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"Looking back through history, I see no evidence for humanity making the best of things, and I think it's a pretty safe bet that's an on-going trend."
- Richard Morgan
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| Robot Comedian | ||
| Joke-telling feature added to a standard butler robot. |
Teledar comedian Lester the Jester (the "glib sahib of ad-lib") has a butler robot designed to his personal specifications to make use of his extensive joke file to tell original material. Here's how he reacts to the delivery of his new robot comedian.
| "You changed his shape!" Lester yelped accusingly, "I sent you a smooth-lined twenty-two hundred and seven model with the cylindrical trunk. You bring back a pear-shaped piece of machinery looking like a wadjacallit - as if it had a paunch all the way around!"
"Look, sir, the techs just had to expand his midsection. Even on microwire that file of jokes took up a lot of space... More space, more weight. But let me turn him on." The man in the visored helmet inserted a convoluted length of iridium - an official Robot Master Key - into the back of the robot's neck. Two full clanking turns and the machinery purred. Eyebrow ridges clinked upward. Multi-linked lips pursed questioningly. |
| From The Jester,
by William Tenn. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1951 Additional resources -
|
The robot comedian had two key features that allowed him to ad-lib jokes on demand: a variable modifier and a meson filter.
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| Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly |
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