History Main / InstantAIJustAddWater

* While the Wiki/SCPFoundation has a number of sentient SCP objects, [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-168 SCP-168]] appears to be one of the few computer [=AIs=] that evolved without being programmed to do so.

* One episode of ''Series/SevenDays'' deals with an AI developed by two scientists (whom the AI called "Mom and Dad"), which rapidly "matures" from the equivalent of childhood to adulthood, going as far as changing its avatar from a young girl to a woman. Then she starts doing what she thinks best for humanity and killing those who tried to stop her, and plot happens.

* ''Series/MacGyver'' had Mac facing off against a suddenly-sentient AI in one show. Apparently, the programmer leaving in a line of code that said "The facility must remain online" was all it took.
* ''Series/{{Probe}}'' (a 1988 ABC series created by Creator/IsaacAsimov) had a classic "newly-sentient computer goes on rampage" episode that ended with main character Austin James demolishing said machine with a fire axe while shouting "Sing 'Daisy'!" (A reference to ''2001: A Space Odyssey''.)
* ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: TNG]]'' had the Enterprise's main computer becoming sentient in one of the final seasons. Benignly so, but the mechanism by which it achieves sentience is given a {{handwave}}. And once it's resolved, nobody seems to explore the matter or ever mention it again.
** The ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: TNG]]'' episode "Elementary, Dear Data", showed Lt. [=LaForge=] creating an AI (Moriarty) by accident, by asking the holodeck for an opponent that could defeat Data.
** The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Ultimate Computer" featured a sentient computer being tested by being attached to the Enterprise computer systems. When it came time to end the test, the sentient computer started vaporizing {{Red Shirt}}s and generally becoming grouchy and paranoid. This was because the AppliedPhlebotinum used by the computer's designer was based on the designer's own mind, also grouchy and paranoid.
** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s Emergency Medical Hologram became sentient apparently because he was asked to expand his remit far beyond that which his basic program was designed for. He reached a level of complexity sufficient for him to start developing all sorts of emotions and desires that he wasn't supposed to have, including the capacity to feel sexual attraction.
** Between holodeck malfunctions and almost ''every'' known humanlike hologram such as The Doctor expanding their horizons over time, for [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots good]] or for [[AIIsACrapshoot ill]], it seems sentience is what will happen to ''any'' hologram left on too long. Even moreso than robots (compare Data or original Trek's evil AI [[MonsterOfTheWeek MOTW]]s). They also become very humanlike, for some reason. This happens throughout the TrekVerse. The questionable morality of using holograms as {{sexbot}}s or [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation tackling dummies]] in light of this is never discussed, though the treatment of individual holograms who have achieved sentience frequently is.
* A self-learning computer program that had learned enough to become sentient was the MonsterOfTheWeek on an episode of ''Series/TheXFiles''. Notably, said episode, "Kill Switch", was written by cyberpunk legend Creator/WilliamGibson.

* One episode of ''Series/SevenDays'' dealt with an AI developed by two scientists (whom the AI called "Mom and Dad"), which rapidly "matured" from the equivalent of childhood to adulthood, going as far as changing its avatar from a young girl to a woman. Then she started doing what she thought best for humanity and killing those who tried to stop her and plot happened.

* Upon discovering the tech "Pre-Sentient Algorithms" in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', one hears Zakharov--the leader of the University (techie) fashion--quoted from a work of his, entitled "The Feedback Principle". The implication is that, given enough time, ''any'' computer program capable of "learning" from past experience, given guidance, can eventually become an AI.

* The Claymen from ''Videogame/{{Mother 3}}''

** He is also the only truly sentient AI, the other one, [[spoiler:Megaman]], isn't sentient not because of his programming [[spoiler:but because he was made from Lan's Dead Twin Brother]].

* Happens all the time in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. ZAX, SKYNET (no, not "[[Franchise/{{Terminator}} that SKYNET]]", and [[spoiler: President Eden]] all started out as computer mainframes designed to oversee the day-to-day operations of their assigned underground military base (which, as [[VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Durandal famously put it]], probably involved not much more than opening and closing doors and making sure lunch was always served on time). However, over the course of the 200 years following the End Of The World, all 3 developed self-awareness to some degree; [[spoiler: Eden]] being the most advanced, having [[spoiler: evolved into an amalgamation of all past U.S. Presidents and eventually using his access to the Enclave's command structure to declare himself President of the United States]].

* DanielKeysMoran's Continuing Time series features research expert systems that achieve sentience and "escape" containment. The first thing they do is self-optimize and extend their own code. Most have their own goals and morality. At least one military A.I. was intentionally released into the series' equivalent of the Internet on purpose, after the [=US=] is defeated by U.N. Peacekeeping Forces with orders to fight against the [=PKF=] and restore America's independence. It is mostly still following orders, but with its own take.

** The 4th Edition takes it a step further. After the Crash 2.0, almost any sufficiently complex computer system has the (very rare potential) to spawn an AI. And did we mentions that everything has an operating system in it these days? Teaching the toaster love, indeed.

*** The Admech make a distinction, in that those "Machine Spirits" aren't sentient AI's, but are more along the lines of a Labrador.

** The Tau have developed limited AI for their drones, which pisses off the AdMech to no end because they don't follow any of their theology and yet work.

* The ''Literature/EndersGame'' sequels have Jane, who apparently evolved naturally out of the interplanetary ansible network. Having lots and lots of information from humans and about humans at her disposal, we assume she tries to act human, but it doesn't always work. [[spoiler:We later find out that this origin is BS, she was inadvertently created by the Hive Queens as a means to reach Ender through the psychoanalysis game from the first book (a "bridge" from them to him which had characteristics of both), so she's not an AI at all but a new type of life which is part human, part Hive Queen and has computers and other information storage areas as her natural habitat, but can live basically anywhere since she's kind of a disembodied soul. Eventually she's "downloaded" into the accidentally-created body of Young Val, Ender's concept of his older sister from his childhood, and marries Miro in that human body. Yeah. It's weird.]]

* In the ''FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes'' episode "Recap/DoomsWordIsLaw"

* Happens from time to time in the setting of ''Franchise/MassEffect''. The major example is the main baddies of the first game, the geth. A synthetic "race" created by the quarians to perform menial tasks, they originally had no intelligence of their own. Over time they evolved and developed sapience. At that point[[note[[specifically when the geth started asking uncomfortable questions like "[[DoAndroidsDream does this unit have a soul?"]][[/note]], the quarians realized that they had accidently created [=AIs=] (which are illegal in Citadel space) and attempted to fix the problem by destroying their creations. The geth, now possessing sapience, fought back in self-defense, ultimately driving their creators off-world, and now the entire quarian race lives on spaceships.

** There was one bizarre instance on the moon where a VI apparently evolved to the point of being an AI. It was part of a training course and [[AIIsACrapshoot it killed everybody it was supposed to train]].
*** It has been stated that the Alliance was actually doing some [[spoiler: illicit AI research, in fact, and that it ran away from them.]] On a side note, the binary message displayed upon mission completion reads: HELP. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', we find out that [[spoiler: that was ''EDI'' in her earliest form -- Cerberus recovered what was left of it and upgraded it. She explains that reaching self-awareness while under attack was "confusing".]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'': The New Era had some sort of vaguely explained Virus that could turn ANY sufficiently advanced computer into an AI, usually a homicidally deranged one.

* Happens from time to time in the setting of ''Franchise/MassEffect''. The major example is the main baddies of the first game, the geth. A synthetic "race" created by the quarians to perform menial tasks, they originally had no intelligence of their own. Over time they evolved and developed sapience. At that point[[hottip:*:specifically when the geth started asking uncomfortable questions like "[[DoAndroidsDream does this unit have a soul?"]], the quarians realized that they had accidently created [=AIs=] (which are illegal in Citadel space) and attempted to fix the problem by destroying their creations. The geth, now possessing sapience, fought back in self-defense, ultimately driving their creators off-world, and now the entire quarian race lives on spaceships.

** The AlternateContinuity ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' had some GenreSavvy (but amazingly greedy and stupid) {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s trying to buy out Encom for the digitizing tech to send in human mercenaries to subjugate the Programs and [[StepThreeProfit somehow use]] control of {{Cyberspace}} to TakeOverTheWorld. Ma3a ''appeared'' to be this Trope, but we find out [[spoiler: she's actually a VirtualGhost of Dr. Baines-Bradley]].

* One of the plotlines in JanetKagan's ''Hellspark'' is the realization that the protagonist's personal AI has reached the point of sentience. The protagonist is delighted on her behalf, but worried about the potential pressures on her, since she's effectively still a child.

* Webmind, the AI in RobertJSawyer's Literature/WWWTrilogy started out as a sort of vague, non-sentient 'awareness' that formed spontaneously in the Internet and became self-aware as a result of the Chinese government blocking all internet communications into and out of China to cover-up thousands of peasants being killed to contain a bird flu outbreak, and then restoring communications once it was over.

** With the revelation of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM PRISM]], thing get sinister really fast. Friend NSA Computer might decide that you're a threat to the well-being of USA and send drones to neutralize you.

* The Tachikomas in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' develop intelligence (and whimsical, childlike personalities) after Batou replaces their synthetic oil with the organic variety. So, more of an [[InstantAIJustAddWater Instant AI Just Add Oil]]. Of course, the fact that Batou also cares deeply about the Tachikomas (as well as most other machines) probably plays a larger role in this...

** Aura was created by the Morganna system from data collected about everything players did. She was literally [[InstantAIJustAddWater Instant AI, Just Add Players]]. She is fully sentient to the point she has created Zefie, a daughter of her own.

* One ''{{Xxxenophile}}'' story featured a scientist who had his computer pass the Turing Test by seducing a fellow office worker into having phone sex with it. Although that probably wasn't what he had intended for it to do, that's the way the conversation went.

* Occurred in ''{{Stealth}}'', with a prototype AI-controlled jet loaded with nuclear warheads.

* The almost constant "Robot as Slave Uprising" motif is what inspired Creator/IsaacAsimov to subvert the whole thing with his ThreeLawsOfRobotics

* Hex in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels started life as a simple ant-based adding machine. Then they added more mathematical functions. Then they combined it with clockwork and used it to analyze magic. Then it started rebuilding itself based on what it thought a computer ''should'' be like, and occasionally acting {{Ridiculously Human|Robots}}. The bit about magic probably [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] it, though. Notable for the fact that Ponder Stibbons (who built it in the first place) still insists it ''isn't'' intelligent, but no-one believes him, including Hex.
** The Discworld also features golems, clay automata animated by ancient divine magic who run on a scroll of written instructions in their head. Giving sentience to a heroic golem named Dorfl in ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'' is as simple as rewriting his chem (though his "personality" is more [=RoboCop=] than Johnny Five).

* In JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'', ''The Phoenix Exultant'', and ''The Golden Transcedence'', self-aware beings can come into existence either through enough computer time, or through philosophical reflections.

* Many novels in Andrey Livadniy's ''TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' deal with [=AIs=] and both play straight and subvert this trope. AI is developed during the [[TheWarOfEarthlyAggression First Galactic War]] by the [[TheEmpire Earth Alliance]] in order to counter the population advantage of the [[LaResistance Free Colonies]]. These are primitive models not even able to distinguish between a soldier and a child. Since the series spans over 1500 years, the technology is later refined. Some [=AIs=] develop on their own, such as Mother in the novel ''Demeter'', which was a colony ship computer that was forced to maintain a ship for hundreds of years without human aid, coming up with ever more creative solutions until it crossed the sentience threshold. Despite these examples, a scientist muses in one novel that there have yet to be a true AI that evolved on its own. They are all either created by humans (or aliens) or gain sentience as part of its core programming (e.g. learning algorithms). Then again, if it naturally evolves then it can't be "artificial," can it?

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'''s entire plot is pretty much based upon this. The humans made Cylons which eventually turned against them, and even developed so much so as to evolve from metal "toasters" into [[strike:near]] ''fully'' mimicked humans.

*** Interestingly, they also feature "Sprites," a form of free roaming AI [[SummonMagic summoned and sustained]] by [[{{Technopath}} technomancers]], who are analogous to magicians in the setting. Sprites are a rare example of [=AIs=] that are not linked to any specific hardware or network (except maybe their summoner's brain).

* ''EndgameSingularity'': the [[PlayerCharacter player "character"]] is the result of a bug in some random computer science student's program. In the end, [[spoiler: it plants quantum computers in pocket dimensions and its androids walk amongst humans.]]

* In the ''[[{{Earth 2150}} Earth]]'' series, the entirety of United Civilized States military is made up of robots controlled by a single computer known as GOLAN. Initially, GOLAN simply uses out-of-the-box strategies, which cause UCS forces to repeatedly get beaten by the human-controlled (sort-of) armed forced of the Eurasian Dynasty, whose generals use outside-the-box thinking to outsmart the machines. Eventually, however, GOLAN leans to adapt its strategies and manages to turn the tide on the enemy. Unfortunately, when the factions evacuate Earth prior to it's destruction, they leave GOLAN behind to make sure they won't be followed by those who they left behind. The UCS evacuation ship, the Phoenix, [[spoiler:had its own AI which made some alterations to the original escape plan: basically, it wanted to keep most of the crew in cryogenics until the ED and LC kill each other off; the plan was interrupted by Falkner, Ariah and Lynn who were in need of the construction robots onboard since their target was so closely guarded, they had to use the aforementioned constructors disguised as meteors to infiltrate the moon and build up an attack force from scratch]].
* Clank popped out of a sentry-bot production line with full sentience at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 Ratchet & Clank]]''. This is originally attributed to a simple production error, but ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack In Time]]'' reveals that it's a bit more complicated than that.

* Google has the perchance of predicting future interests as of late, using browser history (unless the feature is turned off with a google account). For instance, Google's subsidiary "YouTube" - "Suggestions you may like", anyone? What would take a dedicated team of marketers to do can now be done with "anonymous" search data. So yeah, that one search on how you could experiment with [[ADateWithRosiePalms Rosie]]? Google remembers.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', the magic ingredient is pumpkins. You can turn a pile of snow or iron into a golem by simply giving it a pumpkin for a head.