Stop imagining things now, you bastards!

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So, I was watching The Android Prophecy last night, and they seemed to be saying 'oh, aren't those Hollywood film-makers so clever, they've predicted all this crazy robot stuff that is coming true'. Well, this fucking worries me. I personally am not looking forward to living in a post-apocalyptic world as a slave to big scary robot things (yeah, I know it sounds cool).

Obviously it is the scientists that are ripping off these people's ideas, so can we all come together and Stop The Madness now, please? I propose a ban on all novelists and producers having anything to do with scary robot action and only making films/books about fluffy kittens looking cute in baskets, or chasing butterflies. This way the scientists will spend all their time developing new ways of going 'awww' instead of creating Impending Doom.

I know this motion won't be popular, but won't somebody think of the children?

― emil.y, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Won't somebody think of the New Answers page?

― emil.y, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So - are your fears mechanical? As with anything, build in a fail safe (easy to yank batteries, 4 year life-span, artificial ethics). Robots rule.

― jason, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

To quote it again, "I drrrrrrrrrrrream of wires" -- see Numan, G. That said, certainly I'm not one for life in the Berserker vision of the universe, as I'd have to hide.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Our nightmare future = a fluffy kitten stamping on a human face forever!!

― mark s, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

'Hang in there baby, it's almost friday'

― jason, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mark S has created the ultimate nightmare image -- Sanrio as Big Brother.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Stephen Hawking thinks humans should be genetically engineered to stop robots taking over. Most respectfully, I think he is talking BolloXoR.

― Johnathan, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In what way has this not already been predicted by 2000AD and Pat Mills in the form of ABC Warriors?

― Al, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm not scared of robots. No doubt their cognitive software would be Windows based somehow, and they would of course freeze and come to a critical halt every 5 minutes, ha ha.

― DG, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I want to kiss emily for making me laugh and stephen hawking for sounding like a science fiction writer who's got his priorities a bit backwards (which makes the idea of limiting the novelists fairly useless).

― Maria, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Obviously it is the scientists that are ripping off these people's ideas

This was probably written in jest but its completely true. I study in the Artificial Intelligence lab and every week everyone gets together to watch science fiction movies to get ideas and laugh at the fate of future humans, while plotting their evil plans. Most of these people were bullied or rejected at school so they have elaborate revenge fanstasies too. Last week the whole lab went on a field trip to Spielberg's AI movie.

I'm not scared of robots. No doubt their cognitive software would be Windows based somehow, and they would of course freeze and come to a critical halt every 5 minutes, ha ha.

This is why AI researchers never use Microsoft products. I'd be scared if I was you.

― hamish no0nan, Sunday, 23 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

emil.y - you should read this story by Harlan Ellison called "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". You'll love it!

― dave q, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Our nightmare future II = a nerd stamping on a jock's face forever!!

― mark s, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I read Kevin Warwick's book In the Mind Of The Machine - he was one of the guys featured on the show. I've read this kind of thing before, and they always counter the nightmare of sci-fi land with some kind of comforting answer that there is something inate about humanity which will always keep us above machines.

Warwick doesn't just counter this, he says that it is *innevitable* that machines will become more intellegent than humans in ways that really matter (of which appreciating art is not one). Then the chances of them not have a pop at global domination and succeeding are slim to non-existant.

Sensationalist but chilling stuff. It's the latest apocalypse scare: robots are the new Threads.

― Magnus, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kevin Warwick is madder than mad Jack MacMad.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

He was certainly quite geeky on telly.

His solution to Planet of the Robots, in case you missed it, was that humans should become cyborgs and fight them on their own terms. He was already planning to have a chip put in his arm so he wouldn't have to carry a swipe card to get into work. That is pretty mad, come to think about it.

― Magnus, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

More Warwick madness

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My friends Rae, Sarah, Liz and I interviewed KW when we were working on our sci-fi opera Tx, three yrs ago. He is very charming and easy to chat to, and quite quite loopy. Strangely enuff, he is a devout Xtian. He was unable to come to the performance, sadly: Liz as a seven-foot terminatrix/eternal angel of death = v.scary and might have given him pause.

― mark s, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm recording a concept album about life in the robotic future. So far I have 3 songs that are going to be on it:

1. Alone in the robotic future (this song has been played on the radio, self-publicity, oh well)
2. The Penultimate Malfunction
3. We're Information Now.

Just thought you'd all probably not be that interested :)

― jel, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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