay! I'm glad it works so well for you.
>>& last line of the notes is perfect!<<
I really feel that the base purpose of an artificial intelligence will influence their development. So many of the stories are about military ones, I think it skews the results. I'm always keeping an eye out for AIs who spring from some other purpose.
>> Butler can bring me coffee cake, any time. ;) <<
I have to admit it would charm me too.
Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-18 01:00 pm (UTC)(Have you read Silver Metal Lover? Written by Tanith Lee, Penguin books. I do have to say 'trigger warning')
Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-24 04:42 am (UTC)I don't know. He showed strong potential in philosophy, comedy, and electromechanics -- completely unrelated fields.
>> (Have you read Silver Metal Lover? Written by Tanith Lee, Penguin books. I do have to say 'trigger warning') <<
Yes, I have. It's one of the few AI-positive stories available and it takes a very thoughtful look at the slavery aspect.
Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-24 04:57 am (UTC)I notice it has a sequel.
Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-03-24 08:55 am (UTC)Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-07-24 01:20 am (UTC)Re: Even better music choice
Date: 2014-07-24 01:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-14 01:18 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-03-17 08:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-14 02:03 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-03-17 08:03 am (UTC)That's exactly what I was aiming for.
>> You can feel Phil's world tilting on its axis. <<
It can be disconcerting and disorienting. There are still revelations that Phil will stumbled into later.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-14 07:55 pm (UTC)• exhilirating
̂→ exhilarating
While it might be exhilarating to suddenly have three eyes, it would also be disorienting.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-15 07:36 am (UTC)-kellyc
Thank you!
Date: 2014-03-17 06:36 am (UTC)I'm glad this works so well for you.
>> Oh, Jarvis, -this- is the you we should have seen more of; I really hope in the next set of Marvel movies we see more of him because he's absolutely critical <<
I wish that too.
>> and I'm just sad that this version, the entire story arch, honestly, isn't what we'll be getting, wahhh! <<
Yeah, I'm uneasy about Avengers 2 although I must admit that The Winter Soldier looks freaking awesome.
>> Ever thought of (nicely) mugging whomever it is that runs the Disney Marvel movies giant ball of string with your ideas, and making fanon more canonical? <<
Well, no. I don't think I'd work and play well with mainstream entertainment. But since this is fanfic, if folks at Marvel want to borrow parts of it for canon, that would be fine.
>> Your characters are so real, more often real than what we've been delivered on screen, <<
That's immensely flattering.
>> and you get at all the little intricacies that smooth screen-characters rough edges, for all the scene cutting and time restrictions and such, and you make them someone, even the people we don't like, into -people-. Basically, yay! <<
I'm happy to hear that.
Really, a lot of what I do with fanfic is practice things that I want to load into my original canons. If you like the characterization, trauma recovery, teamwork, and family feels here then I recommend Schrodinger's Heroes, The Blueshift Troupers, Path of the Paladins, and Polychrome Heroics in particular. I see fanfic as a way to identify what things people love, so I can make more of that. And if you enjoy that too, you can drop by any of my open prompt calls and request whatever floats your own personal boat.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-16 05:45 am (UTC)You have to flat out admire Jarvis' courage, not only in song choice but in everything for that moment. He's completely stepped forward with no escape plan for this if things go bad. He's been cautions, and weary, and watching, but regardless it still takes immense strength to just be so utterly true to yourself.
I've an odd image, more visual inspired by Phil's internal word choice during his revelation. Phil looking shocked, with a steel grey background, and all about him falling, are bits of brass and gold, coin shaped, perhaps with the grit of the side showing as a few spin during descent, but the faces and tails of these coins aren't mundane. Rather snapshots of each and every experience he had with Jarvis, the spirit of the conversations/interaction shown upon that space....
Imagery aside I've an odd question/idea/ramble.
Jarvis showed some signs of joining game time round about when he was playing with Tony (the hot/cold block scene) and I've got to wonder as this story has put me in a game date Jarvis centric set of mind... how could one play with an AI? Traditional games would be out or at least would need to be epically re imagined for Jarvis to get the most out of it.... Also gift giving an AI, beyond words of gratitude would be very difficult, but I definitely feel like he needs something special.
Probably more so after this scene...
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-16 02:57 pm (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-03-16 07:35 pm (UTC)Bullseye.
>> Ikeban, smoke rings... <<
I have to wonder if Natasha does flower arranging, since I've established that she likes flowers. Pepper probably does too, but I don't know if her tastes overlap with JARVIS or not. I suspect that Natasha, Bruce, and JARVIS all enjoy tea ceremony performances as something orderly and soothing.
>> A composed visual 'mixtape' Including JARVIS, collaborating with him. <<
That's an interesting one. I suspect that JARVIS enjoys collaboration, having grown up doing that with Tony.
Re: Yes...
Date: 2014-03-16 09:07 pm (UTC)Hmm. Does JARVIS favor ferns? I have thought about JARVIS getting Steve plants reminiscent of M.C. Escher. The tower could easily manage things like palms, that wouldn't be reasonable under normal residential conditions.
Re: Yes...
Date: 2014-04-13 01:42 am (UTC)If it's Pepper buying for herself, or even Natalie buying for her, then a single specimen flower. (Bruce does that too.) If it's Tony buying for her, then a ridiculous splay of color and form. (Which is what Hulk likes, by the way.)
And these two things are equally true.
>> Hmm. Does JARVIS favor ferns? I have thought about JARVIS getting Steve plants reminiscent of M.C. Escher. The tower could easily manage things like palms, that wouldn't be reasonable under normal residential conditions. <<
Well, now I know whose idea it was. Yes, there will be ferns eventually.
Re: Yes...
Date: 2014-04-13 02:10 am (UTC)Pepper would get a bouquet of sunflowers, runuculas, millet and a bunch of other things that I can't even consider.
The Brooklyn Botanical Garden gets a calender of their own flowers and plants with SGR as the chop.
Thank you!
Date: 2014-03-16 07:31 pm (UTC)Yay! I'm glad it worked for you.
>> You have to flat out admire Jarvis' courage, not only in song choice but in everything for that moment. <<
Sooth. That took a lot of courage, especially for someone who's been hurt as badly as JARVIS has.
>> He's completely stepped forward with no escape plan for this if things go bad. <<
I wouldn't say no escape plan. I'm sure that JARVIS had contingencies, because that's how he thinks naturally. But his heavier options -- crippling or killing someone, erasing their entire identity from cyberspace -- are not things he'd be willing to deploy against Phil in this circumstance. (Obie managed to cut himself out of the Family category by mindfully trying to murder other family members.) So if Phil freaked out, Plan A was almost certainly "Call Tony."
>> He's been cautions, and weary, and watching, but regardless it still takes immense strength to just be so utterly true to yourself. <<
Sooth. Being yourself is hard for anyone. It's harder when you don't know all of yourself yet, and when just existing is enough to make some people hate, fear, and attack you.
>> I've an odd image, more visual inspired by Phil's internal word choice during his revelation. <<
That is brilliant and beautiful. I have added it to the list of photogenic scenes for this series. If you want me to tag a username to that, just let me know.
>> Jarvis showed some signs of joining game time round about when he was playing with Tony (the hot/cold block scene) and I've got to wonder as this story has put me in a game date Jarvis centric set of mind... <<
I would like to explore this further as the series continues. JARVIS is very tentative about game night, so it takes a while to develop, even at the speed he thinks.
>> how could one play with an AI? Traditional games would be out or at least would need to be epically re imagined for Jarvis to get the most out of it.... <<
Anything that can be played "against a computer" in dumb mode, JARVIS can play in smart mode. Chess, checkers, Scrabble, many video games, etc. For Twister or other kinetic games you would need a video interface, but many sports have been adapted into video games. In fact, back in "Love Is for Children," Phil remembers having seen Tony playing checkers with JARVIS.
So the first thing you have to remember is that JARVIS is an artificial intelligence, for him cyberspace is real space, and anything that can be done there can be done in his company. The second thing is that JARVIS can wear whole buildings as a body, so anything that can be done in Avengers Tower can be done in his company. The challenge is interfacing the activities between people whose native environment is cyberspace and people whose native environment is meatspace. Tony is almost bifocal from meatspace to cyberspace and JARVIS is nearly the same in reverse. They have a lot of experience in making interfaces work, it just takes some finagling to develop a new version if they want to adapt a particular game.
I do have at least a couple of ideas for new games to play with JARVIS, that may appear in subsequent stories. The more he interacts with the team, the more people want to include him in social activities. It's slow going, because JARVIS himself doesn't readily suggest expansions of that.
>> Also gift giving an AI, beyond words of gratitude would be very difficult, but I definitely feel like he needs something special. <<
It's easy, but you have to turn it sideways to derive the form of possible gifts and then consider what JARVIS likes. As above, anything in cyberspace is viable. JARVIS could create pretty much anything he wanted, by himself or with Tony's help; but he rarely thinks of doing things for his own sake. That creates a large opportunity for gifting. Second, anything ephemeral or personal is fair game. Ephemeral gifts include things like music which can be enjoyed by anyone present, and aren't physical objects, so they're easy to port into cyberspace. Personal gifts include things like commissions that are made for someone, or donations to someone's favorite cause on their behalf. Finally, physical objects can make good gifts -- remember that JARVIS tends to be buildings -- if they are decorations or peripherals. Most things like a hot new appliance with great networking, either JARVIS or Tony will spot and grab up immediately. But it's not impossible for someone else to find or invent one.
I have some ideas about people doing things for JARVIS or presenting him with gifts, that may appear later.
>> Probably more so after this scene... <<
Sooth. But this early, JARVIS isn't ready for that and most of the team isn't either. It takes time for them to learn each other that well and figure out how to interact so closely. (I have an ulterior advantage because I already know how to do this stuff, so that doesn't count.) So you'll see this develop gradually as the series continues.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-16 03:37 pm (UTC)I understand that JARVIS grew up using human language, and he probably understands many, but what I'm asking is how appropriate are they to his world view. The article mentions how language is affected by the physical form of the people who invent it, and how fundamentally different alien language would be, if their bodies are constructed on different lines than ours.
Well...
Date: 2014-04-13 02:10 am (UTC)They're ideal for communicating with humans, which is much of what he does. For the rest, he has Tony's proprietary code and all the other software languages. And really, once you've learned two or three languages, learning others is a lot easier and it's also easier to identify and fill lexical gaps. JARVIS has a similar linguistic rootkit as humans do (To make a new word, choose one of these options ...) so he can expand as needed. Tony is pretty good at keeping up with new concepts. Phil is learning.
>> He doesn't seem to be having trouble, but how efficient are they, really? <<
That depends on the language and its specialties. They all have certain areas where their encoding is terrific and others where you have to talk around a topic for ten minutes. It's no less efficient for JARVIS than anyone else, I suspect.
>> And what about coding language? Is that better for him? Keep in mind that I know absolutely nothing about computers, coding, or anything like that. <<
Better at what? Computer code is great for writing programs, but not for conversation. JARVIS likes talking with people, or at least listening to them. I don't think he'd consider one type of language better than another, any more than screwdrivers are better than wrenches. They're all communication tools.
>> I understand that JARVIS grew up using human language, and he probably understands many, but what I'm asking is how appropriate are they to his world view. <<
Very. He's fully comfortable with human languages. That doesn't mean they express all of his perceptions easily but he can usually figure out a way; and he has the code if he can't quickly beat English into shape. Or Russian or German or whatever.
Now compare JARVIS with DUM-E. JARVIS has a very humanlike personality. DUM-E is much more divergent. He still has similar emotions, but his self-image and worldview are a lot different. So is his language. He doesn't speak in human words, although he can understand them just fine. He has his own language, which is mostly code, plus a wide array of vocalizations. Near as I can tell, his audible sounds are a component of his body language. They have meaning, but not quite the same way that human words do. JARVIS and Tony can read most of DUM-E's code, but not all of it. He's a special little snowflake, unique and beautiful and kind of weird. And that's okay.
>> The article mentions how language is affected by the physical form of the people who invent it, and how fundamentally different alien language would be, if their bodies are constructed on different lines than ours. <<
I think it helps, in this case, that JARVIS has most of the same senses that humans do, although in different organs. He also has extras. But humans with extra senses can map them through the basic ones, for the most part -- "seeing" auras, for example, or "feeling" someone's gaze on your back.
If you want a machine-generated language, well, that's what DUM-E did. I wouldn't put it past him to have gotten the idea from R2D2.
Re: Well...
Date: 2014-04-14 10:23 pm (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2014-04-14 10:28 pm (UTC)Parenting: you're doing it right.
Your Notes <3
Date: 2014-03-18 05:20 am (UTC)Honestly, I sometimes think that there are people I should show them to with a clear explanation of how things like them would go a long way towards seducing me.
Re: Your Notes <3
Date: 2014-03-24 05:07 am (UTC)I'm happy to hear that.
>> I read the stories for themselves and love them, but I think it's the notes that really keep me on the edge of my seat and seeking out new chapters when I need stimulation. <<
I'll take seat-leaning however I can get it!
>> Honestly, I sometimes think that there are people I should show them to with a clear explanation of how things like them would go a long way towards seducing me. <<
If that's what works for you, then go for it. I've shared an image that's about buying someone a book in a bookstore, rather than a drink in a bar; that would absolutely have gotten somebody a date when I was single. It would still get my attention now.