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"...a few centuries of coherent humanist thought, set against a million odd years of evolved killer ape tendency. No-one's going to give you very good odds on humanism, are they?"
- Richard Morgan
 |
| Cutoff Switch | ||
| A means of instantaneously switching off an artificial intelligence. |
Switching the Hal 9000 computer back on is not without peril.
| "What is it?" asked Curnow with mild distaste, hefting the little mechanism in his hand. "A guillotine for mice?"
"Not a bad description - but I'm after bigger game." Floyd pointed to a flashing arrow on the display screen, which was now showing a complicated circuit diagram. "You see this line?" "Yes - the main power supply. So?" "This is the point where it enters Hal's central processing unit. I'd like you to install this gadget here. Inside the cable trunking, where it can't be found without a deliberate search." "I see. A remote control, so you can pull the plug on Hal whenever you want to. Very neat - and a nonconducting blade, too, so there won't be any embarrassing shorts when it's triggered. Who makes toys like this? The CIA?" "Never mind. The control's in my room - that little red calculator I always keep on my desk. Put in nine nines, take the square root, and press INT. That's all..." |
| Technovelgy from 2010: Odyssey Two,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Not known in 1982 Additional resources -
|
Here is the quote showing the name used in the novel:
Compare to the electromagnetic shotgun from Neuromancer (1984), by William Gibson.
As he floated behind Dr. Chandra in the zero-gravity environment of Discovery's flight deck, Floyd's mind was seldom far from the cutoff switch, installed and tested only a few hours earlier...
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Tech news articles related to 2010: Odyssey Two
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
Cutoff Switch-related
news articles:
- Google Working On A 'Cutoff Switch' For AI
- Can Artificial Intelligences Be Stopped?
| Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests |
| Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity |
| AI Worms That Spread |
| Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools |
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'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
