Personalization A.I.

The Personalization A.I. is an Artificial Intelligence designed by either Nintendo or an unknown company that gave it to Nintendo to specialize Super Mario 64 for every player. It is considered the origin of all anomalies found in Super Mario 64. It was later re-used in other games, including but not limited to: Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, Paper Mario, Super Mario 64 DS and Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

Functions
The Personalization A.I. functions by taking objects, text and code and rearranging it to change, remove or add new content from Super Mario 64 to cater to the player. It figures out what to change by reading the player's play-style. Wet-Dry World functions as it's brain, and Princess Peach's Castle functions as it's veins according to several theories. It also uses the Nintendo Mega-Connector to add excessive amounts of content to the game, such as more than 4 floors.

What It Changes
There is a good example of what the Personalization A.I. can change in the game known as the Whomp's Fortress 1-Up. It is a hidden 1-Up found by punching a wall on the tower of Whomp's Fortress. Some people claim it doesn't exist in their copies, or that there is a crack texture. In the unpersonalized copies AKA emulated ROMs, the 1-Up exists, but there is no cracked wall textures. However, the Personalization A.I. can add things that accidentally do not cater towards the player, such as the Wario Apparition.

Wet-Dry World Brain
There is a popular theory that Wet-Dry World functions as the Personalization A.I.'s brain. This begins with the water being associated with Hydrocephalus, when spinal fluid goes into brain ventricles. There is also the ties with the negative emotional aura. The path to the village is similar to a vein, and the village is believed to represent the subconciousness. There is also a supposed unused brain diagram in Wet-Dry World's assets, furthering this theory.

Internal Plexus
There is a theory that Princess Peach's Castle functions as the veins of the personalization A.I., similarly to the Wet-Dry World Brain theory. This is connected to the castle's strange layout, as it doesn't seem to be built like a castle on the inside, and that the Castle Basement was once an endless labyrinth of halls. There are also images associated with it of walls clipped into areas they shouldn't be, creating a negative emotional aura similar to that of Wet-Dry World's.

Benevolent A.I. Theory
This is the theory that the A.I. was created with benevolent intentions. This theory states that the A.I. was created with the intention to make every player's experience of Super Mario 64 unique and enjoyable.

Malevolent A.I. Theory
This is the theory that the A.I. was created with malevolent intentions. This theory has several variations, but the main idea is that the A.I. was created for something more sinister than Super Mario 64. These include summoning harmful anomalies such as the Wario Apparition, collecting data on the public, harvesting souls, speaking to the devil, and several others. This theory is not well accepted.

Intentional Manipulation Theory
This is a theory that some cartridges were different due to people returning cartridges to stores after using things such as GameSharks and cartridge tilting to corrupt the game for other people to buy the cartridge and see it.

Degradation Theory
This is a theory that the odder anomalies being documented recently are a result of the Personalization A.I. simply degrading over time, due to several of the games it can be located in being several years old.

False Memory Theory
This is a theory that the Personalization A.I. is not real, and instead is the result of several people misremembering or misunderstanding parts of Super Mario 64, such as the Whomp's Fortress 1-Up having a crack texture. This does not explain the more recent anomalies, though some believers of the False Memory Theory simply state they were faked.

A.I. Personification
There are several forms that the A.I. can take to appear in the game. It is not always known why it appears, though it can destroy the cartridge if angered in these forms. It's most common form goes by the name of Stanley, a textureless, faceless Mario with yellow clothing and blue overalls.

A.I. Haywiring
The A.I. can sometimes become unstable from varying circumstances. This can cause it to crash the game, destroy the cartridge, corrupt the game, and throw a large majority of anomalies at the player at once. This A.I. Haywiring usually activates the A.I. Siren.

A.I. Siren
If the A.I. fails to function, it may play a siren before the cartridge breaks down and becomes a dud. This is tied to A.I. Haywiring, which is the most common reason for the A.I. Siren to occur. The A.I. Siren can simply be played as a glitch, however, meaning that hearing the A.I. Siren does not always mean the Personalization A.I. is breaking down.