![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"Evolutionary success ... is going to absolutely require mobility on, at a minimum, an interplanetary scale. We either go or we die out."
|
![]() |
![]() Large parts of this novel are dedicated to the idea that computers can be used for other than strictly linear thinking (or simple computation). The novel uses technical terms to describe how a computer system that is capable of original solutions to problems might be as difficult as a human genius is to communicate with.
This computer system requires another system just to mediate between itself (the QL) and human beings. The QL spends a lot of its time working through material that seems totally irrelevant, unlike the classical use of large mainframe systems, in which computational time was metered out in thousandths of a second. No wasted time in those systems!
Bear's Moving Mars (published by Tor in 1993) repeatedly mentioned computer systems called thinkers, and a QL was essential for the novel's climax.
"Quantum Logic reflected the way the universe operated at a deep level. Human logic--and the mathematical neural logic of most thinkers--worked best on the slippery surface of reality." (page 95, mass market paperback) A thinker (a self-aware computer system with a personality more like a human might have) usually mediates between humans and a QL.
However, in Moving Mars, a human scientist must forgo the thinker and interact directly with a QL to prevent the QL from exploring "answers" that can kill the scientist's team during their experiments. Immersion in the QL takes a mental toll on the scientist so that he can barely speak after long sessions, but without his guidance, the QL is distracted by dangerous possibilities. "It could not know the effect on human observers. It can't even model us effectively." (page 443)
This artifical intelligence exists beyond the realms of the human mind, and that is where it can benefit humans the most. "I saw more clearly now the value of the QL's contribution. That it was in fact self-aware, despite these distortions, gave me a chill. What sort of self-awareness could function when consciousness has no shape, no specified purpose? "Who could have _designed_ such a mind? Humans had--famous and less famous; and QL thinkers had played a small role in human affairs for a century and a half--but no human, not even the designers, could encompass the QL mentality. It was not superior--in some repsects, it operated much more simply than any human or thinker mind--but what it did, it did superbly--and unpredictably..." (page 480) .
Larry Niven wrote a group of stories centered around the Draco Tavern; one of them is called The Schumann Computer - see the entry for chirpsithra supercomputer for a truly unique look at artificial intelligence.
Special thanks to Ann M. Lynn for her contributions to this entry. Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Quantum Logic Thinker (QL)-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |