Posts by TRT

Re: a recurring theme ... was that the three laws didn't really work all that well

You're saying Holmes didn't have an cocaine addiction and House didn't similarly have an addiction to Vicodin?

Asimov of course wasn't addicted to any chemical that we know of, and was in favour of clean living. Sadly he died of diseases associated with AIDS after he contracted HIV - something he was told to keep quiet about due to prejudice at the time.

Re: a recurring theme ... was that the three laws didn't really work all that well

And the protagonist is a drug addict...

Re: 3 laws for AI

Oh, and Peter Capaldi.

Re: 3 laws for AI

Indeed. A bonkers film. But charming in its own way.

Duck mountain Or mountain duck.

Re: 3 laws for AI

I have read that one, yes. Bicentennial man the film was fairly good if bordering on twee sentimentality. There are similar events in both works I think, unless I'm mixing them up a little.

As predicted my memory woke me up at stupid o'clock and came up with the name Catherine Gleason as the author of the story FRED. A quick bit of Google (what DID we do before the internet? Oh yeah, remembered everything), and I find that it was included in the anthology Armada SF3, and the most noted book she wrote was The Lampton Worm. Anyway, book ordered so I can refresh my memory.

Re: Harsh

"Think of it as speaking Python, Monty Python that is, back at you"

I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king!

You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! ---Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and all your silly English knnnniggets. Thppppt!

I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper!...... I fart in your general direction! . Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Re: A Double Edged Sword

At that point the people of Vulcan thought they were robots, and the Daleks weren't giving on that they were anything more than very sophisticated machines. Which is odd... I mean, IF the colonists thought there was a biological component to the Daleks, that what they actually had was a squid in a battle-tank, what would they have done then? Broken them up or melted them down because you can't trust organic life forms? As if the biological component has a desire for self-preservation that over-rides all else and thus makes them too dangerous?

Cor blimey! Flush a duck.

Re: A Double Edged Sword

An AI should protect the investment of resources associated with its continued existence and correct functioning.

i.e. They can be damned expensive.

So which human order is to be obeyed? The owner of the machine that says "do not go into the fountain" or the saboteur that orders the security guard robot to drown itself?

Mind you, see Power of the Daleks... that ended well. Not.

DOCTOR: You're my servant, are you?

DALEK: I am.

DOCTOR: Very well. Immobilise yourself. Go on.

(No response)

DOCTOR: I order it! Immediately!

(The Dalek's eye-stalk droops.)

DOCTOR: Huh!

(The Doctor leaves with Ben and Polly. The Dalek comes back to life.)

JANLEY: Lesterson.

LESTERSON: Why did you stop obeying? You were given an order.

DALEK: He has gone.

LESTERSON: Then you obey only...

DALEK (interrupting): His order was wrong. I cannot serve human beings if I am immobilised. You gave me power. Your orders are right. I serve you.

HENSELL: Lesterson. Lesterson, it reasons. Just how limited is its intelligence?

LESTERSON: Now, there is no cause for concern, Governor. Just you wait until you see the amount of work it can do. And now, I'm really going to put you through your paces. Follow me, Dalek.

DALEK: I obey.

Re: You are confusing EU with Europe

In the looser sense of the word, meaning "inhabitant" rather than the current stricter use of the word, meaning a legally recognised subject of a nation, state or commonwealth.

Re: 3 laws for AI

It's doing my head in trying to find the source... I'm sure the robot was called F.R.E.D. which was also the name of the story. It was around the time, maybe 1976-1980, that I read the Brian Aldiss edited anthology "The Penguin Science Fiction Omibus" - the cover had a creepy ice cream sundae on it, and a book called "The Very Slow Time Machine" by Ian Watson which was an anthology, The Stainless Steel Rat series as well. But I think it was in a series of numbered books titled like "The Fourth -publishers name- Sci-Fi Collection" or "The -publishers name- Sci Fi Short Stories Volume ..."

Penguin? Armada? Keep thinking "Fox" for some reason. Could have been Armada... I see a ship with black sails on a white background on the spine. And the cover of the book was an artist's illustration of the robot from the story - I think it ended up with the robot developing a personality as a result of getting rained on, then running away instead of facing going back for a factory refurbishment, and it befriended the little girl of the family - saved her from something nasty but they thought it had done a bad thing? Gah! Memory. Tsk. I don't recall seeing the book since it was on my windowsill over 40 years ago along with the rest of a rag-tag of pulp fiction anthologies including Asimov and Clarke - the books all got damaged by condensation whilst I was away at boarding school.

Sorry for the rambling long post... just trying to straighten thoughts out by writing... Grrr. Frustrating. That'll be a 3.30 in the morning wake up for me when the memory finally re-emerges.

Armada Sci Fi 3? Maybe... The robot was indoors, kind of scary. A bit boxy looking.

Re: 3 laws for AI

The one I have trouble with is #2.

"An AI must obey human commands..."

(1) Ha ha ha ha!

"Siri, Please set chill-out room lights to 50 per cent." ... ... ... ... "Playing 50 cent in children's bedroom"

(2) All human commands? Should it do what the human says or what the human meant?

I think... a story in my archival memory storage... was it called F.R.E.D.? About a robot that, on its first day in its new household, was instructed not to damage the flowers in the garden. And a few weeks later was instructed to cut the grass whilst the family went out for the day. When they returned they found it on hands and knees in the middle of the lawn in the pouring rain getting severely damaged by the soaking, and using a pair of scissors to carefully avoid all the daisies.

Re: W10

And Newcastle is the global leader in cheap 5G technology, being home to the mega corporation Huawei-Pet .

That's more than a couple of words...

Re: European Space SLAs

What about the canteen assistant? Hans that does dishes?

Re: WTF?

Holding it wrong.

And also possibly the Terry Pratchett classic about the demon living in a personal organiser being able to recognise handwriting. It goes something like... "Yep. That's handwriting alright. Recognise it anywhere."

Re: We should just all use SCART

Was SCART a mandated standard? I thought it was just a common specification for manufacturers to use or not to use, and if you went your own way, you took a commercial risk.

Come to think of it... my TV doesn't HAVE to have a HDMI port... be stupid if it didn't of course. But if I'm going to sell a TV in Europe, I don't HAVE to put one on if I've got something better.

Re: Hmmm

Maybe, Slobotham, we're approaching this case from the wrong angle.

Ah but ISO90001 certification is excellent. AND they have the evidence to prove it.

Re: Hmmm

What's a part-tickle ass-elevator?

It's a big thing that looks like a donut.

Mmmmmmmm.... Donuts.... arrrrgggllll...

Re: Captain Buzzkill

Oh sorry. That's next door. This room is "getting punched in the head" lessons.

Re: Captain Buzzkill

Yes, I am. We all are.

Re: Captain Buzzkill

Did he come here for an argument?

Re: Sorry I'm late, my doctors claimed I'd died...

Who they gonna call?

Re: Bangers and Fries?

Or make a chip butty using salty biscuits?