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"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
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| Autonomic Interviewer | ||
| A robotic reporter. |
What is the best way to feed the ravenous maw of pop culture? Robotic reporters, that's how.
| "Mr. Lars, sir."
"I'm afraid I only have a moment to talk to your viewers. Sorry." He started on, but the autonomic TV interviewer, camera in its hand, blocked his path. The metal smile of the creature glittered confidently... "Look," he said, this time gently, as if the autonomic interviewer were really alive and not merely an arbitrarily endowed sentient concoction of the ingenuity of Wes-block technology of A.D. 2004 |
| Technovelgy from The Zap Gun,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Galaxy Publishing in 1965 Additional resources -
|
The use of the word "autonomic" is very clever. Although dictionaries list it as synonymous with "autonomous", most of us associate the word with the "autonomic nervous system", thus blurring the line between mechanical constructs and organic materials. It's as if stepping up to someone and posing irritating questions becomes an involuntary action, unmediated by conscious thought - an autonomic reflex.
The humble autonomic interviewer is exactly the sort of "receptor" that gathered news for the vast cybernetic homeostatic newspapers (also called homeopapes) of PKD's bleak future.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Zap Gun
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Zap Gun
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Autonomic Interviewer-related
news articles:
- Roving Robotic Reporter
- Robot Journalist Provides Autonomic News Coverage
- World's First Android Newscaster (Video)
| Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car |
| Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots |
| Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar |
| Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
