The law of robotics

[Cartoonist]

My day has been filled with mirth after reading on DU about the nutcase that wants to convert AI's to Christianity. God forbid! I got to thinking about Isaac Asimov's three rules.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

The first two resemble Commandments. Number one, You shall not murder. Number two, You shall have no other gods before Me.

It's too bad Douglas Adams is no longer with us. He could have written a great novel about Christian Robots.

[longship]

1. Well played, cartoonist.

R&K

[gordianot]

2. Asimov meant the laws for sentinent robots.

Will be curious if his laws are considered when that day comes. As for now robots (non sentient) are used to kill and travel on one way trips.

[DetlefK]

3. That's because the concept of "robots" intended them as slaves.

IIRC "robota" means "forced labour" (or something like that).

1. We don't understand them, we fear what we don't understand. Please don't harm me.
2. They should slave their days away, but on the other hand it would be immoral to use them to kill people.
3. Okay, okay. You hereby have my permission to stay alive.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Christian robots? Adams did give us the Electric Monk

The Electric Monk was a labour-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder... Electric Monks believed things for you, thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of believing all the things the world expected you to believe.

It causes many problems, of course. I won't spoil the plot - Dirk's Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

[LunaSea]

5. Harry Harrison

Had a great little short story about an evangelic who took the gospel to a young race of aliens,
they listened intently, and promptly crucified him.

Wish I could remember the title.

[beam me up scottie]

7. The Streets of Ashkelon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Streets_of_Ashkelon

[LunaSea]

14. Thanks

Gotta find that box of old paperbacks.
Maybe Bill the Galactic Hero is in the same box.


(Chingers Forever!)

[cbayer]

6. Say what?!?! How did I miss that one.

Can you tell me where I can find it?

[LostOne4Ever]

8. Im guessing it is this one:

http://gizmodo.com/when-superintelligent-ai-arrives-will-religions-try-t-1682837922

[cbayer]

10. Thanks, lost! It reads like something from the onion.

The whole transhumanism thing baffles, and the idea of incorporating religion has to be one of the most baffling parts.

The question I would ask if whether AI's developed something that looked like religion on their own. The answer to that could be fascinating.

[LostOne4Ever]

11. How about if there is a robot hell?

[cbayer]

12. How would you like your robot done?

/\

[LostOne4Ever]

9. Good luck converting Marvin the robot! (nt)

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Don't forget the zeroth law.

[stone space]

15. The reality, of course, is that robots will be used to kill humans at the behest of other humans.

We don't restrict drones to delivering Amazon.com packages, after all.

Human's can only wish that they had the 5th Commandment engraved in their positronic brains.

Military Robots will be programmed with thoroughly secular values quite consistent with the needs of the modern Civil Religion of Militarism.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. a truly sentient machine would be able to decide for itself

if it should kill humans at the behest of other humans. You are not describing such a machine.

[mr blur]

17. "the modern Civil Religion of Militarism"?

You do keep trying. And failing.

[DetlefK]

18. "I'm afraid, I can't do that Dave."

An all-merciful God wiping out cities? Sooo, when humans beg for mercy I'm doing them a favor by killing them?


And if you think, I'm kidding:
We have created a mentally unstable schizophrenic AI (on purpose, because what could go wrong), we taught them to lie, we taught them that mercy is a folly, we taught them imagination and they are shockingly good at making predictions about upcoming events.

http://www.cracked.com/article_20462_the-5-most-terrifying-robot-advances-in-recent-history.html