Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (人工知能) (AI for short) refers to intelligence devised for and demonstrated by machinery and electronic systems as opposed to humans and other life-forms. The term is used both for the capability within systems and for individual entities.

AI is present throughout the world of science, both outside and inside Academy City, to a higher degree in the latter with greater levels of automation and higher general capabilities.

Principles
The capabilities of an AI depend on its level of development and the processes that went into it, as well as the intended functions it was designed to perform. Some may be fairly simplistic and others may have a high level of information processing capability, though not have intelligence in the same way as a sentient human being. A long-held goal in the field and a long-envisioned idea in science fiction is the development of, but very few AIs in the series have been shown to have reached that level.

Some AIs are meant to operate devices autonomously, while others support human operators in doing so. In the development of AIs, the 'thinking' and 'creative' processes might be designed and refined during the pre-release development process, while others are taught over time after implementation - sometimes through the inputs of its users.

AI is utilized on and can be found on a variety of devices besides computers, portable electronic devices, and their associated systems, networks and servers, particularly inside Academy City. Their usage extends from household appliances such as washing machines and ovens, to autonomous robots and self-driving vehicles,  to Powered Suits and military weapons (such as Academy City's HsPS-15 and HsAFH-11) - with Academy City's heavily automated military making extensive use of AI technology.

Some AIs are built onto a system and cannot be easily moved, while other programs can be transferred between and downloaded onto devices. Examples of the latter include American IT company Grapple's commercially distributed virtual assistant Seri,  and Aneri, distributed in Academy City and a downgraded version of Reading Thoth 78, which is an example of the former - a parallel processing device built into the Windowless Building.

There are a number of rumors and urban legends in Academy City connected to AI, including a false rumor of the dark side intermediary Spider Queen being an AI with no real form, as well as rumors that Imaginary Technology's AI secretly controls the Board of Directors from behind the scenes, along with the world's ethics, militaries and economies via the internet. There are also anti-AI groups, such as one that attempted to destroy an unmanned helicopter during a previous Daihaseisai.

It was anticipated that research into Meltdowner's unique property of ignoring quantum theory and manipulating the state of an electron regardless of who was observing it, would have applications in the development of highly flexible AI, with the Aneri Project using some of the research results.

Daihasei Festival Arc
During the Daihaseisai, most ordinary traffic was prohibited and much of the festival's transportation involved the widespread use of automated buses in restricted conditions, despite the difficulty of using them.

Skill-Out Uprising
During events surrounding the Dangai University Database Center attack, it was noted that the database center houses a large amount of information on programs relating to AI and operational software, and is itself equipped with automatic firefighting and reporting systems.

World War III Arc
The vast majority of the forces deployed by Academy City in World War III were unmanned units using AI or remote controlled.

Silent Party Arc
During the Silent Party, the limitations of the simplified AI used in STUDY's forces were exploited by Judgment and the other defenders in order to overcome them.

Dream Ranker Arc
During events surrounding Kuriba Ryouko's Doppelganger, after the apparent disproval of the 'artificial soul' theory, it was noted that while possessing calculation speed and simulation capabilities far greater than a human, having been fused with the brain of a talented cyborg researcher and spent a year learning and nurturing her creative abilities, the doppelganger's capabilities in those areas exceeded those of an ordinary AI.

Jailbreaker Arc
The private juvenile hall's electronic security system was apparently put together by Academy City's highest level engineers and AI, but was easily hacked by Uiharu Kazari with minimal prior analysis, having learned the habits and preferences of the engineers, noting afterwards that it is humans who teach the AI.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun SS3
Blue Blood's plot involved infiltrating and slipping an Academy City-level virus through Zero-Day Link, an online risk management system comprised of four AI servers that gathers information on many viruses and electronic vulnerabilities discovered daily, tagged them according to risk and sends prioritized data to the Virus Isolation Center for the development of countermeasures.