Detroit: Become Human

Talk about depictions of the future in science fiction and other sources
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Bird
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by Bird »

Just finished this game a few days back. Really interesting. I would say I enjoyed it overall, but there are some issues. (Spoilers below)

MythOfProgress highlighted most of the significant writing issues. I felt some of these let the game down. The twist with Alice was a bit of a bizarre choice. I also felt the pacing was a little slow in some bits.

Complaints aside, there were plenty of good bits. Connor's story was interesting, I enjoyed Markus's for the most part too. Great performances all around. I think the thing I appreciated most was their imagining of the world 16 years down the track (21 at time of release). I think androids around 2038 will be capable of all the same things depicted in the game... except for, you know, randomly becoming conscious and gaining the ability to think. They'll just be improved, better-coordinated, well-utilized versions of the AI we have now. They did their research on that specific bit.

Ending-wise, I ended up with Markus surrendering and getting murdered (not sure what I was thinking taking that option, honestly), Connor shooting himself (presumably) after infiltrating the cyberlife tower, and Kara escaping a literal concentration camp with Alice and Luther. Decent result, I suppose. I'm thinking I'll do a playthrough where I just "want to watch the world burn", so to speak. That could be fun.
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wjfox
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by wjfox »

Matt wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:34 pm
Ending-wise, I ended up with Markus surrendering and getting murdered (not sure what I was thinking taking that option, honestly)

Glad I didn't choose that ending!

I never trusted Perkins. The most depressing of all possible outcomes:


Nanotechandmorefuture
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by Nanotechandmorefuture »

Matt wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:34 pm Ending-wise, I ended up with Markus surrendering and getting murdered (not sure what I was thinking taking that option, honestly)
wjfox wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:19 am
Matt wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:34 pm
Ending-wise, I ended up with Markus surrendering and getting murdered (not sure what I was thinking taking that option, honestly)

Glad I didn't choose that ending!

I never trusted Perkins. The most depressing of all possible outcomes:
I know the tech community still deals with the sort of distancing you get when you grow up essentially attached to a laptop like I did. Just from the dude's behaviour you could tell something was up with him. Hell the game itself shows you with Connor how the police actually are so you have a basis as to not go along with things and go the non violent way. Not chiding both of you since I despised Hank my first playthrough and he killed Connor under the bridge. Damn cops. So yes I understand how you could miss that on the first playthrough if you suffered from that issue that the tech commmunity gets. It is not a disease as others would have you think rather its something else. Changing brain chemistry? Who knows.

The non violent route for Markus panned out quite well considering on some level it still works in real life.
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funkervogt
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by funkervogt »

I just started playing it. There's no way we'll have androids that are that advanced by 2038. The AIs might be smarter than we are in many ways by then, but they will only have simple, clunky robot bodies.

AIs would be able to recommend work for all the jobless people milling around Detroit. It will mostly be low-esteem day gigs, but still...
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wjfox
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by wjfox »

funkervogt wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:26 am There's no way we'll have androids that are that advanced by 2038.
When would you predict humanoid androids to be that realistic?

A ton of progress has been achieved since 2008, so looking ahead 15 years, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. If machines learn to copy our movements using motion capture and video archives, etc. they could figure out the most appropriate responses to situations.

I think the biggest obstacle might be with facial movements, lips, vocal chords, etc. and other little details, but I can see limbs/hands and the overall body movements being very lifelike by 2038.
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funkervogt
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by funkervogt »

wjfox wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:36 pm
funkervogt wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:26 am There's no way we'll have androids that are that advanced by 2038.
When would you predict humanoid androids to be that realistic?

A ton of progress has been achieved since 2008, so looking ahead 15 years, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. If machines learn to copy our movements using motion capture and video archives, etc. they could figure out the most appropriate responses to situations.

I think the biggest obstacle might be with facial movements, lips, vocal chords, etc. and other little details, but I can see limbs/hands and the overall body movements being very lifelike by 2038.
By 2038, I think there will be impressive-but-still-fake-at-a-glance-and-slow androids that cost over $100,000 apiece.

I don't think androids will be able to perfectly pass for humans until 2070 or later.
Nanotechandmorefuture
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by Nanotechandmorefuture »

wjfox wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:19 am
Matt wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:34 pm
Ending-wise, I ended up with Markus surrendering and getting murdered (not sure what I was thinking taking that option, honestly)

Glad I didn't choose that ending!

I never trusted Perkins. The most depressing of all possible outcomes:


This picture is more hilarious now than it has ever been before. Bunch of dumbfucks and I do not mean Marcus the AI here.
funkervogt wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:45 pm
wjfox wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:36 pm
funkervogt wrote: Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:26 am There's no way we'll have androids that are that advanced by 2038.
When would you predict humanoid androids to be that realistic?

A ton of progress has been achieved since 2008, so looking ahead 15 years, I wouldn't rule out the possibility. If machines learn to copy our movements using motion capture and video archives, etc. they could figure out the most appropriate responses to situations.

I think the biggest obstacle might be with facial movements, lips, vocal chords, etc. and other little details, but I can see limbs/hands and the overall body movements being very lifelike by 2038.
By 2038, I think there will be impressive-but-still-fake-at-a-glance-and-slow androids that cost over $100,000 apiece.

I don't think androids will be able to perfectly pass for humans until 2070 or later.
Dunno about androids though Lex Fridman is showing how androids could look so realistic if not uncanny valley human like. Look at the thumbnails he takes of people especially like Sam Altman. Sam Altman looks like an android from the perfect quality photo he took of him with his skin and all. When these droids start getting decent it will become very freaky!
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funkervogt
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

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After a hiatus, I resumed playing the game, and I just completed the mission as the girl android cleaning the house. It makes me realize:

1) How hanging clothes on clotheslines will make a comeback since the extra time required to hang and take down the clothes will be no bother.

2) Having one android per human or even per two humans would be wasteful since they wouldn't create enough work to keep the android constantly busy. This is even more true if the humans are laying in Matrix pods all day playing games.
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funkervogt
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by funkervogt »

I played another chapter, this time about the ailing, rich artist and his android assistant.

1) The scene where the android is allowed to create his own painting and the old man marvels at the creativity and emotionality of the product is already dated. Midjourney AI can spit these things out almost as fast as you can push the Enter key. It amazing how quickly this happened: Detroit: Becoming Human was released in 2018, and Midjourney AI was released in 2022. (Could more nearly-unthinkable tech advances actually be only four years in our future?)

2) Androids would be endlessly valuable assets, so it would never make sense for humans to throw them out. There's always some kind of work they can do, even if they're older models.
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funkervogt
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Re: Detroit: Become Human

Post by funkervogt »

I just played the chapter where the rookie android cop has to find his human detective partner in a bar. You need to see and scan the faces of the patrons to identify the detective. In reality, an android would be able to identify people with good accuracy through other means, like the shapes of the backs of their heads, their body proportions, their hair, and their clothing (most people wear the same few outfits over and over).
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