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"I kind of take it for granted that our great-grandchildren will regard us as a sort of precursor species. That they won't think of us as human and if we could see them, we probably wouldn't think of them as human either."
- William Gibson
 |
| 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. |
| Technovelgy 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.
Compare to the roboscribe, a robotic writer of detective mysteries, from End as a Robot by Richard Marsten.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Jester
More Ideas
and Technology by William Tenn
Tech news articles related to The Jester
Tech news articles related to works by William Tenn
Robot Comedian-related
news articles:
- 'Comical Robot' An Aid To Conversations
- RoboThespian - Robot Comedian Wants Louis CK's Job
- Ginger the LOLbot
- Comedian Robot Named Data
- Pun Generation Via Neural Nets
- Memes Now Come From Neural Nets
| 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?'
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'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 ...'
