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"Why does a creative person create? It's a type of compulsion. I like to explore new ideas."
- Bart Kosko
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| Restraining Bolt | ||
| A device that makes sure a robot does what you want (rather than what it wants). |
As robots become more sophisticated, and are given the capacity for choosing goals and working to meet them, you may want a way to make sure a robot does what you want.
| Luke's gaze was drawn irresistibly back to the hologram. "I wonder who she is." He reached again for the Artoo's internal controls, and the robot scurried backward again, squeaking a blue streak. "He says there's a restraining separator bolt that's circuiting out his self motivational components," Threepio translated. "He suggests that if you move the bolt he might be able to repeat the entire message," Threepio finished uncertainly. Selecting the proper tool, Luke reached down into the exposed circuitry and popped the restraining bolt free. The first noticeable result of this action was that the portrait disappeared. |
| Technovelgy from Star Wars,
by George Lucas. Published by Del Rey in 1976 Additional resources -
|
For an illustrative tale on the subject of computers that do what they want, see the chirpsithra supercomputer, from a great short story by Larry Niven.
Compare to circuit inhibiting destructiveness from To Please the Master (1958) by Margaret St. Clair and the android safety mechanism from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968) by Philip K. Dick.
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'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'And the lifter was being piloted by a large pizza with extra cheese...'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
