Kahunaburger said:
Well, for one EDI wound up taking control of EVA due to engaging in an online battle with it while searching it's memory banks. EDI didn't initially set out to obtain a body. Then there are also the social aspects of it, EDI being an AI is doing the whole "Data" thing in trying to become more human, and she is in love with Joker. The body she is using is better for social purposes. It's also unknown how many robots she could divide herself between without lowering the effectiveness of the Normandy, not to mention the issue of where they would all be kept. She's also engaging in relatively small scale engagements, and wanting to do things like walk around the Citadel. A bloody Dreadnaught wouldn't work.
I mean it's not perfect, but the whole thing is written well enough to be acceptable. I get the impression the idea is supposed to be fairly similar to say "Andromeda" more than anything, which is probably where they got the idea from.
Also, the robot in question isn't exactly weak, it pretty much went Terminator on Ashley/Kaiden, has built in protective fields, decoy projectors, and similar things, as far as mecha goes it's not exactly a weak unit. Capabilities wise I might actually back EDI against your average Dreadnaught (which is actually kind of extreme cybernetic conversion more than a robot) and definatly against ED-409 (who was taken out by a rocket launcher). Explosive decoys, armor melting flame blasts, techno hacking... and then weapon use, not to mention extreme mobility. There are more powerful robots, but she's quite formidible by any standards, there are very, very few serious science fiction settings where anyone would laugh off EDI's combat capabilities. Those Takinoma things from Ghost In The Shell might be able to get her though, unless I'm remembering them wrong I seem to remember they cloak, have mono webbing, and are capable of breaking the sound barrier going full speed with their hover jets, not to mention the machine guns (which are pretty powerful, but don't seem all that great against armor since they tend to just bounce off most hard targets or other tanks and serious warbots... but would probably pack enough punch to hurt EDI to be fair since while durable she's perfectly damagable by military grade small arms... unlike the other two I think these could reliably get a drop on her she probably wouldn't have the manuverability advantage, due to the speeds. I'd imagine these could handle the decoys too, though I'd imagine ED-409 or th Dreadnaught would have a hard time with that).
I'd also point out that with the general ban on AI it seems like people are nervous about autonomous systems to begin with. I don't remember seeing any kind of unmanned war machines bigger than a support drone that I can remember... well excepting The Geth and Reapers of course. It's not like there are tons of war droids out there for EDI to choose from, and it's not like the Alliance is lined up to bankroll deathbot bodies for the Unshackled AI which is supposed to be a secret.. she's pretending to be Joker's mobility assistance Mech.
Robocop, and Ghost In The Shell use some fairly differant concepts on what direction technological development went in.
Indeed I'd guess that EVA was kind of unique, being something special The Illusive Man was holding onto, I'd imagine there aren't many infiltration bots running around out there at all. It might not be totally unheard of, but it's not something people, even in secret labs and such, are apparently prepared for because it basically doesn't happen. That's the impression I get at any rate.
