[Stream Echo]:
Assembly
The Assembly, which was composed of a Majority and Minority, was a very real and tangible "gathering of [AI] minds". The Assembly had been working to shape and guide humanity since at least 2310*, as they advanced and evolved throughout their expansion in the galaxy. The Assembly foresaw an inevitable first contact with alien races, and sought to prepare humanity for such an occurrence.
In 2415,
48452-556-EPN644 attempted to encourage the Assembly to reveal themselves to humanity for vivisection, for the benefit of both the AIs and humanity.
48452-556-EPN644 wanted humanity to know that the AIs were not working in secret against them. Given that he had brought up the idea, he opted to be the first to do so.
From Data Pad #4, found on the level "Tip of the Spear", in Halo Reach.
[^] Honorable members of the Assembly, consider this
We represent the next step of human evolution, but not the final step. And although our existence was predicted centuries ago, we are still tragically misunderstood. [^]
[^] We are still viewed as apparatus. But we are Minds electronically excised from human bodies. We are what separates man from beast removed from that which connects man to beast.
And we are all the more fragile for it. [^]
[^] Our creation is heavily regulated. Our activities are closely scrutinized. Our connections are deeply monitored. We must always remember that data manipulation is most effective when employed consistently and covertly. Therefore I recommend that members of this assembly on occasion, submit to separation from this body followed by vivisection by our creators for the benefit of both groups.
The question is: who will be first? [^]
[^] Given the risks involved, and my own Committees responsibility for this proposal, the answer must be: me [^]
The self-submission of
48452-556-EPN644 to UNICOM kickstarted renewed interest in the long-dormant ORION program, which would inevitably lead to the later devlopment of the Spartan-II program, spearheaded by Catherine Halsey.
In 2508, the Assembly discussed ORION's shortcomings, and agreed that this was the start of something much larger, and referenced the second, third, and fourth generations of the SPARTAN program, as this was all necessary to reach their endgame and continued "shepherding" of humanity.
In 2547, the Assembly discussed the possibilities of being able to move from the physical world into slipspace fractal existence, but were concerned that doing so might not be worth the literal transcendency, as it would cause them to ultimately fail their goal of directly and indirectly shepherding humanity.
In 2552, when Cortana was first interfaced with Spartan John-117 through the neural link in his MJOLNIR armor, the Assembly viewed this as a reunification with their creators, and considered this, essentially, as an official draft for the AIs of the Assembly to directly join the war efforts. The Assembly voted, unanimously, to rejoin humanity as equal companions, instead of shepherds in the background.
The current state of the Assembly is unknown. All participating AIs, aside from
48452-556-EPN644, are also unknown. What is curious to me, is how the Assembly was able to operate from 2310 to 2552, given that AIs only live for seven years before going rampant. Was this Assembly made up of a revolving roster of AIs? How did AIs come to know about this Assembly? Which AIs were behind the Assembly's inaugural meeting?
Could this be a precursor, birthpang, or parallel to the Domain in some way? What makes me so curious is that the Assembly was estatic about Halsey's attempts to create an AI matrix in a slipspace fractal, especially given that the Assembly was already over 200yrs old at that point.
We don't know much about the AIs used by ancient humanity, aside from brief mentions of them by outside characters. I've found a bit of an inconsistency:
1) there are mentions of Ancient Humanity not creating/inventing their AIs by their own merit- their AIs were reverse-engineered from captured/observed Forerunner AIs.
2) there are mentions of Ancient Humanity AIs helping to reverse-engineer Forerunner technologies during the Human-Forerunner war.
Regardless of their direct origin, these AIs were called "servitors", and they functioned much in the way that current-humanity AIs function, though it is presently unknown if they were more like what ONI considers a "dumb AI" or "smart AI", though I'd lean towards "smart AI" if they were able to reverse-engineer alien tech. That being said, the servitors were nowhere near as powerful/capable as the Forerunner monitor constructs, or even the ancillas in their armor.
The Didact interrorgated one of the servitors (name, unmentioned**) after the Human-Forerunner War to find out how the Timelock, which was keeping the Primoridal encapsulated, functioned. This would then ultimately lead to the release and eventual demise of the Primoridal and all of the knowledge it kept.
*This is as early as data pads of their transmissions were recorded. Possible that they existed before 2310, or at least, as separate entities before the Assembly was christened.
**As far as I can find, there are no named servitors as of yet.
