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"...the people dealing with these new technologies will still be derived from the human stock we're familiar with today."
- Charles Stross
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| Personality Simulator (Virtual Person) | ||
| A computer program that presents the appearance of being a person. |
This is a relatively early example of this idea.
| A pair of glowing eyes set in a coal black head rose briefly from the moat. A second later, the rest of the creature came surging into view, cascading sparks and lava down upon the traveler.
Alan – that was the elemental's favorite name – peered nearsightedly, his head weaving faintly from side to side as he tried to recognize the traveler. "Ah, I do believe we are honored with the presence of Mr. slippery, is it not so?" He finally said. Alan was a personality simulator, of course. Mr. slippery was sure that there had never been a living operator behind that toothless, glowing smile. But he was certainly one of the best, probably the product of many hundreds of blocks of psylisp programming, and certainly superior to the little "companionship programs" you can buy nowadays, which generally become repetitive after a few hours of conversation, which don't grow, and which are unable to counter weird responses... Satisfied, Allen waved a clawed fist at the watcher in the tower, and the gate – ceramic bound in wolfram clasps – was rapidly lowered for the visitor. |
| From True Names,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Dell Binary Star in 1981 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the Adam Selene from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert Heinlein and the personality simulator in the Dosadi Experiment, a 1977 novel by Frank Herbert.
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| Man's Marriage To Hologram Ruined By Software Glitch |
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'THE red tennis robot scooted desperately across the court...'
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
