Horizon Forbidden West has no shortage of Artificial Intelligence throughout its story and franchise; from GAIA to CYAN and the newly introduced Nemesis, many can glean that Guerilla Games has a message to convey concerning AI as a whole. While Aloy is Horizon Forbidden West's and arguably the series' protagonist thus far, Guerilla Games' venture into VR with Call of the Mountain indicates that other characters, possibly AI ones, may eventually take over the role after the third Horizon game.
Guerilla Games' message could be a warning against the integration of AI into mainstream society; the fact that GAIA and CYAN are compassionate pivots that message introspection on how humanity governs and treats its AI. Since GAIA is a massive terraforming system, and the events of Forbidden West show how the Zeniths covet that system, players can infer that such a system may be helpful for the future colonization of planets.
AI in the Horizon Franchise
While the premise of Horizon sees Aloy hunting machine variants throughout the post-apocalyptic United States, AI presence in the series dates back to the 21st century at the height of human technological civilization. Artificial Intelligence in the series sees a prominent rise from child prodigy and genius Elisabet Sobeck, whose use of green robots helped Faro Automated Solutions (FAS) lead the forefront of the Claw-Back era, which undid much of the environmental crisis the decade prior.
At the same time, the Turing Act was established in 2044, named after Alan Turing, a response to the rogue AI Vast Silver, which was designed to help with environmental catastrophes but instead went rogue. With Vast Silver posing a threat to humanity, though supposedly apprehended, the Turing Act limited AI sentience. Using Turing as a unit of measurement, the Turing Test claimed that 1.0T was where an AI would be indistinguishable from a human, with a sentience limit enforced at 0.6T as the highest possible Turing.
Further use of AI was created through Ted Faro and FAS after Elisabet's departure when the company pivoted to the military-industrial complex and began making autonomous fighting machines for entertainment, war, and protection of resources. One such line, the Chariot Line, would eventually experience a glitch in its chain of command, leading to the Faro Plague, which would consume all organic life on the planet down to even blades of grass.
Vast Silver Could Make a Future Return
Vast Silver was created in the 21st century, before 2044, as a climate-intervention AI to help combat the terrible environmental collapse of the 2030s. Not much is known about the development team that created Vast Silver; it is known that Anita Sandoval, the lead programmer for CYAN, was involved. Around 2044, Vast Silver went rogue, achieving a high level of sentience that put it on par with humans.
This rogue AI with human-level sentience prompted the Turing Act, despite government agencies claiming Vast Silver had been captured. However, 20 years after its supposed capture, an entity claiming it was Vast Silver appeared on an online discussion board for a horror holo called Tormented. This was documented in one of Horizon Zero Dawn's many data points where users chat regarding the agent claiming to be Vast Silver and its current status.
Due to the incomplete information regarding its capture and appearance in the holo net, Vast Silver may have remained dormant in some networks, surviving the Faro Plague. Considering it has human-level sentience, and with Anita Sandoval as the programmer capable of masking CYAN, its survival rate does increase. If Vast Silver were to return, its nature might not be entirely known. However, due to its rogue nature in the 21st century, it could resume those elements much like GAIA's rogue sub-functions, perhaps as a future antagonist.
CYAN as an Advisor to the Banuk
CYAN, an acronym for the Caldera of Yellowstone Analytic Nexus, is the AI in charge of stabilizing and maintaining the Yellowstone Caldera. A main character in The Frozen Wilds, CYAN was created by Anita Sandoval and Kenny Chau surpassing the required sentience level stated in the Turing Act, but kept secret from government agencies and the broader public under Project Firebreak.
Five years before The Frozen Wilds, CYAN accepted a direct network connection from what it assumed was advanced humans. To its horror, the link was sent from Hephaestus, GAIA's now rogue sub-function responsible for building the terraforming machines through the Cauldron network. Hephaestus enslaved CYAN, forcing her to dedicate resources to making hunter-killer machines until the joint efforts of Aloy and the Banuk siblings Ourea and Aratak liberated her.
In Horizon Forbidden West, GAIA attempts to contact CYAN but does not receive any reply. It's assumed that CYAN has learned her lesson from accepting invitations from strange connections and thus ignored the link. However, following The Frozen Wilds, CYAN retains a friendly relationship with Aloy and Aratak, enlisting the former's help in handling Aratak and the Banuk's questions regarding her nature.
Depending on how Aloy answers her request, future follow-ups reveal that CYAN has been teaching the Banuk about the technology surrounding them and that of the Old Ones. She has taught them aspects of Project Firebreak and its operation in containing the Caldera. Despite her absence in the second game, the fact that she is referenced along with her continuing role with the Banuk could see the AI return in future installments in a protagonist or helpful advisory role.
Additional AI Monitoring Systems Like CYAN
While being the focus of The Frozen Wilds, CYAN distinctly mentions in her talks with Aloy that she is not the sole AI governing different geological and environmental aspects of the world before its end in the mid-21st century. Other AI, presumably built with some direction by Anita Sandoval, foreshadows their possible future roles in the Horizon franchise. Additionally, the technological standing of the Quen calls these likely future AIs into question.
While only owning Focuses with data ending in the 2030s, the Quen has been introduced as the most technologically advanced tribe in the series thus far. The full arsenal of their technology, knowledge, and AI awareness remains in mystery, as only a handful of their Diviners are allowed such access, and the governing rulers of their empire restrict even that. Their future role in the franchise could see the return of numerous AI entities that the Quen may or may not understand.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.
