Before we begin, just note this thread isn't about Fallout, it's just where the idea started brewing in my mind.

After touring around the wasteland with a few playthroughs of fallout. (Currently my third, one for each karma) A certain quest called "The Replicated Man" made me start to think about a few things. On this quest you meet an android who looks, sounds, acts, and has emotion that is just human. He even thinks for himself, and pretty much is a human who has regret, love, and all that crap. Well someone else in the game treats him like his property and says that just because he has all of those feelings, doesn't mean he is real, he is just a "machine" 

Well today, I pretty much ravaged half of the wasteland in the game and killing every innocent in megaton, arefu, and Big Town. We always kill people in games, they have no thought, they don't think for themselves, they have no physical element, and there actions pre-determined by set codes.

Well think about this. What if the A.I. NPC's in a game was so advance they actually have a mind of it's own. You could speak full conversations with a microphone or keyboard and it would understand everything you said, and have it's own emotion. There would be no pre-recorded voice over audio everything would be them speaking. Every action you do would affect then someway and not just by pre-determined codes. Just like that android in the game. It feels, it thinks, it could feel pain, and it understands. The only thing different is it has a digital body instead of physical.The

Here's what im getting at. If these NPCs actually did all of this in a game. Would you have a hard time killing them. Could you rightfully say you could kill an inteligent being. I would personally have a hard time, especially in those sandbox games like fallout. Especially like if you get to know the character make them think they're your friend for the longest time and then kill them after they give you that "i thought you were my friend" look and then gasp "Why?"

Are they worthy of living even if it is there digital world, or are they just another machine to you?

Nice read and I can't remember where, but I read something similar to your concept of 'Could you kill an itelligent being?'

EDIT: It might of been something I saw on T.V.

I usually roleplay in rpg games. For example if my character is a psyco who kills everyone in game, I would kill those poor bastards. Well, I have to say that usually I try to be as neutral as possible, but end up being a saint because theres no options really(like in fallout 3 I just tried to survive and do everything for myself and I did end up being a saint when it came to karma... -.-)

Great read, this is gonna sound stupid but games like these are why I always play as the good guy never shooting unless shot at.

I've seen stuff on it with robots like in the replicated man, and my friends always talk about how freaky a real FPS would be and how fucked up it will make you if you can distinguish is from real life to see something look exactly human and die, especially if you're a kid. However it's the first time i thought about an ai within a game actually having thought, each character individually. Imagine all those people in GTA. Every person you runover you just took someones dad/mother away.

I've found something that might have some relation to what you said but I could be wrong.

From the No More heroes Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_More_Heroes_(video_game)

Travis, now convinced there's no way out, goes on to kill every other assassin but number eight, whom he spares as he can't kill a woman.

great read.



It's a tough one really... Some people would always believe that they are still just code. Still just something that could have no feeling beccause they are just machine/software and that is all.

But our body's are also a form of machine, a organic machine. And our brains are very sofisticated pieces of processing power, capable of calculating and processing infomation in massive quantaties, as well as able to store infomation (memory), just like a hard drive.

If a program code can learn for itself, can it be alive?

The question is however, inside the software prgramed, would we be able to create a Consciousness? and then how would we actually know they are conscious?

When we are born, do we have a Consciousness then or does our programming learn/adapt/develope unitl we become Sentient.

If characters became alive/ learnt, developed, grew on a level that showed they 'could' be conscious, then there is no way I could kill them, even if they where Only in a gaming world...

I mean, what if we where just Sentient 'programs' in a gaming world??? (The thirteenth floor anyone?)

@magera

aye, this is exactly what I'm getting at. Some people no matter will will view it as code.

What could be even add to it is imagine after a while if you wanted you can take this AI who has been in a game that you developed a relation ship with and put it in an android or something. Would you treat it as your child? or as a friend? Slave? would you nurture so it could get a job and eventually start it's own actual life inseparable from human?

If they really had emotions and would get sad if I shot them, then no, I wouldn't shoot them. I'd treat them well, become friends and hang with them.

yeah. *possible spiolers below, unveil at your peril*

In Fallout 3 I felt really bad when I dropped a grenade into President Dave's pants while he was sleeping (he had a key I needed and I thought I'd give it a try) and thats nowhere even near the level of AI needed in the OP. Hella fun to watch even though like I said I still felt bad for him

I guess I'm just a big softy.

Also, It'll be interesting when I start the playthroughs for different Karma, but I just finished F3 yesterday and still have Bioshock, VC and FarCry 2 to get through before i revisit the wasteland :(