A possible science fiction exam question -
"Susan Calvin and Laurinda Ashcroft: compare and contrast."
Calvin is a robopsychologist whereas Laurinda is an AI interface.
Calvin says that mankind never really had any say in its own future:
"'It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand - at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war. Now the Machines understand them...'"
-Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (London, 1986), "The Evitable Conflict," p. 205.
These "Machines" are not standard humaniform robots but giant positronic brains, thus more akin to Anderson's AIs.
(This computer is performing appallingly slowly and I will have to go out soon so this discussion might be published in short installments.)
Laurinda says something similar, that the world has always been too complex and precarious for human beings to understand or control. However, she goes on to add that history is so chaotic that no one and nothing can predict it.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And the reaction of the AIs in both the HARVEST OF STARS books and GENESIS was to reduce the chaotic factor somewhat by smothering mankind with a pampered, cosseted, meaningless life of idleness. The human race rebelled against this in the former and became extinct in the latter. I far prefer the former outcome!
Sean
Post a Comment