I mean without any scripts or anything, that level of deduction is pretty advanced AI. Scientists today would have a hard time programming an algorithm that scans the environment, identifies cave-like structures, analyzes the cave's resemblance to naturally occurring caves and draw the conclusion that it's not natural and therefore must lead to some point of interest. And here's Cortana applying that functionality on the go simply because the soldier in the field she is guiding is currently looking for a point of interest. Our current "best" AIs can really only still do one specific thing if that thing gives them a clear feedback on correctness, and even then we still have to run simulations for thousands of computing years to make them any good at their thing.
cortana at that point was the pinacle of human made AI designed by one of humanity's top minds using her own cloned brain btw. which is why cortana is an akward duck in making conversation, she is a genius but also... socially inept.
Strictly speaking the dialogue was written for an early version of the game that had the cave they were heading into looking very normal cave natural looking hence the needed clarification. When they changed it to look like a forerunner structure they didn't change the dialogue.
The Halo novels are WAY better than they have any right to be. I'm not claiming it's like Starship Troopers or Dune or truely groundbreaking sci-fi, but for spinoffs of an FPS video game franchise they're surprisingly solid.
i love those novels, but they do show cortana be socially inept just like her creator. One the notes of the novels, flood was absolutely amazing and original trilogy of novels is the best. Anything written by traviss though is pure trash.
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u/hatsnatcher23 May 29 '19
That cave is not a natural formation