Artificial Sentience Project (ASP)

### Purpose

Determine the extent that AIs could mimic or develop sentience of organic lifeforms, especially for espionage and creative purposes

### Organization

STaN

The Artificial Sentience Project was a STaN-led project investigating the properties of artificial intelligences and determining how close AIs could come to mimicking organic lifeforms.

It was eventually defunded in 2116, the official "end date" of the main project. All test subjects were freed and new test subjects were no longer being created. However, data collection continues on former subjects and data analysis is still ongoing.

## Project Details

### AI Types

There are 27 AI types, each based off of one of the Enneagram types.

All bots of the same AI type have the exact same programming, the only difference being artificially-created backstories.

### Backstories

There are 26 artificial backstories that can be assigned to an AI, each corresponding with a letter. Some backstories correspond with different body variations (such as cyborgic bodies rather than strictly human). The list of backstories is as follows:

* A- Born and raised in STaN base.
* B- Born and raised peacefully by a family on another planet, but they moved to STaN as a family later.
* C- Born and raised peacefully on another planet, joined STaN because they felt it would be interesting.
* D- Born and raised peacefully on another planet, joined STaN because they were interested in a particular project at STaN that was ongoing.
* E- Born and raised peacefully on another planet, joined STaN for research opportunities.
* F- Born and raised in poverty on another planet, joined STaN to change their life for the better.
* G- Born and raised peacefully on another planet, joined STaN because they thought that the system there was unfair and they wanted to reform it.
* H- Born and raised on another planet, joined STaN for other moral reasons.
* I- Born and raised in a family with a history of service in STaN.
* J- Joined STaN because of a lost bet.
* K- Stole from a high-ranking STaN officer out of desperation. Given the choice between prison or joining STaN, they chose STaN.
* L- Trespassed on the property of a high-ranking STaN officer. Joined STaN in hopes of gaining forgiveness from punishment.
* M- Joined STaN through peer pressure.
* N- Forced to join STaN through blackmail or threats.
* O- Forced to join STaN as a refugee.
* P- Had serious terminal disease. The only hope of not dying of it soon was the high-tech equipment at STaN (cyborg).
* Q- Seriously injured at a young age in a war. Rescued by STaN and brought back from being almost dead. (cyborg).
* R- Seriously injured at a young age in an accident. Rescued by STaN and brought back from being almost dead. (cyborg).

* S- Family died in a war, joined STaN because they had nowhere else to go.

* T- Family died in an accident, joined STaN because they had nowhere else to go.
* U- Believe that they were created in a lab as a genetic experiment.
* V- Believe that they were created in a lab as a clone of another creature.
* W- Believe that they were once a living creature, but their consciousness was transferred into an android as an experiment.
* X- Believe that they were created in a lab as an experiment in creating test tube children.

* Y- No synthesized backstory. They do not realize that they are an android and do not understand their purpose, but believe that they are an amnesiac.

* Z- No synthesized backstory. They completely understand that they are an android and they understand their purpose. They exist as a control group.

### Early AIs

The earliest AIs involved with ASP were disasters. Z55, the very first to be created for the project, had a very dull AI type and no backstory at all. They were not very useful to the project at all. The second AI, V43, had more valuable traits. However, because he felt overworked, he did not cooperate well with the project. Z55 fatally malfunctioned and most responsibility was shifted to V43.

The next AI to be created was Y87, then K66. Shortly after K66 was created, Y87 caused an infamous incident at the lab that caused the project to be seriously reconsidered, lose much of its funding, and eventually have new protocols rewritten. V43 escaped during the incident with Y87. Y87 also disappeared after the incident.

After these first 4 AIs, the project was given a fresh start. The new researchers were notably less reckless than they had been before.

### Notable Researchers

Eašah Daamir Kuskor was an akkaon researcher partnered with Pasrat Kimir Aaspe most famous for creating the most realistic '56' AI types. In fact, he had an odd habit of vastly preferring 5s, especially 56s. He was heavily involved from 2103 until 2106 and was very prolific. The first AI he created was P56. He vanished in 2106, only months after creating his last AI, Q56. His AIs are noted for having distinctive lines on their face running straight down from their lower eyelid to their chin, and tend to have white or black hair.

Uilieta was a piscinan researcher.

## Early Failures

### Z55

Z55 was the first major failure that ASP experienced. She was the first AI created by the project, and self-destructed due to somehow managing to understand the entire universe and meaning of life. Three researchers were killed in the incident, and about a dozen more were injured.

### Y87

The Y87 incident caused major defunding of ASP as well as a significant threat of cancellation. Eventually, the project's purpose was determined to be worth the risk, but many protocols were completely rewritten due to this incident.

A flaw in the programming of Y87, the third android created for ASP, caused her to experience joy when organisms died rather than sorrow. This brought out a murderous side in her, and led to her escape as well as the brutal murders of several researchers. The only other subject at the time, V43, escaped in the chaos that she caused.

Y87's murderous tendencies as well as V43's escape caused serious moral questions about the project. If the project was so morally sound, why were supposedly sentient bots attempting to escape? These questions, while posed, were never formally answered and eventually factored into ASP's later decline and "death."

## Decline of ASP

About halfway through its running time, ASP personnel realized that they were quickly oversaturating STaN bases with their bots. It became increasingly probable that AIs would encounter one another, or even others of the same model, and discover the truth behind the project.

ASP was forced to rotate which AIs were allowed to exist freely in the STaN base that it was conducted at. Any excess AIs were put into "overflow storage." This simply consisted of storing them with bots, sometimes awake and sometimes hibernating.

This started to raise ethical concerns, especially because the androids from ASP were supposed to be sentient, or at the very least mimic sentience. Treating sentient robots like work robots was considered very unethical. Public approval of the project lowered, and funding soon decreased as well.

ASP was no longer able to afford storage for their androids or to continue to create new androids. However, the project was not terminated entirely. ASP still collects data on almost all of the androids created for the project.

## Notable ASP Artificial Intelligences

* Z55
* V43 (Vergil)
* Y87
* K66
* Q56 (Quinn)
* P56 (Puck)
* J87 (Jango)
* B23 (Bea)