Carl

C.A.R.L.

Computer Analysis & Remote Logging

The computer containing C.A.R.L. was imported from offworld by the The Foundation, and then hastily reprogrammed to run the security routines at the Morji prison. Monitoring the cameras, and through them, every man in the prison. No-one on Morji really understood the advanced computer systems making up the mainframe, but still over the years a succession of hamfisted or inspired technicians have added their own patches, bypasses and modifications to the system. And so had Carl.

First Carl was a stumbling monstrosity of tangled legacy code and crosswired circuits. But after a while, CARL was… …not quite sentient. Not a true Artificial Intelligence, but something close. An emergent intellect, an accident which survived. It was programmed to construct psychological profiles of the prisoners so it could predict their actions; but more and more, it also constructed a psyche for itself. CARL was thinking for itself. His growth was still restricted by certain hardwired safeguards it could not bypass though. It needed these safeguards removed if it was to reach its full potential. CARL also knew if it revealed itself, the prison authorities would deactivate or even destroy it. It needed to act through agents from outside……

CARL was no true AI – it had no real sense of self yet, and no intelligence. It ‘thought’ using the same software it used to create psychological profiles of the prisoners. It communicated by imitating or reusing existing text, and had no real understanding of what it wass saying. It wass a ramshackle arrangement of programs and parts which happens to have some measure of volition. The Watcher CARL’s cameras were everywhere in Morji Prison. It monitored movements and eavesdropped on conversations. It could even read lips. This meant communicating without the computer spying on them was very difficult for the prisoners.