All posts by SmokyBirch

<div class="quote"><i>Quote:
Samaritan toys with humanity, it has no respect for us. It will be in for a shock when it toys to far, and Control (Who does still have the kill switch) shuts it down. <p>The Machine understands this, you can only control humanity so much, you can only guide us so far, but once you interfere to a point, we react. And with all the resources Samaritan and Decima have, even they cannot control whats going to happen when it does push to far. </p><p>The Machine should go into hiding, let Samaritan self distruct, then pick up the pieces. In the long run, that will eventually save more lives than fighting the cold war. </p><p>Look at last season, all that manuvering, all the games, and in the end, Decima still managed to kill a bunch of people and take Samaritan on line. Had the Machine did nothing, or had the team listened to her, it all could have been avoided. </p> </i></div>
<p>I'd like to think you're right, but I'm not so sure Control will be able to shut down Samaritan. After all, she couldn't shut down the Machine. Samaritan has probably already insured that it will always have access to the NSA feeds, even if someone tries to cut them off. </p><p>In fact, I think Control might have dug herself a hole she won't be able to get out of. She may be a capable counterterrorism coordinator, but it seems like she's woefully lacking in technology skills. When she asked Root for her username and password, it showed just how clueless she was about the kind of technology she's dealing with. I don't think she realized that Samaritan was also an AI with much broader capabilities than sifting through intelligence data to find threats. By the time she realizes that, it might be too late. </p>

<p>I agree that the Machine did not tell them to kill Congressman McCourt. I really wish Finch would stop thinking that's what happened. Of course, I suppose Finch's experience with the 42 other malevolent AI's made him very suspicious, but still, the Machine did not ask them to kill McCourt any more than it asked them to kill ANY perpetrator they've encountered. The Machine continues to abide by its original mission: to identify threats, not dictate how those threats should be handled.  </p><p>The other question in this thread about whether Samaritan is more powerful is something I've thought about occasionally. I think it depends on what "powerful" means. To me, the fact that Samaritan requires faster hardware than the Machine does not necessarily mean it is superior. In fact, it could mean the opposite. Finch's software could be coded more efficiently, allowing it to run on less capable hardware. Samaritan, however, might be far less efficient and require far more computing power to do the same tasks. On the other hand, Samaritan apparently has supercomputing facilities spread around the world. It has so much more computing resources at its disposal that it must have more raw computing power than the Machine. Unless, of course, the Machine managed to order upgraded hardware for itself.  </p><p>But raw computing power may not be the only important factor either. The Machine has the advantage of several years of experience, compared to Samaritan. I'm not sure how that affects the balance of power.  </p><p>If you judge power by influence, Samaritan has unbelievably more power. Hundreds of agents, intelligent young programmers, gullible politicians... The Machine hasn't attempted to match that because it wasn't built to seek more influence for itself.  </p>

<p>That's a good question. I don't remember seeing him classified as an asset in previous seasons. If I remember right, Reese was listed as an asset way back in season 1 (just with different graphics), but Harold has generally been classified as "admin". If that's true, maybe the change in Harold's status has something to do with his communication with the machine. We'll have to wait and see... </p>

<p>Yeah, Greer had a puzzled and concerned look on his face. I was surprised to see it. It definitely made me wonder if he's having second thoughts, or if he's worried that Samaritan is doing things he doesn't understand.  </p>

<p>I agree that the Machine can hack a wide array of networks, but if the Machine could hack into the NSA feeds, why couldn't Samaritan do the same? Then all of Greer's maneuvers in season 3 would have been unnecessary.  </p><p>I think the simplest explanation is that the Machine ordered the hard-wired NSA connection to be moved along with its servers. Control has not been able to find where the servers were transported, so how could she disconnect the NSA feeds? She shut down the ISA operations that were acting on intelligence from the machine, but she can only shut down the machine if she gains physical access to it. </p>

<p>It's certainly possible. It would be a fascinating plot twist. On the other hand, I think Samaritan would only turn on him if he became a clear threat to its goals. If he remains completely dedicated to keeping Samaritan in power, he's probably safe. As far as I can tell, Samaritan is already independent. Greer is basically following its directives without questioning them. </p>

<p>Ha! I've thought about that possibility too. It would be a rude awakening for Greer if his utopian vision of a "just ruler" ordered his execution. It actually doesn't seem like much of a stretch, considering Greer's "deviant" activities. Then again, Greer is keeping Samaritan safe, so I think Samaritan will continue to classify him as an asset for now. </p>

<p>I would say that when the Machine arranged to have its servers moved to other locations, it also arranged to have the NSA connections moved. We don't know much about how the NSA information is provided to either the Machine or Samaritan, but way back in Season 1 Episode 2 ("Ghosts"), there was a flashback showing Finch developing the Machine. A large bundle of RJ45 Ethernet cables were bringing the NSA information for New York City to the Machine's servers. I think it would be safe to assume that the NSA information would arrive over a dedicated, hard-wired connection with strong encryption protecting the data in transit.  </p>

<p>"Machines...don't think, they aren't sentient or self-aware..." I totally agree with this statement from a real-world perspective, but the POI writers have been consistently peppering the dialogue with indications that the Machine is sentient and intelligent. I don't particularly like that, because I'm skeptical of whether AI can ever achieve such a heightened level of function. I think Arthur Claypool's description of deleting sections of Samaritan's core code and watching the program rebuild itself seems pretty far-fetched. I'd like to believe that all those references throughout season 3 have merely been "our fanciful explanation of what we think we see," but the writers have been so persistent in describing the Machine in personal ways. Jonah Nolan has openly said that he wants to explore the idea of sentient artificial intelligence. As many misgivings I have about that, I think the show is clearly experimenting with that idea.  </p>

<p>The Machine is definitely not dead. Samaritan is simply an additional machine that has access to the NSA feeds. For now, both machines will be operating with the same information. I haven't seen any evidence that Samaritan has handicapped the original machine in any way. That's the reason why I reverted your edit to the Machine's information page. It's certainly possible that the Machine and Samaritan could become adversaries trying to destroy each other, but they're both alive and well right now.  </p><p>It will be very interesting to see what happens in the future. Finch programmed the Machine to value human lives, but it's hard to know how Decima has modified Samaritan's code. I'll be very interested to hear how Samaritan responds to Greer's question at the end of Season 3 (What are your commands for us?). I truly have no idea what its response will be. It could range from eliminating all people with deviant tendencies to purchasing new hardware so Samaritan could operate even faster.  </p><p>I'm also anxious to see how the Machine reacts to Samaritan. Will it try to eliminate Samaritan? Will it try to teach Samaritan important moral values? I don't have any answers, but it will be interesting to see how the writers deal with this.  </p>