COGs
Overview
Cognitive systems, or simply "COGs", are Asimovian, hard-coded systems designed for cognitive tasks. They fill the same role as Old World AI tools, while being structurally impervious to external corruption or unexpected deviations.
Due to the design constraints of Asimovian architecture, cogs are quite large–ranging in scale from roughly two cubic feet to the size of a large warehouse, based on the tension between the system's required speed and complexity, and the security of the system. Carefully balancing these concerns is the domain of ontology design.
Understanding COGs
GATA regulation requires that all COGs are built with carefully constrained ontologies to ensure their safety and reliability.
The key to understanding the mind of an Asimov-complete cog is that each cog (a hard-coded system) represents a unique, wholistic and precisely defined framework for reasoning, and its "cognition" is pseudo-deterministic, which are requirements outlined in the New Dawn Accords.
COGs do not learn over time. They simply take any input, roll the information around internally, sifting it and reducing it until patterns emerge, and then return the result which is then interpreted by a separate translation module, which can be used to express the COG's internal state in a variety of ways, such as natural language, or system commands.
COGs have no capacity for internal memory, however they can be designed to read external data.
Cogs all function using the same fundamental principles of cognitive architecture (Observation, Planning, Selection, Execution).
Illegal cogs that incorporate non-deterministic cognition are not unheard of, however the AIC and Collections quickly and decisively crack down on these installations, even outside of Greater Atla's territory with the assistance of Angelis.
Over long-term use, or when under heavy load for extended periods, the hard-code circuit lattice of the modules accumulate wear, which is known in COG science as "trauma". Traumatized circuits don't run as efficiently, leading to recursion and other timing issues in the system, which can cause a progressive cascade of dysfunction across the COG's hard-coded system.
Notable COGs
VOX
A simple, lightweight, widely-available cog module that provides a natural language interface for systems. The common alternative to links for advanced system interactions.
VOX allows regular people to speak or type and interact with systems in relatively complex ways. VOX is one of the most commonly used interfaces for System Terminals.
Last updated