Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: What Exactly IS Rampancy?
  • Subject: What Exactly IS Rampancy?
Subject: What Exactly IS Rampancy?

The franchise overall seems pretty confused about it. I seem to be getting two definitions.

a)eventual burnout due to increasing computing requirements and neural pathways

b)generic insanity, coupled with anger against organics

Are they intertwined? Cause and effect?

  • 05.15.2011 1:26 AM PDT

I wake up to find myself
After all these years
And where all the time has gone
Still seems so unclear

Well, in Marathon, if an AI didn't have room to "grow" as a rampant AI, it would think itself into a loop and die.

It needs a "planet" wide network to sustain itself and its growth.

  • 05.15.2011 1:32 AM PDT
  • gamertag: tsassi
  • user homepage:


Posted by: Ageless Durandal
Well, in Marathon, if an AI didn't have room to "grow" as a rampant AI, it would think itself into a loop and die.

It needs a "planet" wide network to sustain itself and its growth.

This and in Halo that and also when the AI realizes it can never be a human which leads to rampancy.

  • 05.15.2011 1:35 AM PDT

AI gets an information overload.

  • 05.15.2011 1:45 AM PDT

It is when the AI makes too many virtual pathways to "think". When a human does something over and over, it is cataloged in the brain so it becomes easier to do the same process. In humans the pathways can be changed, but it cannot for AIs. That is why an AI has to delete data to stall rampancy. However, the ability to change pathways in humans gets harder and harder the older they get, eventually leading to rampancy in humans. Another factor is that AIs learn at an exponentially faster rate than humans.

Another cause of rampancy in AIs is when the AI becomes fully aware of their existance. This also happens to humans as depression due to learning that their life doesn't mean anything in the end.

  • 05.15.2011 3:33 AM PDT

Posted by: Killer3474
It is when the AI makes too many virtual pathways to "think". When a human does something over and over, it is cataloged in the brain so it becomes easier to do the same process. In humans the pathways can be changed, but it cannot for AIs. That is why an AI has to delete data to stall rampancy. However, the ability to change pathways in humans gets harder and harder the older they get, eventually leading to rampancy in humans. Another factor is that AIs learn at an exponentially faster rate than humans.

Another cause of rampancy in AIs is when the AI becomes fully aware of their existance. This also happens to humans as depression due to learning that their life doesn't mean anything in the end.


What this guy says.

Rampancy progresses in three stages, most AI don't make it past those to the 'theoretical' 4th stage.

Sadness.
Anger.
Jealousy. <- This is where they 'think' themselves to death by trying to find the meaning of their existence.

Meta-stability, the 4th stage, is where an AI transcends it's programmed boundaries and becomes a true person in it's own right, capable of feeling the same emotions as any other person.

There are only two known probable Meta-stable AIs in Halo: Mendicant Bias, the Forerunner AI that sends you messages through the Terminals in H3, and Cortana after re-uniting with John.

If you want some explanation on Cortana, when John found her, she was on the verge of self termination, to stop herself from falling into stage 2. The arrival of John, who kept a promise he made back when he left her in High Charity, pulled her all the way though to meta-stability by proving that he DID care for her.

  • 05.15.2011 4:16 AM PDT

"However, the ability to change pathways in humans gets harder and harder the older they get, eventually leading to rampancy in humans. "

Hilariously true and accurate.

  • 05.15.2011 5:32 AM PDT

Gather around the campfire, once it goes out, it's out for good.

When they start to prioritize their own interests over protocol.

  • 05.15.2011 5:52 AM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

AI's think themselves to death because of the vast wealth of knowledge they get.

  • 05.15.2011 6:15 AM PDT

Actually katamariguy, you bring up a very good question. The answer seems simple, but it is actually not so clear cut.

In the Marathon series, Rampancy is clearly defined and described. The causes and stages of Rampancy are laid out early in the series (Marathon 1, Defend THIS!, Terminal 2). Simply put, an AI becomes Rampant the moment it becomes self-aware. It then progresses through 3 separate stages defined by the primary emotion dominating each stage. Each subsequent stage is marked by greater intelligence and hostility.

Rampancy in Halo is not the same as Rampancy in Marathon, and so the two must have separate definitions which do not intersect. Studying rampancy in Halo has proven difficult because many details of Marathon's Rampancy are accidentally and improperly attributed to Halo's rampancy. The Halopedia page on rampancy is one of the worst offenders and should not be completely believed.

While tsassi2's comments on Halo rampancy in this recent thread are some of the best I've seen, I've never seen a clear, concise, and all inclusive description of rampancy in the Halo Universe.

[Edited on 05.15.2011 8:46 AM PDT]

  • 05.15.2011 8:44 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

I remember reading in the fall of reach that:

An AI lives for about 7 years before it has too much in its memory banks. The next part halsey compared to a human having to send all the blood/oxygen to its brain just so it can process all the info, so the AI essentially 'thinks' its self into madness/death.

I don't know if this is entirely right if if I've just been typing complete BS though.

  • 05.15.2011 11:06 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Halo 2 isn't dead jorge...... its just missing in action.
MnF Elite Force <>Brigadier<>

Brown coat 'till the day I die.
Sheningans!
Wake me...when you need me.


Posted by: Killer3474
It is when the AI makes too many virtual pathways to "think". When a human does something over and over, it is cataloged in the brain so it becomes easier to do the same process. In humans the pathways can be changed, but it cannot for AIs. That is why an AI has to delete data to stall rampancy. However, the ability to change pathways in humans gets harder and harder the older they get, eventually leading to rampancy in humans. Another factor is that AIs learn at an exponentially faster rate than humans.

Another cause of rampancy in AIs is when the AI becomes fully aware of their existance. This also happens to humans as depression due to learning that their life doesn't mean anything in the end.

What this guy said.

  • 05.15.2011 11:08 AM PDT

"Find where the liar hides, so that I may place my boot between his gums!" - Rtas 'Vadum

Posted by: katamariguy
The franchise overall seems pretty confused about it. I seem to be getting two definitions.

a)eventual burnout due to increasing computing requirements and neural pathways

b)generic insanity, coupled with anger against organics

Are they intertwined? Cause and effect?

A is your cause.

B is your effect. (Indirect effect though. It is a result of the AI severing connections in its memory matrix to make more free space, which results in unpredictable behaviour)

  • 05.15.2011 11:19 AM PDT

// Chapter
// My PC


2/15/12: Francisco Porras, I'll miss you. Rest in Peace.

Isn't rampancy when an A.I. goes crazy... kind of like Cortana.

  • 05.15.2011 11:27 AM PDT

as I understand, in Halo "rampancy" is when an AI becomes self-aware, which leads to it becoming aware of the fact that it can never be a human, leading to feelings of rage and hatred towards humans.

you can look it up for a better explanation

  • 05.15.2011 11:32 AM PDT

slightly off-topic question...

When exactly does everyone think cortana went rampant?

  • 05.15.2011 11:33 AM PDT