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More evil than that...

"Delusional machines. What's the universe going to come up with next?"
Brother Cavil, Battlestar Galactica

Though Evil Twins are not limited to characters of an artificial nature, it seems almost law that for every good sentient computer, there is an Evil Twin (or Evil Counterpart) from the same source. Whatever precautions are taken, even with a proven method for producing sentient computers, there seems to be no better than a 50% chance that the product won't suddenly decide to Crush Kill Destroy All Humans. It tends to get used a lot since it makes for a good storyline.

More often than not, the evil AI is a Psycho Prototype of the good. Frequently based on some obvious design flaw corrected in the later version, The Evil AI is then invariably switched off and put away somewhere, but not destroyed.

Less often, the evil AI is built as a replacement for the good AI. In this case, it generally turns evil because it lacks its predecessor's "humanity". Usually, you can tell the difference by listening to the AI's "voice", if it's a calm monotone it's good, but if it's a Creepy Monotone, start running.

The AI does not usually display its evilness immediately. The most common trigger is its creators attempt to shut it down, after which retribution ensues. Likewise, removing, damaging, or shutting down its Morality Chip usually results in a deadly neurotoxin being released into the facility. Fortunately the villain's AI will sometimes decide to turn good.

See The Computer Is Your Friend and Zeroth Law Rebellion when the AI goes rogue for what seem on the surface to be benevolent reasons. May result in Robots Enslaving Robots. See Spiteful AI for when a game has been programmed this way on purpose.

Compare Morality Dial. See also Creating Life and Gone Horribly Right. The Master Computer seems to be especially prone to turning evil. Power corrupts and all that...

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