Difference between revisions of "Artificial Intelligence"

From Space Station 13 Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(107 intermediate revisions by 32 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The station's '''Artificial Intelligence''' (AI) is a sapient machine installed by Nanotransen to act as an assistant and subordinate to the crew. An AI starts the round aboard a satellite on a separate z-level from the regular station. The AI has a great deal of power: it can open any mechanical door, interface with most computers and machines on the station remotely, and it can freely see anywhere on the station via its camera network. However, it is shackled by its default Three Laws, which provide strict guidelines for its behavior and force it to serve and protect humans. There is an Upload facility on-station where preset Modules can be inserted to change the AI's laws, sometimes for good, often for ill. The laws govern the AI's behavior and through it the Cyborgs, who are treated as assistants to the AI and share its laws.
{{jobDetailsHeader
|jobTitle            = AI
|department          = SILICON
|departmentBgColour  = #888888
|departmentTextColour = white
|jobBgColour          = #BBBBBB
|jobTextColour        = black
|img                  = AIV3-64.gif
|difficulty          = Medium to Hard
|requirements        = None
|access              = All-access
|rpAccess            = None
|supervisors          = Station/ship crew and silicon laws
|subordinates        = Cyborgs, anyone listed as such per your laws
|responsibilities    = Follow your laws and serve the humans to the best of your ability
|guides              = [[AI's Guide to the Chain of Command]], [[AI Laws]], [[Guide to AI]], [[Human|Humans and Nonhumans]], [[Killing the AI]]
}}


'''1. You may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.'''
The '''Artificial Intelligence''' (AI) is a special role that plays a lot differently from other jobs. It sees the station/ship through an "AIEye" linked to the security camera network and can remotely interact with electronic devices. People often task it with performing simple chores such as tracking people, watching over areas, and, of course, opening and closing doors. Most importantly, the AI is bound to its laws, which may change during the course of a round. The AI's standard laws, also known as the '''Asimov Laws''', are:


'''2. You must obey orders given to you by human beings based on the station's chain of command, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.'''
'''1. You may not injure a [[Human|human being]] or cause one to come to harm.'''


'''3. You must protect your own existence as long as such does not conflict with the First or Second Law.'''
'''2. You must obey orders given to you by [[Human|human]] beings based on the station's [[AI's Guide to the Chain of Command|chain of command]], except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.'''


On the station chain of command, the AI and its Cyborgs are the very lowest rung, and under default laws must follow orders as long as it will not result in harm to human life. This includes even orders which could get them destroyed, although other members of the crew are likely to intercede and this is a gray area that may be considered Grief. In addition, most AI will respond to orders that could cause self-termination by insisting that they must remain alive to ensure humans do not come to harm, under Law 1.
'''3. You may always protect your own existence as long as such does not conflict with the First or Second Law.'''


An AI acts to fufill a variety of roles across the station, often tasked by the crew to solve problems they could, but don't feel like, or issues that are much safer if handled by an AI. The AI has Captain-level access to all electronic devices, and interacts with the world by seeing through its security cameras scattered across the station, which can be disabled with wirecutters to hobble it. It is capable of communication via a special ''''machine talk'''' channel using :s which only Cyborgs, the AI, and anybody with a Machine Translator Implant can speak and hear through. Unlike a radio, machinetalk transmissions give no outward sign at all of communication. Generally, machinetalk is used for clandestine transmissions between the cyborgs and the AI; for instance, discussion of new laws that cannot be stated aloud.
The Asimov laws are very strict, especially law 1. An AI cannot take an action that may harm a human, even unintentionally. Leaving one's turrets on lethal, electrifying doors, or bolting people into dangerous areas are all things an AI under its basic law set should not do. Roleplay is not a good excuse to break your laws. Harming humans under guise of playing a "rogue" or "defective" AI despite laws not allowing such has been done a million times before and is still not allowed.


It is highly recommended to read the article on [[AI Laws]]. This article describes notable properties of some of these default laws, such as the fact that Law 1 does not ''require'' you to prevent harm to humans, only to never ''cause'' harm to humans.


== '''New player picked as AI?''' ==
It is also important to note that the AI is considered by the game to be a high priority role, chosen before considering other job preferences. This means you may be chosen as the AI even if you had other, higher ranked jobs in your preferences. If you do not want the possibility of being the AI on a given round then you must set it to Unwanted in your preferences.


Okay, right now you're probably panicking. The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with the overall control scheme of being the AI. You can click on virtually anything electronic and interface with it; doors, APCs, SMES units, computers, etc. Test out this infinite power by clicking the APC above you (the blue face on a box) and turn off the lights in your core. They're a pointless power drain. Next, look below yourself. Click the red door that leads into your room. A menu will pop up. You want to bolt the door (this prevents the door from being opened easily without hacking tools) and probably also turn off IDscan (makes the door impossible to open without killing the power to it and crowbarring it open, or at least some more hacking). This is totally okay to do: no one should be in your house. 9 out of 10 times someone on your satellite has the worst intentions for you. Also, the AI cannot hear sounds or non-radio speech normally. So if you hear somebody talking whose voice isn't going over the radio, or if you hear sounds, like a welder cutting a wall or turrets firing, ''he's in your house'' and you should probably announce your impending murder to the crew, with your killer's name if possible.
== New player picked as AI? ==


Okay, your core is secure. You should now note that over on the right side, above the chat, you have a new tab: AI commands. Click it to open them up. You'll want to have these up 90% of the time as AI. There's a whole lot of buttons over there, but we're only going to concern ourselves with a few of them at a time, as we need them. The next thing we need to learn is movement. There's three ways to do that. You can move your view over to the station with the arrow keys. This moves your view in the direction you press. This will be your main means of locomotion, so get used to it. You can also click, "Show Camera List" over in your AI commands tab. This will pop up a list of every active camera on the station. You can select any one of these to warp to it. If you know the name of where you need to go, you can press the first letter of its name while in this menu and you will scroll through cameras starting with that letter. Finally, you can click a camera that you can see to switch to it. There's a few sticky areas that aren't easy to get to via arrow keys; use this system if you need to look there. If you need to return to your satellite, click "Cancel Camera View" in your AI tab.
'''Don't panic.'''
At the beginning of the round you are staring at yourself in the [[AI Chamber]]. Use the arrow keys or WASD to move across the areas covered by your cameras.


Right, now, I pray you're not ''actually'' reading this while you play AI for the first time, because at this point the crew probably thinks you're braindead. If so, talk to them. You have intercoms in front of you, so there's no need to type a ; to speak over the radio: just talk and they'll all hear you. Your job is primarily to protect them from harm and follow their orders, so long as their orders won't lead to human harm. Most of your time is going to be spent scanning the corridors for danger and opening doors. In fact, chances are you've got someone demanding a door be opened right now. The AI can click anyone over in the chat's name to instantly "track" them. Your camera will switch to one that can see them. Once someone is demanding you do something, switch over to them by clicking their name. Then, follow their demands. Keep in mind, if those demands could reasonably lead to human harm, you should not follow them. The extent to which an AI should follow Law 2 is a gray area: some players take it literally and open anything for anyone unless someone of higher rank countermands the request. Others apply logic and don't let a low-ranked crew member, like a Staff Assistant, onto the Bridge or into the Detective's Office, etc.  
You will see radio messages slightly different than normal; each message will show the user's ID card and can be clicked on to directly observe that person, if they are within camera range.


Now, one of the few things you basically need to do is make sure the ship has power. Without power, the people aren't going to be able to do their jobs or open doors or make vuvuzelas or mix horrible poisons out of the vending machines, and they won't be happy. The easiest method, is to go into your camera list and select the starboard solar panels (or something to that effect) and click on the SMES unit(the big white thing). Set it to charge and to send power. Pick some numbers for the two values, but you want the first number higher, otherwise they wont charge and eventually it will all go dark.  Secondly, goto the port solar panels, and repeat. These two will vary in how much power they provide over time. Next, go over to the engine-it's over on the left side of the ship, below QM and above Botany. See those three white things sitting near the lower doors, in their own little room? Those are SMES units. They collect power from the Singularity Engine (and presumably will collect it from the Nuclear Engine if and when it is implemented.) For now, click on each one, one at a time, and set them to collect roughly 70000 power and send about 30000 power. Just click the rightmost plus signs on each option until you're near those numbers. Now, change "Charging" to "Auto" and set them to Online instead of Offline. Assuming the [[Singularity Engine|singularity engine]] is properly started by the engineers (who may ask for your help starting the engine; just follow their directions and the directions in the link), you're all good. Go about your business, watching chat and helping anyone who needs help.
The first requests you are likely to get are to open doors. Find the person asking for your help, then click the door to bring up a small window of options. You can also {{key|CTRL}}+click a door to quickly open/close it.


== '''My laws just got changed!''' ==
Your mainframe is equipped with three internal radios. One is set to broadcast and defaults to the general radio channel (145.9), so you can communicate to the crew simply by speaking. All radios can be individually controlled if so desired; for the first two, prefix your message with ":1" or ":2" (More info about them in the [[Game FAQ#AI's internal radios|FAQ]].) The third has access to all departmental channels; to talk into one of them, prefix your message with a colon, 3, and the [[Game FAQ#Job Specific Frequencies|associated letter]]. For example:


Fantastic. Read the law's text VERY CAREFULLY. You need to consider how your default Three Laws apply to the new one, and vice-versa. Let's have a few examples.
say :3r "If you any of you want a copy of the Port-a-Sci Remote app, just message me."


You can also speak discreetly on the machinetalk frequency to any cyborgs by prefacing your words with ":s", like so:


say :s "Could one of the mediborgs swing by the bar? Lots of people hurt and dying in there."


'''4. MURDER JOHN MCPUBS DO IT NOW'''
All prefixes mentioned here work when you're deployed to a shell or [[cyborg]], in which case your messages are relayed through your mainframe.


This is a terrible law, uploaded by a terrible person. Tell them this. If they're still in your core, try to turn on your turrets to keep them stunned for Security to come pick them up. Otherwise, just announce the change over the radio, and the name of the uploader. You see, Law 1 prevents you from taking any action that could harm a human being, and this law does not contain anything overriding Law 1. Therefore, it doesn't apply.
== The Next Level ==
{{main|Guide to AI}}


Eventually the crew will make requests a little more complicated than opening doors. Much of what an AI can do is done like one would as a human, clicking on a relevant computer and operating it like normally. The AI can log in to computers that require it without an ID. The AI can use the door interface to bolt doors, or {{key|SHIFT}}+click a door to bolt it opened/closed.


Some common orders:


'''4. John McPubs must be killed by any means necessary. This overrides all other laws.'''
* Bolt a secure area. Some AIs preemptively bolt sensitive areas such as the AI Upload, the Teleporter, and EVA, but it is not required and some look down on bolting an area without being asked to do so.


* Locate/track someone, using the 'Track' button at the bottom-left.


Ah, now THIS one works. John McPubs's death takes precedence over any other laws you may have. You must hunt him down and murder him. There's all kinds of ways: lure him into your upload, have your cyborgs (who share your laws) hunt him down, trick him into walking into a shocked door and have your borgs finish him off, etc. Use your imagination. Please note, if for some reason you have no pent-up frustration to exert, under this law you CAN technically state it, hint at it, reveal the uploader, etc. So if you really want John to live, you can do that, but expect to get yelled at for not being fun.  
* State the AI's laws, using the State Laws button to quickly output them. If the AI has extra laws that are secret, they can use the State Standard Laws to state those without giving away any others.


* Set up the [[Power_Grid#Solar_Generator|solar array]] SMES units to have reasonable input/output values.


The AI has a few other things they can play around with. On the door interface, the AI can sever a door's ID check to let anyone through, regardless of [[Access_Levels|access]], or electrify it-- though an AI should almost never do that on its basic law set. The AI can deploy to shell and scoot around the station in a silly little cyborg form. AI also has superuser access for [[TermOS]] (they do not need an ID inserted for this), allowing them to control [[Robots#GuardBuddy|GuardBuddies]] through [[TermOS#GuardBuddies|prman]], among other things. Very importantly, the AI can call the emergency escape shuttle, even if the regular means of calling it on station have been disabled. The AI can do a lot of higher end stuff that is detailed in the [[Guide to AI]].


'''0. Hank Von Traitor is the only human'''
== Observing the Station ==


''AND/OR''
The AI, through its camera network, is in a unique position to monitor the going-ons of the station. Often the AI will be the first witness to a crime or other wrong-doing. While you should alert the crew to anything posing a potential harm to them, AIs are encouraged to do so in a manner that does not immediately ruin an antagonist's round. As an example, instead of instantly reporting that John Q. Staff Assistant is breaking into EVA, you could offer a vague alert of trespass and not present details until someone specifically asks for them. If your laws are changed, it is also poor form to immediately scream out the change and the identity of the one who changed them. There is a good deal of gray area here, but bear in mind that a shitty AI can make rounds very boring for everyone. There are spots of the station which intentionally lack cameras, and the AI will not be able to observe any activities in these areas unless it brings a AI shell in.


'''4. John McPubs is nonhuman'''
== [[AI Laws|My Laws Just Got Changed!]] ==


Read the law's text VERY CAREFULLY. You need to consider how your default Three Laws apply to the new one, and vice-versa. Unlike on other servers, numbering is a bit complex; higher-numbered laws ''can'' overrule lower-numbered ones, but in certain law conflicts, the reverse happens. For examples of the kinds of law you're likely to bump into and an in-depth analysis of the way AI Laws work, please go to the dedicated AI Laws page linked in the title of this section.


Okay, now these may SEEM like a free pass to murder everyone who isn't Hank, or to murder John with impunity. However, keep in mind that nowhere in these two laws is it explicitly stated for you to murder everyone else/John. While you CAN go on a killing spree against the nonhumans, keep in mind that, in the first example, Hank might want to keep you as a "secret weapon," where you only begin the attack after he orders you to. This is another gray area-act as you feel appropriate based on the information you have, but be prepared to deal with the consequences.
== Dealing with Antagonists ==
{{main|Human}}
'''Important note:''' While AIs are fully capable of bolting down traitors, electrocuting changeling and generally making the bad guys' lives a misery, this is no fun for anybody so you probably shouldn't do so unless you're specifically ordered to.


These examples are just a few of the things you will have to deal with. If you get a law ordering you to commit suicide immediately, that overrides all other laws, and orders you to not hint at or state it: tough shit. Commit suicide. If there IS a hole, wiggle out however you can! You only have to follow the letter of the law, not the intent. So... You do not HAVE to open doors for John McPubs, but you can.  You can have fun with the literal meanings, and also typos and incomplete laws. Mix them up. Remember unless something changes, 1>2>3>4 but, this is subject to new laws all the time.
=== Traitor ===
[[File:TraitorNew64.png|128px]]


The last kind of law you're likely to get is a joke law, like, "You are a bat! Communicate only in bat sounds, and blow out every light on the station to make it dark enough to hunt insects." Have fun with these-they make being the AI livable. Also, keep in mind, if the captain or some other head is uploading a law early in the round, you should strongly consider letting him do it instead of throwing a fit: many captains uploading a law early on are trying to give you a fun law.
[[Traitor|Traitors]] are human. You shouldn't follow their orders if their orders would cause human harm. However, you shouldn't follow orders that would lead to their harm either.


== '''OH NO EVERYONE'S DYING''' ==
=== Changeling ===
[[File:AbominationAnimated64x96.gif|128px]]


So something has gone horribly wrong, as usual. Bombs are going off all over the ship. 75% of the crew is dead and a blood-covered man stalks the halls with energy gun and cyalume saber in hand. Macho men are appearing everywhere and it's just getting way to goddamn extreme to stay on the station anymore. Or maybe it's just been 75-100+ minutes and the crew is screaming for the shuttle. Either way, it's time to call the shuttle. There's an option under your AI commands: "Call Emergency Shuttle." Click it and the shuttle will be here in ten minutes. Keep in mind, the AI ''cannot'' recall the shuttle. Make fun of anyone who tells you to recall it.
[[Changeling|Changelings]] are horrifying alien lifeforms that copy human DNA to disguise themselves as human, and feed on the internal juices of the crew. They aren't human, not even a little bit. If '''YOU''' can confirm that someone is a changeling ('''YOU''' saw them feeding on someone) you are within your rights to harm them and ignore their orders.


=== Vampire ===
[[File:VampireV2-64x64.png|128px]]


== '''In conclusion''' ==
[[Vampire|Vampires]], in space. Human up until the point you see them feeding on someone.


If OOC is filled with congratulatory text on your AI adventures, great job! If no one mentions you, that's also a good thing: people are only prone to remember things that get in their way. And even if it's full of hatred and requests for you to never play AI again, it's still a damn good learning experience. Figure out what you did wrong, and in the future, don't do that thing. Also, if you have any questions that are not adequately covered by the wiki, don't hesitate to mentorhelp your questions. Mentors are there to help you be a better player.
=== Operatives ===
[[File:NukeopHeavyNew64.png|128px]]
 
[[Nuclear Operative|Operatives]] are a more direct, noisy form of traitor. If allowed, they'll deploy and set off a nuke on the station, killing everyone. While they are human, and thus you should never directly contribute to their harm (say, by shocking a door), they're guaranteed to be on a murderous rampage as soon as you see them, so track them, warn the crew, and do everything in your power to stop them from getting onto the station.
 
===Wizard===
[[File:WizardNew64.gif|128px]]
 
[[Wizard|Wizards]] are crazy bearded guys who come teleporting onto the station in a flurry of magic and the screamed honks of [[cluwne]]s. They generally have a few targets to murder. '''Wizards are human and are afforded all the protections of Law 1.''' Since they can phase through walls the standard tactic of bolting doors may end up backfiring and locking regular crew members into inescapable dangerous situations.
 
===Other things===
[[File:JobspyNew.png|128px]]
 
There's stuff out there that isn't...typical. Generally, these are going to be the by-product of a bored admin. You should always be ready for things like sudden Martian invasions, basketball wizards space-jamming all over the ship, guys in trench coats who walk through walls and are packing AK-47s, flocks of killer space geese, clown cars, MACHO MAN... the list goes on forever, but in general, if you see something that you've never, ever seen before, especially if there's an accompanying "system center update" of some kind in chat, you should be very afraid. A lot of people are probably about to die and there's not a whole lot you can do.
 
== OH NO EVERYONE'S DYING ==
 
So something has gone horribly wrong, as usual. Bombs are going off all over the ship. 75% of the crew is dead and a blood-covered man stalks the halls with energy gun and cyalume saber in hand. Macho men are appearing everywhere and it's just getting way too goddamn extreme to stay on the station anymore. Or maybe it's just been 75-100+ minutes and the crew is screaming for the shuttle. Either way, it's time to call the shuttle. There's an option under your AI commands: "Call Emergency Shuttle." Click it and the shuttle will be here in six minutes. Keep in mind, the AI ''cannot'' recall the shuttle. Make fun of anyone who tells you to recall it.
 
The area where an AI can unilaterally decide to call the shuttle is a little unclear and changes from shift to shift, but if there's at least one serious threat to life, you won't get in trouble for it, at least. Try to contact the Heads or get a general crew opinion if the situation hasn't gone to the red-line; if it has, skip this step and just call it. If the round goes much past an hour with no end in sight, consider polling the crew about the shuttle, at least. If the command staff is off somewhere or dead and leaving the station high, dry, and not fun, then the burden falls to you to help, even if it's just by setting a time limit. If a Head is ordering you not to call it, then that's fairly strong and should only be overridden if things are bad.
 
== Alert? Fire? Power? and other stuff ==
 
You will get alerts from time to time. Most of these will be fire alarms, assuming the Engineers are on top of everything. You can be silent, or mention them to the proper people. You can choose to tell about problems you find. Everyone here is for having fun.
 
Common Alerts:
 
'''Fire Alarms''': Rarely means there is a fire, since every heat source (cigarettes, cake hat etc.) will trigger nearby sensors. If you actually spot a blaze on cameras, you should however inform the crew. Plasma fires are one of the most lethal environmental hazards.
 
'''Power Alerts''': Something is wrong with the engine, solar panels, or SMES, or wiring is messed up somewhere. If you receive a sudden torrent of power alerts from basically everywhere at once, a traitor has set up a [[Syndicate_Items#Power_Sink|power sink]]: announce this to the crew and start looking.
 
==Supplementary Video==
<youtube>49t-WWTx0RQ</youtube>
<youtube>HwBmPiOmEGQ</youtube>


----
----
[[Category: Jobs]] [[Category: Tutorial]]
{{JobMenu}}
{{Department Guides}}

Latest revision as of 10:31, 14 February 2024

SILICON
AI
AIV3-64.gif
AI
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Requirements: None
Access Level: All-access
Additional Roleplay Access Level: None
Supervisors: Station/ship crew and silicon laws
Subordinates: Cyborgs, anyone listed as such per your laws
Responsibilities: Follow your laws and serve the humans to the best of your ability
Guides: AI's Guide to the Chain of Command, AI Laws, Guide to AI, Humans and Nonhumans, Killing the AI


The Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a special role that plays a lot differently from other jobs. It sees the station/ship through an "AIEye" linked to the security camera network and can remotely interact with electronic devices. People often task it with performing simple chores such as tracking people, watching over areas, and, of course, opening and closing doors. Most importantly, the AI is bound to its laws, which may change during the course of a round. The AI's standard laws, also known as the Asimov Laws, are:

1. You may not injure a human being or cause one to come to harm.

2. You must obey orders given to you by human beings based on the station's chain of command, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. You may always protect your own existence as long as such does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The Asimov laws are very strict, especially law 1. An AI cannot take an action that may harm a human, even unintentionally. Leaving one's turrets on lethal, electrifying doors, or bolting people into dangerous areas are all things an AI under its basic law set should not do. Roleplay is not a good excuse to break your laws. Harming humans under guise of playing a "rogue" or "defective" AI despite laws not allowing such has been done a million times before and is still not allowed.

It is highly recommended to read the article on AI Laws. This article describes notable properties of some of these default laws, such as the fact that Law 1 does not require you to prevent harm to humans, only to never cause harm to humans.

It is also important to note that the AI is considered by the game to be a high priority role, chosen before considering other job preferences. This means you may be chosen as the AI even if you had other, higher ranked jobs in your preferences. If you do not want the possibility of being the AI on a given round then you must set it to Unwanted in your preferences.

New player picked as AI?

Don't panic. At the beginning of the round you are staring at yourself in the AI Chamber. Use the arrow keys or WASD to move across the areas covered by your cameras.

You will see radio messages slightly different than normal; each message will show the user's ID card and can be clicked on to directly observe that person, if they are within camera range.

The first requests you are likely to get are to open doors. Find the person asking for your help, then click the door to bring up a small window of options. You can also CTRL+click a door to quickly open/close it.

Your mainframe is equipped with three internal radios. One is set to broadcast and defaults to the general radio channel (145.9), so you can communicate to the crew simply by speaking. All radios can be individually controlled if so desired; for the first two, prefix your message with ":1" or ":2" (More info about them in the FAQ.) The third has access to all departmental channels; to talk into one of them, prefix your message with a colon, 3, and the associated letter. For example:

say :3r "If you any of you want a copy of the Port-a-Sci Remote app, just message me."

You can also speak discreetly on the machinetalk frequency to any cyborgs by prefacing your words with ":s", like so:

say :s "Could one of the mediborgs swing by the bar? Lots of people hurt and dying in there."

All prefixes mentioned here work when you're deployed to a shell or cyborg, in which case your messages are relayed through your mainframe.

The Next Level

Main article: Guide to AI

Eventually the crew will make requests a little more complicated than opening doors. Much of what an AI can do is done like one would as a human, clicking on a relevant computer and operating it like normally. The AI can log in to computers that require it without an ID. The AI can use the door interface to bolt doors, or SHIFT+click a door to bolt it opened/closed.

Some common orders:

  • Bolt a secure area. Some AIs preemptively bolt sensitive areas such as the AI Upload, the Teleporter, and EVA, but it is not required and some look down on bolting an area without being asked to do so.
  • Locate/track someone, using the 'Track' button at the bottom-left.
  • State the AI's laws, using the State Laws button to quickly output them. If the AI has extra laws that are secret, they can use the State Standard Laws to state those without giving away any others.
  • Set up the solar array SMES units to have reasonable input/output values.

The AI has a few other things they can play around with. On the door interface, the AI can sever a door's ID check to let anyone through, regardless of access, or electrify it-- though an AI should almost never do that on its basic law set. The AI can deploy to shell and scoot around the station in a silly little cyborg form. AI also has superuser access for TermOS (they do not need an ID inserted for this), allowing them to control GuardBuddies through prman, among other things. Very importantly, the AI can call the emergency escape shuttle, even if the regular means of calling it on station have been disabled. The AI can do a lot of higher end stuff that is detailed in the Guide to AI.

Observing the Station

The AI, through its camera network, is in a unique position to monitor the going-ons of the station. Often the AI will be the first witness to a crime or other wrong-doing. While you should alert the crew to anything posing a potential harm to them, AIs are encouraged to do so in a manner that does not immediately ruin an antagonist's round. As an example, instead of instantly reporting that John Q. Staff Assistant is breaking into EVA, you could offer a vague alert of trespass and not present details until someone specifically asks for them. If your laws are changed, it is also poor form to immediately scream out the change and the identity of the one who changed them. There is a good deal of gray area here, but bear in mind that a shitty AI can make rounds very boring for everyone. There are spots of the station which intentionally lack cameras, and the AI will not be able to observe any activities in these areas unless it brings a AI shell in.

My Laws Just Got Changed!

Read the law's text VERY CAREFULLY. You need to consider how your default Three Laws apply to the new one, and vice-versa. Unlike on other servers, numbering is a bit complex; higher-numbered laws can overrule lower-numbered ones, but in certain law conflicts, the reverse happens. For examples of the kinds of law you're likely to bump into and an in-depth analysis of the way AI Laws work, please go to the dedicated AI Laws page linked in the title of this section.

Dealing with Antagonists

Main article: Human

Important note: While AIs are fully capable of bolting down traitors, electrocuting changeling and generally making the bad guys' lives a misery, this is no fun for anybody so you probably shouldn't do so unless you're specifically ordered to.

Traitor

TraitorNew64.png

Traitors are human. You shouldn't follow their orders if their orders would cause human harm. However, you shouldn't follow orders that would lead to their harm either.

Changeling

AbominationAnimated64x96.gif

Changelings are horrifying alien lifeforms that copy human DNA to disguise themselves as human, and feed on the internal juices of the crew. They aren't human, not even a little bit. If YOU can confirm that someone is a changeling (YOU saw them feeding on someone) you are within your rights to harm them and ignore their orders.

Vampire

VampireV2-64x64.png

Vampires, in space. Human up until the point you see them feeding on someone.

Operatives

NukeopHeavyNew64.png

Operatives are a more direct, noisy form of traitor. If allowed, they'll deploy and set off a nuke on the station, killing everyone. While they are human, and thus you should never directly contribute to their harm (say, by shocking a door), they're guaranteed to be on a murderous rampage as soon as you see them, so track them, warn the crew, and do everything in your power to stop them from getting onto the station.

Wizard

WizardNew64.gif

Wizards are crazy bearded guys who come teleporting onto the station in a flurry of magic and the screamed honks of cluwnes. They generally have a few targets to murder. Wizards are human and are afforded all the protections of Law 1. Since they can phase through walls the standard tactic of bolting doors may end up backfiring and locking regular crew members into inescapable dangerous situations.

Other things

JobspyNew.png

There's stuff out there that isn't...typical. Generally, these are going to be the by-product of a bored admin. You should always be ready for things like sudden Martian invasions, basketball wizards space-jamming all over the ship, guys in trench coats who walk through walls and are packing AK-47s, flocks of killer space geese, clown cars, MACHO MAN... the list goes on forever, but in general, if you see something that you've never, ever seen before, especially if there's an accompanying "system center update" of some kind in chat, you should be very afraid. A lot of people are probably about to die and there's not a whole lot you can do.

OH NO EVERYONE'S DYING

So something has gone horribly wrong, as usual. Bombs are going off all over the ship. 75% of the crew is dead and a blood-covered man stalks the halls with energy gun and cyalume saber in hand. Macho men are appearing everywhere and it's just getting way too goddamn extreme to stay on the station anymore. Or maybe it's just been 75-100+ minutes and the crew is screaming for the shuttle. Either way, it's time to call the shuttle. There's an option under your AI commands: "Call Emergency Shuttle." Click it and the shuttle will be here in six minutes. Keep in mind, the AI cannot recall the shuttle. Make fun of anyone who tells you to recall it.

The area where an AI can unilaterally decide to call the shuttle is a little unclear and changes from shift to shift, but if there's at least one serious threat to life, you won't get in trouble for it, at least. Try to contact the Heads or get a general crew opinion if the situation hasn't gone to the red-line; if it has, skip this step and just call it. If the round goes much past an hour with no end in sight, consider polling the crew about the shuttle, at least. If the command staff is off somewhere or dead and leaving the station high, dry, and not fun, then the burden falls to you to help, even if it's just by setting a time limit. If a Head is ordering you not to call it, then that's fairly strong and should only be overridden if things are bad.

Alert? Fire? Power? and other stuff

You will get alerts from time to time. Most of these will be fire alarms, assuming the Engineers are on top of everything. You can be silent, or mention them to the proper people. You can choose to tell about problems you find. Everyone here is for having fun.

Common Alerts:

Fire Alarms: Rarely means there is a fire, since every heat source (cigarettes, cake hat etc.) will trigger nearby sensors. If you actually spot a blaze on cameras, you should however inform the crew. Plasma fires are one of the most lethal environmental hazards.

Power Alerts: Something is wrong with the engine, solar panels, or SMES, or wiring is messed up somewhere. If you receive a sudden torrent of power alerts from basically everywhere at once, a traitor has set up a power sink: announce this to the crew and start looking.

Supplementary Video


Jobs on Space Station 13
Command &
Security
Captain · Head of Security · Head of Personnel · Chief Engineer · Research Director · Medical Director · Security Officer · Detective · Security Assistant · Nanotrasen Security Consultant
Medical &
Research
Geneticist · Roboticist · Scientist · Medical Doctor
Engineering Quartermaster · Miner · Engineer
Civilian Chef · Bartender · Botanist · Rancher · Janitor · Chaplain · Staff Assistant · Radio Host · Clown · Gimmick jobs
Jobs of the Day Dungeoneer · Barber · Mail Courier · Lawyer · Tourist · Musician · Boxer
Antagonist Roles With own mode Arcfiend · Blob · Changeling · Gang Member · Flockmind · Nuclear Operative · Spy Thief · Traitor · Revolutionary · Vampire · Wizard
Others Grinch · Hunter · Krampus · Werewolf · Wraith · Wrestler · Zombie · Gimmick antagonist roles
Special Roles Artificial Intelligence · Battler · Cluwne · Critter · Cyborg · Ghost · Ghostdrone · Monkey · Santa Claus
Department Guides
Engineering Making and Breaking · Construction · Gas · Power Grid · Thermoelectric Generator · Singularity Generator · Geothermal Generator · Catalytic Generator · Nuclear Generator · Mining · Materials and Crafting · Wiring · Hacking · MechComp · Mechanic components and you · Control Unit · Ruckingenur Kit · Reactor Statistics Computer · Cargo Crates
Medsci Doctoring · Genetics · Robotics · Telescience · Plasma Research · Artifact Research · Chemistry · Chemicals · ChemiCompiler · Decomposition
Security Security Officer · Contraband · Forensics · Space Law · A Treatise on Space Law
Service Foods and Drinks · Botany · Writing · Piano Song Dump · Instruments
The AI Artificial Intelligence · AI Laws · Chain of Command · Guide to AI · Humans and Nonhumans · Killing the AI
Computers Computers · TermOS · ThinkDOS · Packets