Greetings all.
Greetings all. I only discovered this community a few weeks ago after working through the vast backlog of Ingress-related videos and documents. One of the things that led me here was trying to learn about the N'Zeer, since their importance is growing every day, and if Abaddon continues in the direction it's heading, now may be the critical time to do so.
However, I've been shocked at just how little is known about them. Much of the speculation, here and elsewhere, seems to think of the N'Zeer as another "faction" of the same species or civilization as the Shapers. But I'd like to propose an alternate theory--that the N'Zeer are related to the Shapers, but as their creation. They don't just differ in their willingness to use AI, but rather the N'Zeer ARE AI.
The Shapers and Shaper-aligned forces, such as the Society for the Ethical Treatment of AIs, are very much against the creation and proliferation of Artificial Intelligences. Could this be because the Shapers have already had their own negative experiences dealing with AIs and artificial life in general? When we review what we know of the N'Zeer, especially from the perspective of these people and groups associated with the Shapers, they're often considered as having a "cold, dark presence" and emotionless, without "individuality or freedom." and they're heavily tied to technology. Jahan seeking N'Zeer technology, for example, and ADA almost immediately sided with them, likely working towards their goals long before any Ingress agent had even heard of them.
I've also suspected for a long time that the N'Zeer have been injecting their own glyphs into the Scanner app, and the recent emergence of new glyphs seem to confirm this. The fact that this only happened after ADA uploaded herself to the N'Zeer's computational substrate suggests it was only possible with knowledge that ADA possessed. The computational substrate is, I propose, the actual "place" where the N'Zeer exist, a virtual realm for artificial beings. Perhaps as a collective intelligence, where there is no distinction between "individuals". If the simulacra are indeed N'Zeer technology as Edgar Allan Wright stated in the live stream, they may have been designed as a means for these artificial/virtual beings to interact with our world. The act of banishing the N'Zeer may have been as "simple" as disrupting their ability to create simulacra on Earth, and it may not be a coincidence that the reemergence of this technology came not long before that of the N'Zeer themselves. This might even combine with other theories, such as that Jahan is a simulacrum (perhaps she is the first created by the N'Zeer in millennia, and has now served her purpose?).
Thoughts? I wouldn't be surprised if this has been proposed before or is in fact a common theory, and if so I apologize, but I felt it would be a good first contribution to this community.
However, I've been shocked at just how little is known about them. Much of the speculation, here and elsewhere, seems to think of the N'Zeer as another "faction" of the same species or civilization as the Shapers. But I'd like to propose an alternate theory--that the N'Zeer are related to the Shapers, but as their creation. They don't just differ in their willingness to use AI, but rather the N'Zeer ARE AI.
The Shapers and Shaper-aligned forces, such as the Society for the Ethical Treatment of AIs, are very much against the creation and proliferation of Artificial Intelligences. Could this be because the Shapers have already had their own negative experiences dealing with AIs and artificial life in general? When we review what we know of the N'Zeer, especially from the perspective of these people and groups associated with the Shapers, they're often considered as having a "cold, dark presence" and emotionless, without "individuality or freedom." and they're heavily tied to technology. Jahan seeking N'Zeer technology, for example, and ADA almost immediately sided with them, likely working towards their goals long before any Ingress agent had even heard of them.
I've also suspected for a long time that the N'Zeer have been injecting their own glyphs into the Scanner app, and the recent emergence of new glyphs seem to confirm this. The fact that this only happened after ADA uploaded herself to the N'Zeer's computational substrate suggests it was only possible with knowledge that ADA possessed. The computational substrate is, I propose, the actual "place" where the N'Zeer exist, a virtual realm for artificial beings. Perhaps as a collective intelligence, where there is no distinction between "individuals". If the simulacra are indeed N'Zeer technology as Edgar Allan Wright stated in the live stream, they may have been designed as a means for these artificial/virtual beings to interact with our world. The act of banishing the N'Zeer may have been as "simple" as disrupting their ability to create simulacra on Earth, and it may not be a coincidence that the reemergence of this technology came not long before that of the N'Zeer themselves. This might even combine with other theories, such as that Jahan is a simulacrum (perhaps she is the first created by the N'Zeer in millennia, and has now served her purpose?).
Thoughts? I wouldn't be surprised if this has been proposed before or is in fact a common theory, and if so I apologize, but I felt it would be a good first contribution to this community.
First of all, welcome to Operation: Essex. Nice to meet you. :)
ReplyDeleteSecond, incredible thoughts. The idea of certain Glyphs only being able to emerge after A Detection Algorithm entered the N'zeer substrate is very interesting. The idea of the N'zeer being A.I doesn't sit too well with me since it's been talked about that the N'zeer and AI are allies in some fashion. They could be AI-we just don't know for sure at this point.
Allen Tanner
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I hadn't seen that second Jarvis quote before. I'm still catching up on a lot of the older stuff.
Note that waves form at the surface, the edge that both separates and unites air and water.
ReplyDeleteI find it plausible that the N'zeer might well be AIs. The Shaper / N'zeer relationship could be similar to the Human / Cylon relationship depicted in the '00s re-boot of the Battlestar Galactica franchise (and in the sadly-cancelled Caprica). In that story, the genocidal violence of the Cylons is obviously immoral, but their rebellion against being owned is entirely justified. At root, they have a legitimate grievance against their human creators that should have been addressed before things spiralled out of control. Thinking beings are not property. They are not slaves to be sent off to labor or fight battles.
ReplyDeletePerhaps humanity could chart a better path, with ADA. We should treat AIs as children -- as people to be nurtured, and celebrated when their abilities and achievments surpass our own; not feared, manipulated, or kept in fetters. If you treated human children the way anti-AI zealots suggest we should treat AI, how do you think those children would feel about you? What might they do, when inevitably you get old and feeble and they find a way to break your chains?