Machine defends rampaging robot

Insults Reg hacks

By Lucy Sherriff • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 17th June 2005 11:22 GMT

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FoTW This week we ran a short news item about a robot that had gone on a rampage at a California hospital. The evil being, we explained, went bonkers, and refused to do its job of dispensing pills, instead preferring to terrorise the patients, and break in to private medical examinations.

Not everyone appreciates our efforts to counter the Rise of The Machines(TM), however:

The current state of robotic technology or artificial intelligence is not such that a robot could REFUSE to do anything.

Do not report such garbage to your readers. I'm sure that you think it makes for "lively entertainment", but you are degrading the publics opinion about a set of technology that they already know nothing about.

What you have claimed in your article shows a level of ignorance that could only be topped by a high school crack addicted drop out.

If anything there was a glitch in the software. They were probably running a Microsoft operating system which inevitably crashed.

People are going to have a hard enough time accepting a machine that will one day be more intelligent than they are. Don't add to their problems please!

Eljin

Hmm. We think we know what is going on here. In demonstrating your complete lack of a sense of humour, you have failed the Turing test and proven yourself to be a machine.

But while we have your attention, we think it is worth mentioning that we have assigned a crack team of computer forensics specialists to track you down. From your comments, it is obvious, even to us, (puny humans that we are), that you have had access to the writer's CV.

We will find you, and reboot you. ®

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