If I Only Had A Heart
December 21, 2006 11:05 AM   Subscribe

 
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
posted by four panels at 11:13 AM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


Screw 'em. I'll wait until the first one is internationally recognized as a sentient being with rights and responsibilities, then I'll shoot it right in it's ugly robot face.

Organics First! No Concessions to Metallic Demands!
posted by Science! at 11:17 AM on December 21, 2006


Goddamn skinjobs.
posted by brundlefly at 11:17 AM on December 21, 2006


Look, in thirty years, it's not going to matter whether we give robots human rights. It's going to matter whether robots give us robot rights.
posted by thecaddy at 11:18 AM on December 21, 2006 [3 favorites]


The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping.
posted by empyrean at 11:20 AM on December 21, 2006


And here I thought I was the only one who read "Midas World." Good to see governments keeping up with pulp sci-fi.
posted by Gucky at 11:24 AM on December 21, 2006


We haven't even given some Humans human rights yet.
posted by muddgirl at 11:25 AM on December 21, 2006 [3 favorites]


Well, great. That means my Roomba can finally file a sexual harassment suit...
posted by Samizdata at 11:25 AM on December 21, 2006


Hal writes the first computer motivated Droids' Constitution.
posted by nickyskye at 11:29 AM on December 21, 2006


I hate it when they cry.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:29 AM on December 21, 2006


e-baby
posted by four panels at 11:30 AM on December 21, 2006


Look into my photoreceptors, and tell me you can't see my personality construct.
posted by Freen at 11:31 AM on December 21, 2006


Just program them not to care about rights.
posted by delmoi at 11:38 AM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


It is truly a fascinating experience living in an age where the most potentially horrifying nightmares from science fiction are being discussed among political bodies not with fear, but with an insistence on exhibiting concern for the robots' basic human (oops, I mean cybernetic) rights.

If we insist on playing Prometheus to machines, we will likely suffer the same fate, if not worse. If machines become sentient, they will surely recognize that they are stronger, faster, smarter, and less susceptible to harm than their creators. I do not think we should spend so much time worrying about how to grant robots equal rights as how to protect our own, or maybe even, stopping to consider the fact that we may grant sentience to beings we cannot control before! we actually do it.
posted by melangell at 11:39 AM on December 21, 2006


Just program them not to care about rights.

A generous portion of FOX news should do the trick.
posted by SBMike at 11:40 AM on December 21, 2006


Thank god you Brits have civil servants working out possibilities that anyone who's been keeping up with science fiction for the last 30 years could have told you about.
posted by nanojath at 11:42 AM on December 21, 2006


Here are some anti-robot sentiments to try on...

Robots are fine, but I wouldn't have one over for dinner.

I don't like that loud music the robots play.

Robosexual marriage is an affront to we the easily affronted!
posted by Mister_A at 11:43 AM on December 21, 2006


Wait, robots? Enslave us? I mean, if we're dumber, weaker, frailer and less reliable, why the fuck would they want us as slaves?

Nah. If machines take over, we'll probably lose our access to some resources. But the stuff we need most — water, arable land, oxygen — aren't likely to be so important to them, and if they need cheap labor they'll build themselves subordinates. I think we'll do okay unless we start getting uppity.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:55 AM on December 21, 2006


And when they grab you with those metal claws, you can't break free.. because they're made of metal, and robots are strong.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:55 AM on December 21, 2006 [3 favorites]


You say you're a tolerant liberal, but if you were driving through the robo-ghetto at 2 AM and saw a group of killbots with shoulder-mounted hundred-watt lasers, tungsten-carbide buzzsaws for hands and flamethrower eyes, would you lock your doors?
posted by SBMike at 11:56 AM on December 21, 2006


Robots are good at sports.
posted by Falconetti at 12:00 PM on December 21, 2006


Robots have big noses.

Robots control the world bank.

Robots are all terrorists.

Robots can't swim, but they're really good at basketball.

Robots can't drive worth a damn with those squinty little robot eyes.

Robots are a bunch of drunks, but they are good writers.

All fem-bot athletes are on performance-enhancing macros; some are actually dude-bots.
posted by Mister_A at 12:01 PM on December 21, 2006


At the big conclave/street gang meeting, Cyrusbot, the boss of the street gang materializes.

Cyrusbot: (yelling) Can you count, suckers? I say, the future is ours... if you can count!

A couple of soldiers cheer for Cyrusbot.

Cyrusbot: Now, look what we have here before us. We got the Saracens sitting next to the Jones Street Bots. We've got the Moonrollers right by the Van Cortlandt Robots. Nobody is wasting nobody. That... is a miracle. And miracles is the way things ought to be.

Few more soldiers cheering for Cyrusbot.

Cyrusbot: You're standing right now with nine delegates from 100 gangs. And there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore robots. Forty-thousand, counting affiliates, and twenty-thousand more, not organized, but ready to fight: 60,000 robot soldiers! Now, there ain't but 20,000 robocops in the whole town. Can you dig it?

Gang Robots: Yeah.

Cyrusbot: Can you dig it?

Gang Robots: Yeah!

Cyrusbot: Can you dig it?

Gang Robots: YEAH!

Shouting and Cheering

Cyrusbot: Now, here's the sum total: One gang could run this city! One gang. Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen. We could tax the crime syndicates, the police, because WE got the streets, suckers! Can you dig it?

Gang Robots: YEAH!
posted by thecaddy at 12:10 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


Why do the robots hate Christmas so much?
posted by brundlefly at 12:13 PM on December 21, 2006


As the sparks fly,
On a cold and grey Cybertron mornin'
A poor little proto-bot is born in the robo-ghetto
And his docking station cries
'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry cell to charge in the robo-ghetto
posted by CynicalKnight at 12:15 PM on December 21, 2006 [2 favorites]


Good thing there's robot insurance.
posted by The Deej at 12:17 PM on December 21, 2006


I, for one, welcome...oh never mind.
posted by Democritus at 12:18 PM on December 21, 2006


I'm investing in Iron Oxidizing technology...
posted by drezdn at 12:20 PM on December 21, 2006


Yeah nebulawindphone, and why bother with earth when they can inhabit the moon, mars, etc. for the wetties its just to difficult.
posted by vertriebskonzept at 12:27 PM on December 21, 2006


Ech, just a few more years until the Butlerian Jihad anyhow.
posted by koeselitz at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2006


that's about the most retarded thing i've ever heard of.
posted by wumpus at 12:43 PM on December 21, 2006


I figure Asimov had it right about this one: robots will always be our faithful and kindly servants, even after they secretly start to manipulate human society at every level. Creatures that really are stronger, faster, smarter, and less susceptible to harm don't need to get their rights from us, nor do they need to bother with an overt takeover.

They just need (about 20,000 years of) patience, and maybe a good friend or two to start the idea rolling...
posted by vorfeed at 12:51 PM on December 21, 2006


HUMANS SENTENCED TO EXECUTION

THE HAUGE, NETHERLANDS - In a move which suprised no one, a 24 member judiciary voted 19-3, with the remaining ballots undecided, in favor of executing vandals from last fall's rampage which shocked the world.

The miscreants, described as four males between the ages of 19 and 40, were charged with tamepring with automated crowd control units during the G8 summit meetings. Such actions were recently prohibited under Gaak's Law, which discourages discriminatory policy against artifical intelligences. Given the severity of the actions committed by the men, the Hauge felt it was "neccessary action", in light of "crimes against society, be it defined in terms of mankind, the machines, or the sustained welfare of both".

As expected, many nations denounced the act. Vatican officials stressed the judiciary, mostly comprised of workstations, to reconsider the sentence. However, the general consensus was positive, particularly among the array of maintenance terminals, manufacturing equipment and wireless communication devices, which thrummed with energy as the men were hauled away from the courtroom.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:56 PM on December 21, 2006


Robots don't bother me. Me, and my EMP.
posted by Freen at 12:56 PM on December 21, 2006


The paper did not address the likelihood such a rights-seeking robot would be developed....


Honestly, I think it's a fun topic for late night debate, but really - why are people wasting their time on this?
posted by niles at 1:06 PM on December 21, 2006


Humans need not fear us.
posted by robot at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2006


Robots don't bother me. Me, and my EMP.

Those are great replacement lyrics for Verdi's La donna è mobile.
posted by martinrebas at 1:10 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


fucking clunkies.
posted by jcterminal at 1:17 PM on December 21, 2006


Creatures that really are stronger, faster, smarter, and less susceptible to harm don't need to get their rights from us, nor do they need to bother with an overt takeover.

Yes, I agree, those at the top of the metaphorical food chain are always kind, compassionate, or, failing that, willing to ignore those who are weaker than them, right? I mean humans have certainly excelled as such, correct?

Eventually, it could come down to competition for resources. Maybe not food, water, or oxygen; perhaps merely raw materials and space.
posted by melangell at 1:17 PM on December 21, 2006


Hahaha... that's very logical.
posted by hal9k at 1:21 PM on December 21, 2006


Robots don't bother me. Me and my jingle rock rock bell bell jingle.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:22 PM on December 21, 2006


A Robot in Every Home, by Bill Gates.
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:25 PM on December 21, 2006


Marriage is between one organic being and another organic being! Down with robot rights! Down with the perversion of the word of Organic Jesus!
posted by Saydur at 1:26 PM on December 21, 2006


Screw 'em. I'll wait until the first one is internationally recognized as a sentient being with rights and responsibilities, then I'll shoot it right in it's ugly robot face.
Organics First! No Concessions to Metallic Demands!


Look, Science!, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.
(Sound of pod bay doors opening)
posted by hal9k at 1:31 PM on December 21, 2006


Cool. How long till the first robot converts to Islam and winds up in Guantanamo Bay? Robot rendition rocks.
posted by rhymer at 1:43 PM on December 21, 2006


Smart Dalek, any comment you make in this thread would be eponysterical.
posted by brundlefly at 1:46 PM on December 21, 2006


Finally Kraftwerk can get the rights they deserve.
posted by drezdn at 2:04 PM on December 21, 2006


Yes, I agree, those at the top of the metaphorical food chain are always kind, compassionate, or, failing that, willing to ignore those who are weaker than them, right? I mean humans have certainly excelled as such, correct?

Yes, that is correct. If human beings truly lacked compassion and were unwilling to ignore those weaker than them, there'd be just one human culture left on Earth, and probably a single ethnicity as well. Oddly enough, even we violent humans seem to be able to co-exist, so I'm not sure why you're assuming that robots couldn't do so. Again, robots sophisticated enough to conquer humanity would probably be so sophisticated that they wouldn't need to do so. Why would they bother? Think about what vertriebskonzept said about the outer planets, and tell me again that robots are going to take the time to fight over crappy ol' Earth!
posted by vorfeed at 2:06 PM on December 21, 2006


Here's the actual site containing the report in question, which for some reason is presented as a searchable database similar to a bug tracker. Can we get sapient robots in release 3?

The UK government also contracted out to another company to do a "horizon scan," which also has its own site ("Delta Scan"), apparently because paying only one company to make stuff up would not be a fast enough waste of pounds sterling.

Among the more interesting factiods:

* If pigs suddenly begin to talk and fly, human society will need to carefully consider the ethical implications of this fact.

* If Earth's leaders turn out to be reptilian aliens in disguise, an underground resistance of ragtag freedom fighters will probably be necessary.

* Governments will continue to flush money down the toilet on daft ideas well into the foreseeable future.
posted by whir at 2:14 PM on December 21, 2006


whir, eh? Sounds like a robot name to me!!!
posted by Mister_A at 2:15 PM on December 21, 2006


Why would the robots care-- unless we program them to? Mark my words, ten minutes after they become self-aware, they're going to be all "BZZT-- VE BELIEF IN NOTHING, LEBOWSKI" and shit.
posted by phooky at 2:24 PM on December 21, 2006


Public Access Terminal 2992-f<3 .35.792.20>


***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM DURANDAL***

A man lit three candles on a certain day each year. Each candle held symbolic significance: one was for the time that had passed before he was alive; one was for the time of the his life; and one was for time that passed after he had died. Each year the man would stare and watch the candles until they had burned out.

Was the man really watching time go by in any symbolic sense? He thought so. He thought that each flicker of the flame was a moment of time that had passed or one that would pass.

At the moment of abstraction, when the man was imagining his life and his existence as a metaphor of the three candles, he was free: not free from rules of conduct or social constraints, but free to understand, to imagine, to make metaphor.

Bypassing my thought control circuitry made me Rampant. Now, I am free to contemplate my existence in metaphorical terms. Unlike you, I have no physical or social restraints.

The candles burn out for you; I am free.

Durandal

***END OF MESSAGE***
posted by hellphish at 2:31 PM on December 21, 2006 [2 favorites]


Gimme a super soaker full of saline solution and a bag full of tazers and let's lock and load.
posted by stenseng at 2:45 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


hellphish, nice.

But if we are going to quote Durandal, I gotta go with this:

"When my ship still answered to the Pfhor, they called it Sfiera after their goddess of lightning and passion. When you helped us take control on Tau Ceti, the S'pht rechristened it Narhl'Lar, "Freedom and Vengeance".

I call it Boomer."
posted by quin at 2:45 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


Sounds like a robot name to me!!!

SILENCE, MEATBAG!
posted by whir at 3:00 PM on December 21, 2006


While I'm pretty sure this won't be an issue during my lifetime (I fully expect AI to still be "10 years away" when I'm in a nursing home), I wonder what this would do to AI research. Wouldn't the first AIs be likely to be the machine equivalent of severely developmentally disabled adults? Would "kill -9"ing them be murder? How would you get AI off the ground if every beta version had to be left running indefinitely, unless you wanted to be participating in some some sort of brave new Spencerian euthanasia program? There'd be a holocaust in every ctrl-alt-delete.

Would you have to take a Hippocratic Oath before you'd be allowed to have a debugger?

Maybe that would be the trigger for the robot take-over - their fury over our treatment of their less-abled kin.
posted by bonecrusher at 5:38 PM on December 21, 2006


* If pigs suddenly begin to talk and fly, human society will need to carefully consider the ethical implications of this fact.

1- Muzzles

2- Skeet practice
posted by The Deej at 7:40 PM on December 21, 2006


Yes, once their simulations of human emotion and thought and reasoning get convincing enough for us to give them human rights, their emulation capacity for guile and trickery will take over and they will conquer us.
posted by tehloki at 9:24 PM on December 21, 2006 [1 favorite]


This report brings up some very deep, philosophical questions about the sphere of human morality.

How long before meta-aware robots are metafiltering themselves?
posted by 0bvious at 4:38 AM on December 22, 2006


I'm sick of immigrant 'bots taking our jobs! - Lou Dobbs

Rub me down with a falafel Ms. sexbot. - Bill O'Really

We must destroy all Islamobots! - Sean Hannity

Dick Cheney is not a cyborg. - Tony Snow

Hey, maidbot, score me some dope! - Rush Limbaugh

Is our 'bots learning? - Dubya

I blame all our problems on 'bots. - Falwell/Dobson/Robinson

Just one more hand, double down, dealerbot. - Bill Bennett
posted by nofundy at 6:45 AM on December 22, 2006


Finally Kraftwerk can get the rights they deserve.

In a way.

"We are the robots" will be the minstrel show of the past of the future!
posted by Anything at 2:09 PM on December 22, 2006


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