• Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Topic: robots in conflict?

Dear robots,

I'm doing research on the formal study of normative conflicts, and I was wondering whether there are any good examples in popular culture of robots that 'shut down' when faced with a normative conflict, e.g. a moral dilemma. The idea would be that the robot cannot deal with two equally strong (moral) requirements, and shortcuts or loops because he cannot decide between the alternatives.

It's a bit of a long shot, but this is a good place to ask. Does anyone know of a good example?


jj

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
  • From: CA
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,689

Re: robots in conflict?

Bias might help you...you need to check the old cbs archive

fantomas's Website

  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Re: robots in conflict?

fantomas wrote:

Bias might help you...you need to check the old cbs archive

Thanks for the tip fantomas. How can I access the archive? Searched around a bit on the forum but there are way too many search results for 'cbs' smile

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
  • From: CA
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,689

Re: robots in conflict?

idk...one of the moderators might be helpful

fantomas's Website

  • From: G-troit, Sweden
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 6,071

Re: robots in conflict?

There's an episode of Star Trek that ends with that. Kirk confuses the robot probe with some kind of paradox so it shuts down. Can't remember the name of the episode though hmm

http://technicoloristics.wordpress.com

Technicolor's Website

  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Re: robots in conflict?

Probably this one, where an android shuts down when confronted with the liar paradox:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzVxsYzXI_Y[/youtube]

Thanks for the tip Techni, this may come in handy

Ideally, I'm looking for cases in which the robot shuts down due to a moral conflict, but this is heading in the right direction smile

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
  • From: G-troit, Sweden
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 6,071

Re: robots in conflict?

There's another one where the computer is designed to protect, and they confuse it by proving to it that it was a threat itself, and so it shuts down. But I guess that's not much of a moral dilemma either hmm

http://technicoloristics.wordpress.com

Technicolor's Website

  • Registered: 2008-07-09
  • Posts: 522

Re: robots in conflict?

The bit in Robocop where he can't arrest Bob Morton because of Directive 4 (classified)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjalawNtXC4[/youtube]

lol

9 Reply by mekonin (edited by mekonin 2012-06-17 18:54:44)

  • From: Belgrade
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 868

Re: robots in conflict?

How about the scene from Dark Star where the hero disarms the sentient bomb by throwing existential concepts at it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiPir7N1_-s[/youtube]

mekonin's Website

  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Re: robots in conflict?

Technicolor wrote:

There's another one where the computer is designed to protect, and they confuse it by proving to it that it was a threat itself, and so it shuts down. But I guess that's not much of a moral dilemma either hmm

I would nonetheless be very interested to see it. All of these are fun illustrations of problems on the edge of ethics, robotics, logic and computer science. All quite interesting to me. The dark star computer reminds me very much of HAL-9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey

No moral dilemmas yet, but thanks for the examples so far!

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
  • From: Скопје
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 390

Re: robots in conflict?

Asimov's 3 laws of robotics maybe fits this, I don't know. In The Naked Sun, the robots suffer a great deal of damage when they, unwillingly, harm a human being. It's the thing about the interpretation of the laws. A robot could indeed harm a human being, not knowing so. But once the robot's aware that he was the responsible for such an act, he "breaks". The interesting thing is that the robot doesn't actually shuts down, but starts behaving in an odd way, more like a traumatized person, in shock, then a defective machine.

  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Re: robots in conflict?

These are exactly the kinds of situations I'm looking for. A quick internet search revealed that Asimov dealt with this problem at various times and places in his writings. In The Robots of Dawn he writes:

"What was troubling the robot was what roboticists called an equipotential of contradiction on the second level. Obedience was the Second Law and [the robot] was suffering from two roughly equal and contradictory orders. Robot- block was what the general population called it or, more frequently, roblock for short . . . [or] `mental freeze- out.' No matter how subtle and intricate a brain might be, there is always some way of setting up a contradiction. This is a fundamental truth of mathematics."

This is what I'm looking for. When given conflicting orders, the robot experiences two equipowerful commands he cannot jointly fulfil. I'll check some of his stories and novels in more detail.

Many thanks miravalles smile

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 2,101

Re: robots in conflict?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Does_not_compute

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  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 184

Re: robots in conflict?

thx for the tip qob!

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.