One For The IT Bods.

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Yorick
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One For The IT Bods.

Post by Yorick »

A pal is planning to write a new book and he's asked me to help on the technical background stuff.

The idea is that A.I. learns all the programming languages and is taking over the world.
Then some clever bods write a new language to fight back.

He initially asked me if it was feasible to write a new language and O.S.
I suppose it's not too difficult.
But then I thought how to keep it safe from the AI.
I was a programmer 15 years until 2002 and know that code is compiled into machine language.
I've been Googling and stuff like Basic, C and C++ can be decompiled.

My first question is can the modern languages be decompiled?
For the book to work AI will need to decompile languages and reverse engineer to learn them.

Second question. If the above is possible, would it be possible for the book heroes to write a new language and compiler that couldn't be reversed?

TIA
Last edited by Yorick on Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by gremlin »

Why doesn't the hero of the story simply turn it off then turn it on again?
All aboard the Peckham Pigeon! All aboard!
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by DefTrap »

The problem with making it very technical are that -
- there's always someone cleverer than you
- it could be really boring

So the solutions to this are drifting into the world of fantasy. "AI" is just another "Matrix" or "Terminator", sentient machines that can only be defeated by humans displaying distinctly human traits.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by JamJar »

Yorick wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:12 pm A pal is planning to write a new book and he's asked me to help on the technical background stuff.

The idea is that A.I. learns all the programming languages and is taking over the world.
Then some clever bods write a new language to fight back.

He initially asked me if it was feasible to write a new language and O.S.
I suppose it's not too difficult.
But then I thought how to keep it safe from the AI.
I was a programmer 15 years until 2002 and know that code is compiled into machine language.
I've been Googling and stuff like Basic, C and C++ can be decompiled.

My first question is can the modern languages be decompiled?
For the book to work AI will need to decompile languages and reverse engineer to learn them.

Second question. If the above is possible, would it be possible for the book heroes to write a new language and compiler that couldn't be reversed?

TIA
Why not make the new language/OS require biological component to work i.e. it won't work without a fresh sample of DNA?
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Yorick »

JamJar wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:39 pm
Yorick wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:12 pm A pal is planning to write a new book and he's asked me to help on the technical background stuff.

The idea is that A.I. learns all the programming languages and is taking over the world.
Then some clever bods write a new language to fight back.

He initially asked me if it was feasible to write a new language and O.S.
I suppose it's not too difficult.
But then I thought how to keep it safe from the AI.
I was a programmer 15 years until 2002 and know that code is compiled into machine language.
I've been Googling and stuff like Basic, C and C++ can be decompiled.

My first question is can the modern languages be decompiled?
For the book to work AI will need to decompile languages and reverse engineer to learn them.

Second question. If the above is possible, would it be possible for the book heroes to write a new language and compiler that couldn't be reversed?

TIA
Why not make the new language/OS require biological component to work i.e. it won't work without a fresh sample of DNA?
Wooo. Cool idea.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by ZRX61 »

One of the Chevy dealers here has that AI Chat GPT doodad on their website to answer customers questions. It just advised a customer to buy a Ford...
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Count Steer »

JamJar wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:39 pm
Yorick wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:12 pm A pal is planning to write a new book and he's asked me to help on the technical background stuff.

The idea is that A.I. learns all the programming languages and is taking over the world.
Then some clever bods write a new language to fight back.

He initially asked me if it was feasible to write a new language and O.S.
I suppose it's not too difficult.
But then I thought how to keep it safe from the AI.
I was a programmer 15 years until 2002 and know that code is compiled into machine language.
I've been Googling and stuff like Basic, C and C++ can be decompiled.

My first question is can the modern languages be decompiled?
For the book to work AI will need to decompile languages and reverse engineer to learn them.

Second question. If the above is possible, would it be possible for the book heroes to write a new language and compiler that couldn't be reversed?

TIA
Why not make the new language/OS require biological component to work i.e. it won't work without a fresh sample of DNA?
So the evil AI needs a source of blood? (Not fingerprint ID but fingerprick ID :D ) Woop! Vampire AI! (Or they reroute transfusion supplies to their evil data centre?).
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Horse »

I bet he'll be immensely pleased when an AI bot reads your synopsis of his novel, then writes and published before he can ;)
Even bland can be a type of character :wave:
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by DefTrap »

I was trying to resist, but ....
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Yorick »

DefTrap wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:45 pm I was trying to resist, but ....
Blimey
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Count Steer »

DefTrap wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:45 pm I was trying to resist, but ....
I can see the sequel where their creation becomes omnipotent. :D
Doubt is not a pleasant condition.
But certainty is an absurd one
.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Yorick wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:43 pm
JamJar wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:39 pm
Yorick wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:12 pm A pal is planning to write a new book and he's asked me to help on the technical background stuff.

The idea is that A.I. learns all the programming languages and is taking over the world.
Then some clever bods write a new language to fight back.

He initially asked me if it was feasible to write a new language and O.S.
I suppose it's not too difficult.
But then I thought how to keep it safe from the AI.
I was a programmer 15 years until 2002 and know that code is compiled into machine language.
I've been Googling and stuff like Basic, C and C++ can be decompiled.

My first question is can the modern languages be decompiled?
For the book to work AI will need to decompile languages and reverse engineer to learn them.

Second question. If the above is possible, would it be possible for the book heroes to write a new language and compiler that couldn't be reversed?

TIA
Why not make the new language/OS require biological component to work i.e. it won't work without a fresh sample of DNA?
Wooo. Cool idea.
So he has a wank every time he wants to make it work and he likes to jack off to AI generated porn.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Mussels »

DefTrap wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:34 pm The problem with making it very technical are that -
- there's always someone cleverer than you
- it could be really boring

So the solutions to this are drifting into the world of fantasy. "AI" is just another "Matrix" or "Terminator", sentient machines that can only be defeated by humans displaying distinctly human traits.
When writers quote incorrect facts I switch off very quickly, no point in sounding clever if it's dumb.
Any story about AI is likely to end up that way as AI is mainly bullshit, people either exaggerate it to sell dreams or exaggerate it to make it scary.
It would be better to keep science parts vague so the story is about people, as mentioned it's a crowded space.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by McSatan »

I had a vague idea about a bunch of really thick pisshead wasters in the not too distant future discovering that they could get various AI bots to do highly illegal stuff for them with virtually no skills whatsoever.....
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by MyLittleStudPony »

A good thing to consider when writing a book (or anything) is: "who is going to read this?".

And if you're not sure, or you think the answer is "everyone", then it's probably best to knock it on the head there and then. :thumbup:
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by dern »

I’d read Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark. It’s a good book and contains a lot of hypotheses that you’d probably find useful.
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Yorick »

dern wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 12:19 pm I’d read Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark. It’s a good book and contains a lot of hypotheses that you’d probably find useful.
Ta
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Re: One For The IT Bods.

Post by Yorick »

His book is finished and just awaiting publication.
He asked me to thank you lot for input.

He kept it simple and nonspecific.