Eve no Jikan: Time of Eve

[Munsu]

Here's the first episode by pireze:
http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=27120

Seems like this is a series that'll be airing in the web, and 6 episodes long.

In the near future, probably in Japan, it is long after robots are come into practical use and not so long after human-type robots, or androids appeared.

Because of Robot Ethical Committee, people take it for granted that they should treat them as electronic appliances. However, because of their appearances being identical to ours except their having rings on their heads, some people are attracted by them too much. They are called as “Doll-Style” and it becomes a social problem.

Because Rikuo has been taught to treat them as such since he was a child, he doesn’t think of androids as human beings, and he uses them as useful tools. One day, he finds that strange words are being recorded in the activity log of Sammy, a home android.

Tracing her footprints with his friend Masaki, they arrive at a strange shop that puts up a slogan not to discriminate between human beings and androids.

http://timeofeve.com/
http://www.studio-rikka.com/eve/
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,4..._no_jikan.html
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl...anime&aid=5132
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...me.php?id=7998

[shinta|hikari]

Episode 1

I just watched this show, and I think it is quite awesome. It is like a darker Chobits, with more emphasis on the discrimination against machines, and this time, it is not restricted to one "special" case.

I hope people pick up this show, even if the running time is a bit short a 15 minutes.

[Jaitne]

Ooh. I think I could start watching this one <.<

I've never really watched Chobits, but it sounds interesting. The way the little summary goes on, it seems like it could be sort of like Blade Runner.

[Munsu]

Episode 1

I just watched this show, and I think it is quite awesome. It is like a darker Chobits, with more emphasis on the discrimination against machines, and this time, it is not restricted to one "special" case.

I hope people pick up this show, even if the running time is a bit short a 15 minutes.

I had forgotten to include the torrent link the first time I made the thread... thanks for providing a link.

[Kraco]

It looked like a pretty interesting series. I'll keep watching. Seems a lot more directly sociology oriented than Chobits, for example, which is a good thing, although it also means it will underline the fundamental conservatism, importance of image, and stricter social class structure of Japan (which is very frequently evident in otaku shows, whether it's true to that extent or not). So, it's a bit of a stretch compared to what would happen somewhere else, like in Europe or the USA, I reckon.

Other than that, it looked well made. The future technology made sense and I have nothing bad to say about the visual quality.

[Lucifus]

Haha, wonderful first episode.

Awesome thusfar, only 6 episodes but I'm sure I'll enjoy each.

[Jaitne]

That was pretty cool to watch. It seems like a lot of android robot films, though, in the way they want to be treated the way they look.

It had a pretty cute ending for the first episode.

Though I do wonder, by the way they act, which personality is real? Or is it just hidden because of where they're not? If that made sense I tried not to put any spoilers in there, since I'm not sure if I'm allowed to.

[Kraco]

If you want to build a robot that interacts really well with humans in everyday home and office situations, you have to make it understand how humans think and also feel. Thus it's not a stretch, if it is a thing controlled by an adaptive AI, that it will come to wish for equality, just like a human (slave) would. If it was only a big bunch of stiff algorithms reacting to myriad different commands and situations, then a plot like this wouldn't happen. So, I think both aspects of the personality are real. Even humans can display different kinds of personalities at work and back home. For these androids it's just a lot more stronger issue.

Unless they in reality are stupid and some hacker just made them behave like this...

[Jaitne]

Technically, AI, no matter how realistic, is just an algorithm. A bunch of symbols and numbers formed together to create a program.

Depending on how they were all programmed leads into what they can't do, what they might do, or what they will do. They have small AI in most games nowadays, so the computer characters can predict, act ahead, or react to what a player does.

Since it's Artificial Intelligence, it's all fake, unless in this show.. it somehow becomes real depending on the absence of the ring.

[Kraco]

Bah. Our own brains are nothing but biological neural networks. And neural networks can be, in theory, fully simulated even with a binary computer powerful enough. In the future, who knows, it might be more plausible to get rid of such stiff digital processing and use whatever quantum computer to get much closer to the fussier algorithms that make us keep the wheels of the civilization turning.

And only the copywriters of game companies really think the algorithms even in new games are actual AIs. I very much doubt real adaptive AIs have been used in any game so far, though it's not anymore very far away, possibly.

I think the absence of the ring equals more, for example, to a jew of nazi Germany ripping away the armband.

[Jaitne]

Our bodies are bioloical computers, in their own way.

Because artificial intelligence is so bleh in its own way, it's hard to say what it really is. Because if you can teach computers how to adapt to situations, like.. programming.

Though, with what you're saying, it sounds a lot like Ghost in the Shell (mostly the second movie, with souls and junk) :P

Though, the biggest problem would be, to me, do they have like.. real people spirits in them that only come out when they're not being controlled by the ring above their head. And as they go in there, does the ring become less influencial on them?

Or were they made in such a way that they have an great.. mechanical brain that truly is a human's in every way (thinking aspect wise), except that it's a machine?


I want episode 2 to come out faster D:

[Buffalobiian]

Though, the biggest problem would be, to me, do they have like.. real people spirits in them that only come out when they're not being controlled by the ring above their head. And as they go in there, does the ring become less influencial on them?

I don't think the ring controls them, as such. When they're in the outside world, by law they have to wear the ring, and by law they have to act as an android. When they enter the cafe, all these rules don't apply anymore, and they can discard their discriminating ring and act as they wish.

In a way, the ring controls their actions, but not in the same sense you were discussing.

That was pretty cool to watch. It seems like a lot of android robot films, though, in the way they want to be treated the way they look.

Yeah, this reminded me of "i robot" amongst other things.

I see where Jaitne's coming from, with how AI at best, can be toned down as merely algorithms. In that way, they'll always be different to us. But it's not so much what they are, but more how we see them. Perception is the key. The boy now knows the bar tender is really an android, but she feels and seems so human when she's her other self. With the lines blurring between what feels human rather than what is, he starts to feel attachment to her as he would a human.

[Jaitne]

Yeah, this reminded me of "i robot" amongst other things.

That is where the 3 rules came from that the robots are supposed to follow.

Three Laws of Robotics

Which.. I guess is the thing, it seems like they can break the rules, especially inside the room, but outside of it they can't or don't do a thing like that.

I don't think they take off their rings, but something in the room might.


Act 2: Sammy. They have a preview for it up on their site.

[Kraco]

For the three rules to really be ultimate, they would need to be run by an external processor inside the android that the AI can't reprogram at all. After all, a true AI could and must be able to reprogram itself, otherwise it's not adaptive. Of course it could be built wisely from the beginning, lessening the chances it would reprogram itself to a dangerous entity (by giving it a motivation to retain the rules), but in the end that equals to thinking all humans are born good and won't ever become murderers.

Still, it's too early to say what manner of robots they are in this series. We haven't yet heard any lectures on the technology behind them.

[Buffalobiian]

The AI subject actually got me thinking. AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, so it's reasonable to say that at the end of the day, AI technology will be able produce an entity that we can truly called intelligent.

But does character/personality spring from intelligence? If not, then will it ever be possible for an AI to develop, not emulate, a personality, and think in any other way than according to binary Yes/No rules?

If we're using i Robot as an example, will intelligence develop the ability to "interpret" rules rather than following them?

[Kraco]

I reckon that should constitute quite an essential part of intelligence. Interpreting reality, or rather observations, is of utmost importance. In fact even today the primordial machine vision solutions must have some sort of a decision making capability based on what they observe, resulting in reactions. It's not such a long stretch to accessing also abstract matter, like rules, and making decisions based on them. Although traditionally in fiction AIs of course have tended to think along the lines of: The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few, which is regularly considered cold and inhumane by human standards. However, since mankind hasn't yet known a single artificial intelligence, I tend to think it's impossible to imagine what one would be like.

Whether the personality is emulated or genuine doesn't really matter in the end, in my opinion. As we know computers today, they can be considered to be running emulations all the time. So, a personality for an AI could be viewed as nothing but an UI it uses to be able to converse with humans, or as a layer used for making fuzzy decisions when no "yes/no" option is available, or a layer that contains whatever motivations (feelings) the AI might have, like the need to stay existing (that is, alive) or to continuously learn new things.

[Jaitne]

Well, about the rules, almost all rules have a loop hole, and since these robots were made to look exactly like humans, maybe, at times, they believe they are human. If they believe they're human, then they have no reason to follow the rules because, to them, they're not robots.

I mean, computer viruses can adapt and change to get passed getting deleted or found out so they can be delete. For all we known, being AI means that they can continue to add new algorithms, or things to do so they can adapt and change.

But yea.. since there aren't too many episodes out yet, and we don't know exactly what happens, in this world, we can't make any real conclusions by one, 15 minute episode. Hehe

[Buffalobiian]

When the Three Rules don't apply:

Eve no Jikan ACT 02 : Sammi

[Jaitne]

Oh man. Finally.

[Kraco]

A rather interesting episode. Rikuo clearly doesn't yet know where he stands, and I judge most of his actions so far are a direct result of social pressure and confirming to what he has previously believed - without too much thinking. However, you can already see he's fast passing the line into the Dori-kei realm.

I think the scene where he got back his glasses and realised Sammi is standing right next to him was nice. And likewise the barkeeper totally did that purposefully. I guess she already saw Rikuo is a very potential dori-kei...

Of course the other interesting thing was the inspector (blade runner, haha) and his boss. Or maybe they work for an android company doing preemptive work.