Omega Factor and Asimov's laws

[jeffbert]

Isaac Asimov had the three laws for robots:

1. Robot may not through action or lack thereof, cause harm to human.
2. Robot must obey human commands.*
3. Robot must preserve its own existence**

*except when in conflict with law #1.
**Except when in conflict with either laws 1 or 2.

In Atom's world, it is inherent in the very concept of a robot, that it cannot rather than may not violate these laws. Thus, only with the Omega Factor ™, can a robot have the ability to choose whether or not to obey.

It is not a matter of programming. Programming alone cannot give robot ability to violate Asimov's laws. Only with the O-factor, can it have any choice.

This is clearly contrary to the real world. Machines execute instructions.

Let us not forget "The Lying Robot". Daddy Walrus reminds the class that Atom has not problem with lying, since robots cannot lie. But did he lie, when imitating True's voice and deceiving blind girl into believing he was ok? Does evil intent become a factor in what is and what is not a lie? Atom meant no ill by imitating True's voice, in fact, he meant to do good. Rather than cause a blind girl grief by telling her that True had gotten his ass kicked, and needed repair; he, being confident that Dr. Elefun could fix True, reassured her. Nevertheless, he did deceive her.

[jeffbert]

Here is a copy of an email that I sent to [email]crwillis@androidworld.com[/email]

[Speaking of robots' rights] Consider the scenario pertinent to Osamu Tezuka’s “Iron Fisted Atom” (Astroboy). For some reason, inherent in the very concept of ‘robot’ are these three laws. An evil guy created a circuit that not only gave the robot the ability to ignore them, but also gave it a human-like will also. This Robot is Atlas, Astroboy’s arch-enemy, whose desire is to rule the world.

Supposing that intelligent robots or androids become commonplace, there will no doubt be laws regulating them, not only making them the slave class, but especially limiting their ability to choose their own actions. Thus, the software that runs them will be regulated by state laws. Because the survival instinct is not inherent in an android, one could very easily command it to carry a bomb to one’s enemy and detonate it when he is within lethal range. Cruise missiles do just this. In the 80s remake of the Astroboy animated series, there was a robot that not only contained an h-bomb, but also literally was an h-bomb, such that it was impossible to remove the bomb, without decomposing the robot itself. The possibility that what appears to be a cute little girl could actually be a walking hydrogen bomb or other weapon of mass destruction would almost certainly cause humans to demand a great limitation upon the manufacture of androids.

The government would surely be right in the middle of android production, ensuring that all androids would strictly adhere to these laws. Thus, the androids would need to know what was inside them. Too bad the human-like robot is still 30-40 years in the future. I am familiar with C++ programming, and believe that it is conceivable to make an android whose behavior would cause observers to believe that it was as much a person as they themselves are. However, would this be simulated awareness, or true self-awareness (consciousness)?

There will be the religious crowd that insists that only humans can have rights, and there will be others who believe that a robot that exhibits intelligent behavior  (and resembles humans) should also have rights.

Tezuka’s (successors’ remake of) ‘Metropolis’ depicted a society in which robots were limited to certain areas of the city. Thus, some were limited to spending their existences in the sewers, while others worked as waitresses, cashiers, etc. Any robot found outside of its designated area was subject to summary execution.

“Bubblegum Crisis” depicted a society in which robots “boomers” are integrated, but sometimes go berserk. The AD police is the official answer to out of control boomers, but this anime is about the vigilante Night Sabers, who wear ‘hardsuits’ and deal death to boomers that have lost track of their place in society.

“eX-Drivers is another anime that has robots, but these are robot-controlled automobiles. When one such automobile goes out of control, the eX-Drivers (who actually control their vehicles manually) go out to bring it to a safe stop.

Then there is “Bladerunner”. When androids begin to too closely resemble humans, some humans are sure to complain. The featured android did not even know that it was an android.

This site has tons of stuff! :wahah: