Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!ur-tut!sunybcs!ansley
From: ansley@sunybcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Free Will & Self-Awareness
Summary: Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
Message-ID: <11187@sunybcs.UUCP>
Date: 12 May 88 20:07:58 GMT
References: <4134@super.upenn.edu> <3200014@uiucdcsm> <1484@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <1029@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <912@cresswell.quintus.UUCP> <5404@venera.isi.edu> <1115@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <17442@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
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Posted: Thu May 12 16:07:58 1988
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!ur-tut!sunybcs!ansley
From: ansley@sunybcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Free Will & Self-Awareness
Summary: Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
Message-ID: <11187@sunybcs.UUCP>
Date: 12 May 88 20:07:58 GMT
References: <4134@super.upenn.edu> <3200014@uiucdcsm> <1484@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <1029@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <912@cresswell.quintus.UUCP> <5404@venera.isi.edu> <1115@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> <17442@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
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Reply-To: ansley@sunybcs.UUCP (William Ansley)
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In article <17442@glacier.STANFORD.EDU> jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle) writes:
>In article <1115@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> gilbert@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Gilbert Cockton) writes:
>>
>>Unfortunately, all attempts to date to present a moral rule-base have
>>failed, so the chances of morality being rule-based are slim.
>
>     There have been attempts, such as the following.
>     [Statement of Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics deleted.]
>Yes, we don't know how to implement this yet.  Yes, it's a morality for
>slaves.  But it is an important concept.  As we work toward mobile robots,
>it is worth keeping in mind.
>
>					John Nagle


There is also the problem that you have to define "human being" in a way that
the robot can infallibly recognize.  Asimov has been using this shortcoming of
the "Three Laws" as the basis for much of his recent fiction concerning
robots.

The problem would seem to be most severe with very primative or very
sophisticated robots.  The primative ones might be hard-pressed to recognize
anything as a human being, while the sophisticated ones might begin to wonder
if they didn't perhaps qualify as human themselves.  (This latter idea is due
to Asimov - I can't recall they story title.)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Ansley, Dept. of CS, 226 Bell Hall, SUNY at Buffalo, NY  14260.

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