Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!hc!lll-winken!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!glasgow!jack From: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: Robot pain Message-ID: <2644@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> Date: 22 Mar 89 11:02:18 GMT References: <3369@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> <330@esosun.UUCP> <1989Mar4.152943.10902@cs.rochester.edu> <337@skye.ed.ac.uk> <46620@linus.UUCP> Reply-To: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie, Unthank Lines: 19 Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Keywords: bwk@mbunix (Barry Kort) wrote: Perhaps it would help if we define pain [...] the robot needs to be informed of any danger or damage to its pieceparts. Mechanical stress sensors report such information, and the robot can act to moderate or ameliorate conditions which endanger it's long-term corporeal well-being. In humans, we call such information "pain". In robots we can choose to call it what we like, but functionally it serves the same purpose. This definition doesn't work. If, while under spinal block anaesthesia, I see a rat starting to chew my toe off, I'm getting information about potential damage to my body, but that information does not constitute "pain". -- Jack Campin * Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, SCOTLAND. 041 339 8855 x6045 wk 041 556 1878 ho INTERNET: jack%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk USENET: jack@glasgow.uucp JANET: jack@uk.ac.glasgow.cs PLINGnet: ...mcvax!ukc!cs.glasgow.ac.uk!jack