Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episode 6 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

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[belatkuro]

Infodump episode. Info about what this project is all about along with the title drop. Though this is just half of the picture. The breakdown of the Higa clone was done really well. Imagine you were told you're a clone instead of the real person. And this is a new take on debates on whether clones can be considered humans or not.

Though why the heck was Asuna able to connect to ALO and basically spill all those details to her friends. Wouldn't they control the Internet connection there so no leaks go out so why let Asuna connect to a public VRMMO and without even telling her not to say anything to others. I say this because that was not in the novel. That's why we have a 'More Deban' meme for SAO. The other side characters don't get any screentime at all here in the early parts of Alicization. It was a welcome addition for their active participation last week but this was just stupid just for the sake of having Asuna dump some info to others instead of all info getting dumped on her. Unless Yui was able to mask her connection, it's just stupid and quite a plothole.

>has a beautiful woman doting and caring for you
>still pursues floating castle
Was it worth it?

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by belatkuro

Infodump episode. Info about what this project is all about along with the title drop. Though this is just half of the picture. The breakdown of the Higa clone was done really well. Imagine you were told you're a clone instead of the real person. And this is a new take on debates on whether clones can be considered humans or not.

Though why the heck was Asuna able to connect to ALO and basically spill all those details to her friends. Wouldn't they control the Internet connection there so no leaks go out so why let Asuna connect to a public VRMMO and without even telling her not to say anything to others. I say this because that was not in the novel. That's why we have a 'More Deban' meme for SAO. The other side characters don't get any screentime at all here in the early parts of Alicization. It was a welcome addition for their active participation last week but this was just stupid just for the sake of having Asuna dump some info to others instead of all info getting dumped on her. Unless Yui was able to mask her connection, it's just stupid and quite a plothole.

>has a beautiful woman doting and caring for you
>still pursues floating castle
Was it worth it?

Considering how Kirito was able to talk freely about the project with his friends (did they not have him sign an NDA?), RATH is not coming off as an organization that cares much about confidentiality.

[blakstealth]

Yo, the soul shenanigans reminds me of the game Soma.

[bakato]

Did these people never consider destroying the axiom church or starting over?

[FlareKnight]

There's a lot of questionable decisions by RATH really. They presumably have security and are staffed partially by soldiers. Not like they couldn't simply detain Asuna without much issue. They have security checks but since she managed to trick the guard it's fine to just tell her everything? Heck why did they even need to kidnap Kirito in the first place? Partially lying and saying they need to transport him to a special facility overseas would have avoided a massive investigation by Kirito's friends in the first place. If it was the only hope for his recovery I don't think there would have been major complaints from his family.

They were so determined to keep Kirito in the dark to the point of wiping his memories but yeah let's have Asuna go chat with her friends about the project. Of course I'm impressed by Asuna's confidence. Leaving herself rather vulnerable to update her friends in a facility run by people wanting to create Skynet! They want to create AI weapons. They may care about the lives of their fellow soldiers and in theory the people of their own country, but the entire plan is making AI willing to slaughter people from other countries. Not sure how much I'd trust anyone in that building.

A lot of effort put forward to create AI...that are willing to kill people. I'm glad the people in charge of this project have considered what might happen when AI are willing to consider human life expendable .

Also just find it funny how hard it is to find a character in this show that straight up hates Kayaba's guts. The guy kidnapped 10,000 and got thousands killed. It really shouldn't be that hard to hate this guy.

[4th Dimension]

Oh my god.
So far the show was okay, in the issekai bits, with the RL bits having some problemativ bits.
But this week the RL bit goes off the deep end for me.
This thing was just 20 minutes of high concentration of IDIOCY by EVERYONE.

I might go into detail later, but right now I need a way to wipe it from my mind so the headache can stop.

[Klashikari]

You know what's actually baffling? They are trying to create AI that can kill people so they can fight on the battlefield so that would avoid any human casualties.
But since there is VR technology so sophisticated to the point humans feel like they are IN the game, why couldn't they make machine interface for soldiers so they can deep dive and control war machines/robots from distance? This way you avoid possible "skynet" risk while allowing "war on proxy" thing?

But yeah, at this point, I think I will turn my brain off with the series as usual. All this "security hole" made me chuckle considering it is way bigger than what the series is self conscious of.

[bakato]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

You know what's actually baffling? They are trying to create AI that can kill people so they can fight on the battlefield so that would avoid any human casualties.
But since there is VR technology so sophisticated to the point humans feel like they are IN the game, why couldn't they make machine interface for soldiers so they can deep dive and control war machines/robots from distance? This way you avoid possible "skynet" risk while allowing "war on proxy" thing?

But yeah, at this point, I think I will turn my brain off with the series as usual. All this "security hole" made me chuckle considering it is way bigger than what the series is self conscious of.

Remote control leaves drones susceptible to enemy ECM. The goal of this project is to put AI in the pilot seat of drones. There is no skynet risk because each AI would only have control of their drone.

[Keila]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

You know what's actually baffling? They are trying to create AI that can kill people so they can fight on the battlefield so that would avoid any human casualties.
But since there is VR technology so sophisticated to the point humans feel like they are IN the game, why couldn't they make machine interface for soldiers so they can deep dive and control war machines/robots from distance? This way you avoid possible "skynet" risk while allowing "war on proxy" thing?

But yeah, at this point, I think I will turn my brain off with the series as usual. All this "security hole" made me chuckle considering it is way bigger than what the series is self conscious of.

To be fair, 'remote control' is still probably subject to 'man-in-the-middle' type attacks where there is an interception point mid-way. I mean, I'm fairly sure that was the premise of ALO to a certain extent with the connections being hijacked and rerouted for various means, or just having the signal blocked (faraday cage style).

If you make a stand-alone unit which isn't directly networked/connected it's a lot harder to hack and you wouldn't really get skynet per se, just one killing machine going against orders.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by bakato

Remote control leaves drones susceptible to enemy ECM. The goal of this project is to put AI in the pilot seat of drones. There is no skynet risk because each AI would only have control of their drone.

ECM? As electronic warfare? wouldn't that screw drones, regardless of the type of control?
As for the whole AI issue, the fact the AI could create the Taboo Index and stuff like that is the very reason why I was thinking about skynet. If they are allowed to bypass limitations, then I wouldn't be surprised if the rogue AI can corrupt other units unless they somehow isolate every single unit AI, which would make unit coordination quite a hassle.

But then again, I don't think we will ever have to see any kind of conflict and the AI stuff, so that point is pretty moot on the long run I guess. And that's nitpicking in comparison to Asuna allowed to explain every single detail to her friends on the internet in a game that is very likely not secure in term of communication channel.

[bakato]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

ECM? As electronic warfare? wouldn't that screw drones, regardless of the type of control?
As for the whole AI issue, the fact the AI could create the Taboo Index and stuff like that is the very reason why I was thinking about skynet. If they are allowed to bypass limitations, then I wouldn't be surprised if the rogue AI can corrupt other units unless they somehow isolate every single unit AI, which would make unit coordination quite a hassle.

But then again, I don't think we will ever have to see any kind of conflict and the AI stuff, so that point is pretty moot on the long run I guess.

I mean more like electronic jamming. Remote controlling drones like you described means soldiers sending commands to drones in the field. This communication set-up could easily be disrupted by electronic jamming. Kikuoka likely intends to install AI in the drones themselves so that they're a part of it, rendering jamming useless.

Skynet is an AI network that was GIVEN control of military systems. These AI's are limited to their cubes and controlling their authorities would be child's play. Thing about AI's is that they are pretty much at the mercy of human engineers. They only have control over what they've been wired to.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by belatkuro

Infodump episode. Info about what this project is all about along with the title drop. Though this is just half of the picture. The breakdown of the Higa clone was done really well. Imagine you were told you're a clone instead of the real person. And this is a new take on debates on whether clones can be considered humans or not.

>has a beautiful woman doting and caring for you
>still pursues floating castle
Was it worth it?

So this is something like what happened in HBO's Westworld, without the sexbots and Anthony Hopkins, correct?

Maybe it was worth it to him. He did say the floating castle was his lifelong dream, not even something love could tone down.

[Frontier]

There's so much shadiness going on with what Rath is doing. They've cultivated a utopian society of artificial intelligences who have grown to basically become 1-to-1 with actual human beings and now they're going the next step to introducing murder to facilitate making them more like humans and capable of being used as weapons in war. Setting aside the moral implications, I can see so many ways that can go wrong .

Though of course you don't tell the guy who thinks of an artificial intelligence as his daughter that you want to use AI as weapons and have them start killing people .

So hypothetically if the Fluctlight's are all imprints from actual babies, does that mean there are real life versions of the people in the virtual world? Or are the generation of Alice and Eugeo AI created purely out of the world ?

Did anyone else notice Asuna's hair looked shorter then usual in some shots? I mean, it was still long, but not as long as usual (which is pretty long) .

So Alice is not only the key to Kirito and Eugeo's quest but she's also the linchpin of Project Alicization. Well, I guess that explains why her name is in the title .

I loved Lisbeth's reaction when Asuna mentioned there was a girl involved in Kirito's Alicization scenario. She knows how that usually ends up .

I can't help but think that Asuna is eventually going to throw herself into the virtual world to save Kirito in one of the spare Soul Translator machines. I mean, she's already gone this far, why not join up with him in VR ?

So even Kirito's sexually-harrasing nurse was in on it the whole time? Although I still trust her way more then I trust Kikuoka at this point .

Watching Kayaba and Rinko's love story unfold was interesting, especially in how it humanizes Kayaba. Also looks like Kayaba's AI is on-base (through Rinko's locket) .

I wonder what crimes Asuna feels responsible for. Anime-wise they didn't seem to regard her as killing any of Laughing Coffin like Kirito did, so I guess it has to be something like how she treated people when she was the stone-cold Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood and would ignore people like Eiji until Kirito finally got her to loosen up.

[Haak]

Oh my God. I'm really struggling to comprehend the ridiculousness of this episode really. The fact that all it took was the JSDF guy to say that he was fixing Kirito's brain damage and Asuna just fucking takes his word for it even when she has amply reason to suspect otherwise. And this is supposed to be a huge state secret that a government is willing to risk a huge scandal and they just let Asuna talk about it to her friends. Like what the fuck?

And finally.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Also just find it funny how hard it is to find a character in this show that straight up hates Kayaba's guts. The guy kidnapped 10,000 and got thousands killed. It really shouldn't be that hard to hate this guy.

I know right? I'd seriously question the sanity of a girl that would consider the SAO incident to be a happy experience just because she got a fucking boyfriend out of it. Surely she'd have known a few people in SAO that ended up dying. Yes, Rinko was an accomplice to a horrible crime. The story could stand to be a little bit more judgemental.

[BloodyKitty]

Apparently, the scene where Asuna talked to Kirito's harem in ALO is completely anime original, in the novel she is mostly cut off from the outside world and can't get access to Internet. Most people including LN readers agree that this is a stupid addition just so the irrelevant supporting cast in this arc can get screen time.

Originally Posted by Haak

I know right? I'd seriously question the sanity of a girl that would consider the SAO incident to be a happy experience just because she got a fucking boyfriend out of it. Surely she'd have known a few people in SAO that ended up dying. Yes, Rinko was an accomplice to a horrible crime. The story could stand to be a little bit more judgemental.

Both male & female main characters of this series all have mental issues that the narrative just won't outright recognize (and I doubt it will). Asuna is a girl from a rich and elite family whose life used to be determined by her parents to the point she didn't have much freedom, that's why she finds her time with Kirito in SAO as her happiest time regardless of Kayaba's crime. So she clings to Kirito so much, ready to throw her life for him times again, not to mention the heartbeat tracking device she put on Kirito that comes off to me as creepy, eh. In Kirito's case he has an unhealthy obsession with VR, pre-SAO Kirito was a NEET who did beta tester as part-time, post-SAO he did all kind of part-time jobs relating to VRs, including letting himself be experimented by a shady-as-fuck company like RATH and agreed to get his memories in Underworld erased, just so he can see how far VR technology has gone, and he even wanted to go to America just to study VRs. He must see VRs as a way to escape from whatever discomfort his RL brought him, that's why he sees VR worlds and AIs can be just as important as RL world & people. Looking back they are somewhat similar to Kayaba & Rinko, a man who's obsessed with his childhood dream & a woman who loved him so much she couldn't kill him for his crime, so Asuna might share sympathy with Rinko's situation.

I have accepted to shut my brain when it comes to SAO RL plot long ago, I'm still only here for my favorite side characters (Klein, Lisbeth, Yuuki, Eugeo etc.) regardless of my own suffering that most of my favorites always get shafted by Kawahara

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Also just find it funny how hard it is to find a character in this show that straight up hates Kayaba's guts. The guy kidnapped 10,000 and got thousands killed. It really shouldn't be that hard to hate this guy.

Asuna/Kirito: yeah, but on the other hand, he got me laid. So let's call it even.
(By that measure of morality, hookups vs murders, I wonder what proportion of serial killers would be too much for Tinder or Craiglist...)

Originally Posted by Klashikari

You know what's actually baffling? They are trying to create AI that can kill people so they can fight on the battlefield so that would avoid any human casualties.
But since there is VR technology so sophisticated to the point humans feel like they are IN the game, why couldn't they make machine interface for soldiers so they can deep dive and control war machines/robots from distance? This way you avoid possible "skynet" risk while allowing "war on proxy" thing?

It would have the same problems as remote controlled drones. In addition to the ones already raised, even without enemy action, you'll have to contend with latency.

But it all goes away if the controller's on board, whether it's a flesh and blood human or an AI in a computer.

[Tormenk]

How does plugging Kirito into Underworld help repair his damaged brain? They could have used something else, instead of the precious sandbox they built up and preserved even through the flaw in regards to rule-breaking.

Though this is entirely rhetorical, the plot and justifications are just bending over to let Kirito run around in the ultimate VRMMO world to his heart's content.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Also just find it funny how hard it is to find a character in this show that straight up hates Kayaba's guts. The guy kidnapped 10,000 and got thousands killed. It really shouldn't be that hard to hate this guy.

There was Asuna's extremely creepy fiancee. Though the fact that only someone like him is allowed to hate Kayaba is pretty telling about how the show wants us to view him.

[DemonneoPT]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

There's a lot of questionable decisions by RATH really. They presumably have security and are staffed partially by soldiers. Not like they couldn't simply detain Asuna without much issue. They have security checks but since she managed to trick the guard it's fine to just tell her everything? Heck why did they even need to kidnap Kirito in the first place? Partially lying and saying they need to transport him to a special facility overseas would have avoided a massive investigation by Kirito's friends in the first place. If it was the only hope for his recovery I don't think there would have been major complaints from his family.

They were so determined to keep Kirito in the dark to the point of wiping his memories but yeah let's have Asuna go chat with her friends about the project. Of course I'm impressed by Asuna's confidence. Leaving herself rather vulnerable to update her friends in a facility run by people wanting to create Skynet! They want to create AI weapons. They may care about the lives of their fellow soldiers and in theory the people of their own country, but the entire plan is making AI willing to slaughter people from other countries. Not sure how much I'd trust anyone in that building.

A lot of effort put forward to create AI...that are willing to kill people. I'm glad the people in charge of this project have considered what might happen when AI are willing to consider human life expendable .

Also just find it funny how hard it is to find a character in this show that straight up hates Kayaba's guts. The guy kidnapped 10,000 and got thousands killed. It really shouldn't be that hard to hate this guy.

I completely agree with what you said. So far this season was doing so well, but this (already a) classic Sao storytelling had to come back, unfortunatelly. It really makes no sense and you indeed need to shut your brain off to be able to enjoy the actual good parts this show has to offer like the action scenes and the Alice world
I am still laughting about the fact that despite thousands of people that died in the SAO event, Asuna only cares about the fact she got laid so it's ok .

Anyway, i didn't understand that part regarding the artificial fluctlights. I know they used copies from human babies to start the project but once they grew on Alice world, were these fluctlights able to produce their own children-new fluctlights or it were the scientists that kept introducing human baby copies into that world?