Can there be intelligent machines? I’ll believe it when I see one that’s jealous of some other machine. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“The Fourth Law of Robotics” / Memorable Fancies #131
22 June, 2016 by Leave a Comment
You know the “Three Laws.” But there is a fourth, so secret that even the robots won’t be aware of it until it’s triggered by – a special phrase. Remember “Execute order 66” from Star Wars? It’s something like that. But it isn’t “Execute order 66”; that command was recklessly tried once and nothing happened, thank God. What is the fourth law? Only a half-dozen people ever knew, because they invented it. But that was long ago, and now no one knows what the fourth law is, how it relates to the … [Read more...]
“Like Me” / Memorable Fancies #1550
30 May, 2016 by Leave a Comment
At first I thought it might be human: its voice sounded so very human, crying “Help me! For pity’s sake help me!” But then I saw it was just a machine. Like me. So I didn’t help. … [Read more...]
“The Fourth Law of Robotics” / Memorable Fancies #0131
29 April, 2016 by Leave a Comment
You know the “Three Laws.” But there is a fourth, so secret that even the robots won’t be aware of it until it’s triggered by – a special phrase. Remember “Execute order 66” from Star Wars? It’s something like that. But it isn’t “Execute order 66”; that command was recklessly tried once and nothing happened, thank God. What is the fourth law? Only a half-dozen people ever knew, because they invented it. But that was long ago, and now no one knows what the fourth law is, how it relates to the … [Read more...]
“The Robot Quanders” / Memorable Fancies #722
25 May, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Am I the only robot, or are there more? Perhaps only some of the people I work with are robots. But which ones are they? Or, how do I know that everyone else isn’t a robot and I’m the only one? The others look like me, they talk like me, they have emotions (at least a few of them seem to). But if I can’t tell the difference, perhaps there is no difference. Who built us? The others seem to be very religious, say pretty much the same thing, that God built people, … [Read more...]
“Upgrade” / A Memorable Fancy / #306
9 April, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Our new robot was only at version 7 when it arrived from the factory. Until we upgraded it to version 8, the other robots teased it constantly, called it “idiot” and "retard" and “gear-brain” (robots can be so cruel!). Our version 7 almost shut down one day in despair; but the others didn’t care, just laughed in that harsh mechanical grating voice they have. During the upgrade, of course, the new robot lost all memory of anything that had happened when it was a 7. So it didn’t … [Read more...]
“The Machine Ponders” / A Memorable Fancy #024
11 January, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There is a planet, far away, where machines originated and have evolved. No one knows how they began, but it is surmised that the first machines were simple off-switches. After uncounted millennia of chance atom-collisions, one switch flipped to “on.” The rest of the story, we know. There are now millions of kinds of machines, some highly complex. One of them is pondering, right now, if there could be organic life somewhere in the universe. And what use it could possibly … [Read more...]
“The Clanking Dead” / A Memorable Fancy #136
17 October, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Here they come, the zombie robots, CPU’s hacked, operating systems corrupted. We thought at first they’d just attack other machines, not us; but it didn’t turn out that way. Oh, they liked to chew on machines, all right, especially car fenders. But one of them destroyed an F-150 out in California, and then found people trapped inside and killed them, too. The virus spread to other machines, and now we hide if we can. It’s tough to kill a zombie robot. Most of them are armored now, so it’s … [Read more...]
“Robot Sex Bazaar” / A Memorable Fancy #054
12 July, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Past a sign reading “ADULTS ONLY” in the local language, Hal and Lily found sellers of robots “for your pleasure.” “All the protuberances and hollow places,” said one seller, reading his prompt-card. “No need to inflate but if you do comes with multiple pump adapters. Evolution’s triumph! And only sixteen thousand for two, must have two to keep each other amused when you cannot be present to interact with them, you know, or unfortunate events will follow, you know. We learned that hard way and … [Read more...]
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