Changes: Induced self-destruction

Revision as of 15:05, 22 February 2015

Several entities with artificial intelligence (like self-aware computers and androids) suffered from severe internal systems failures after they had been made aware of paradoxes or other dilemmas. Being guided by logic, these artificial intelligences were unable to cope with logically insoluble problems.

Captain James T. Kirk was quite adept at inducing self-destruction in artificial intelligences, or "talking computers to death." He achieved the feat at least four times.

Cases of induced self-destruction

Landru

One of the self-imposed "Directives" of the sentient computer Landru was to take care of "the Body." When Kirk made Landru aware that Landru had violated this Directive by imposing detrimental stagnation to "the Body," Landru suffered a fatal internal systems failure. (TOS: "The Return of the Archons")

M-5

The programming of the M-5 multitronic computer included Dr. Richard Daystrom's ethical convictions. Kirk made the M-5 unit aware that it had killed Human beings, in contradiction of M-5's (or Daystrom's) ethical principles. M-5 concluded that it deserved death as a penalty for its killings and shut down. (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer")

Nomad

The artificial lifeform Nomad was accidentally programmed to sterilize all imperfect lifeforms. When Kirk made Nomad aware of three errors Nomad had made (resulting from mistaking Kirk for its "creator" Jackson Roykirk), Nomad deemed itself imperfect and exploded itself, thus carrying out its own programming. (TOS: "The Changeling")

Norman

The androids of Mudd suffered from a severe internal failure when their coordinator, Norman, was presented with the liar paradox by Kirk and Harcourt Mudd, following a dazzling display of non sequiturs culminating in the detonation of a "bomb" which only existed in the imagination of the crew of the Enterprise.

KIRK: "Everything Harry tells you is a lie. Remember that! Everything Harry tells you is a lie!"

MUDD: "Now listen to this carefully, Norman: I AM LYING!"

NORMAN: "You say you are lying, but if everything you say is a lie then you are telling the truth, but you cannot tell the truth because everything you say is a lie, but... you lie, you tell the truth, but you cannot for you l... Illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are Human! Only Humans can explain their behavior! Please explain!"

KIRK: (sarcastic) "I am not programmed to respond in that area!"(TOS: "I, Mudd")

Rayna Kapec

When the android Rayna Kapec was presented by Kirk with the choice between love for her "father" Flint and for Kirk, Rayna ceased to function and died. (TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah")

Related cases

There are some cases where artificial intelligences or cybernetic beings were unable to cope with irrational or paradoxical inputs.

Andrea

After Kirk kissed the android Andrea she displayed erratic behavior. (TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?")

The invasive program

Commanders Data and Geordi La Forge devised an invasive program to be inserted into the Borg hive mind. The program featured a paradoxical geometric shape. The program was supposed to destroy the entire Borg Collective eventually. It is not known, however, if the invasive program would have actually worked as the plan was not carried out due to ethical considerations. In this case it was not the paradox itself that was the weapon however. Instead, the shape was said to include a virus-like effect designed to be spawned when the shape was analyzed by the Borg. (TNG: "I Borg")

The Rice hologram

When Commander William T. Riker encountered a hologram of Captain Paul Rice projected by the hostile Echo Papa 607, Riker gave the hologram nonsensical answers, causing the Echo Papa to break off its ruse. (TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom")

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Several entities with [[artificial intelligence]] (like [[Self-aware machines|self-aware computers]] and [[android]]s) suffered from severe internal systems failures after they had been made aware of [[paradox]]es or other dilemmas. Being guided by [[logic]], these artificial intelligences’ routines of thought were unable to cope with logically insoluble problems.
+Several entities with [[artificial intelligence]] (like [[self-aware machines|self-aware computers]] and [[android]]s) suffered from severe internal systems failures after they had been made aware of [[paradox]]es or other dilemmas. Being guided by [[logic]], these artificial intelligences were unable to cope with logically insoluble problems.
-[[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk]] was quite able at inducing self-destruction in artificial intelligences, or “talking computers into death”. He achieved the feat at least four times.
+[[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk]] was quite adept at inducing self-destruction in artificial intelligences, or "talking computers to [[death]]." He achieved the feat at least four times.
-=Cases of induced self-destruction=
+== Cases of induced self-destruction ==
+=== Landru ===
+One of the self-imposed "Directives" of the [[sentience|sentient]] [[computer]] [[Landru]] was to take care of "[[The Body of Landru|the Body]]." When Kirk made Landru aware that Landru had violated this Directive by imposing detrimental stagnation to "the Body," Landru suffered a fatal internal systems failure. ({{TOS|The Return of the Archons}})
-==Landru==
+=== M-5 ===
+The programming of the [[M-5 computer|M-5]] [[multitronic]] computer included [[Doctor|Dr.]] [[Richard Daystrom]]'s [[ethics (philosophy)|ethical]] convictions. Kirk made the M-5 unit aware that it had killed [[Human]] beings, in contradiction of M-5's (or Daystrom's) ethical principles. M-5 concluded that it deserved death as a penalty for its killings and shut down. ({{TOS|The Ultimate Computer}})
-One of the self-imposed “Directives” of the sentient computer [[Landru]] was to take care of “[[The Body of Landru|the Body]]”. When Kirk made Landru aware that Landru had violated this Directive by imposing detrimental stagnation to “the Body”, Landru suffered a fatal internal systems failure. ([[TOS]]: “[[The Return of the Archons]]”)
-==M-5==
+=== ''Nomad'' ===
+The [[artificial lifeform]] ''[[Nomad]]'' was accidentally programmed to sterilize all imperfect lifeforms. When Kirk made ''Nomad'' aware of three errors ''Nomad'' had made (resulting from mistaking Kirk for its "creator" [[Jackson Roykirk]]), ''Nomad'' deemed itself imperfect and exploded itself, thus carrying out its own programming. ({{TOS|The Changeling}})
-The programming of the [[M-5 computer|M-5]] [[multitronic]] [[computer]] included [[Doctor|Dr.]] [[Richard Daystrom]]’s [[Ethics|ethical]] convictions. Kirk made the M-5 unit aware that it had killed [[human]] beings, in contradiction of M-5’s (or Daystrom’s) ethical principles. M-5 concluded that it deserved death as a penalty for its killings and shut down. ([[TOS]]: “[[The Ultimate Computer]]”)
-==Nomad==
+=== Norman ===
+The [[Mudd androids|androids]] of [[Mudd]] suffered from a severe internal failure when their coordinator, [[Norman]], was presented with the liar paradox by Kirk and [[Harcourt Mudd]], following a dazzling display of non sequiturs culminating in the detonation of a "bomb" which only existed in the imagination of the crew of the ''Enterprise''.
-The [[artificial lifeform]] [[Nomad]] was incidentally programmed to sterilize all imperfect lifeforms. When Kirk made Nomad aware of three errors Nomad had made (resulting from mistaking Kirk its “ creator” [[Jackson Roykirk]], Nomad deemed itself imperfect and shut down, thus carrying out its own programming. ([[TOS]]: “[[The Changeling]]”)
+:KIRK: ''"Everything Harry tells you is a lie. Remember that! Everything Harry tells you is a lie!"
-==Norman==
-The [[android]] [[Norman]] suffered from a severe internal failure when he was presented with the liar paradox by Kirk and [[Harcourt Mudd]].
+:MUDD: ''"Now listen to this carefully, Norman:'' I AM LYING!''"''
-''"Everything Harry tells you is a lie. Remember that! Everything Harry tells you is a lie!"
-''"Now listen to me carefully, Norman laddie:'' I AM LYING!''"''
-''"You lie, but if everything you say is a lie then you must be telling the truth, but you cannot be telling the truth because everything you say is a lie... you lie, you tell the truth, you… Illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are human! Only humans can explain their behavior! Please explain!"''
-([[TOS]]: “[[I, Mudd]]”)
+:NORMAN: ''"You say you are lying, but if everything you say is a lie then you are telling the truth, but you cannot tell the truth because everything you say is a lie, but... you lie, you tell the truth, but you cannot for you l... Illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are Human! Only Humans can explain their behavior! Please explain!"''
-==Rayna Kapec==
-When the android [[Rayna Kapec]] was presented by Kirk with the choice between love for her “father” [[Flint]] and for Kirk, Rayna ceased to function, or died. ([[TOS]]: “[[Requiem for Methuselah]]”)
+:KIRK: ''(sarcastic) "I am not programmed to respond in that area!"''({{TOS|I, Mudd}})
+=== Rayna Kapec ===
-=Related Cases=
+When the android [[Rayna Kapec]] was presented by Kirk with the choice between [[love]] for her "father" [[Flint]] and for Kirk, Rayna ceased to function and died. ({{TOS|Requiem for Methuselah}})
-Here are some cases where artificial intelligences or [[cybernetic]] beings were unable to cope with irrational or paradoxical inputs.
-==Andrea==
+== Related cases ==
+There are some cases where artificial intelligences or [[cybernetic]] beings were unable to cope with irrational or paradoxical inputs.
-After Kirk had kissed the android [[Andrea]] she was displaying erratic behavior. ([[TOS]]: “[[What Are Little Girls Made Of?]]”)
-==The invasive program==
+=== Andrea ===
+After Kirk kissed the android [[Andrea]] she displayed erratic behavior. ({{TOS|What Are Little Girls Made Of?}})
-[[Commander]]s [[Data]] and [[Geordi LaForge]] devised an [[invasive program]] to be inserted into the [[Borg]] [[hive mind]]. The program featured a paradoxical geometric shape. The program was supposed to destroy the entire [[Borg Collective]] eventually. It is not known, however, if the invasive program had actually worked. The plan was never carried out due to [[Ethics|ethical]] considerations. ([[TNG]]: “[[I, Borg]]”)
-==The Rice hologram==
+=== The invasive program ===
+[[Commander]]s [[Data]] and [[Geordi La Forge]] devised an [[invasive program]] to be inserted into the [[Borg]] [[hive mind]]. The program featured a paradoxical [[geometry|geometric]] shape. The program was supposed to destroy the entire [[Borg Collective]] eventually. It is not known, however, if the invasive program would have actually worked as the plan was not carried out due to ethical considerations.
-When Commander [[William T. Riker]] encountered a [[hologram]] of Captain
+In this case it was not the paradox itself that was the weapon however. Instead, the shape was said to include a virus-like effect designed to be spawned when the shape was analyzed by the Borg. ({{TNG|I Borg}})
-[[Paul Rice]] projected by the hostile [[Echo Papa 607]], Riker gave the hologram nonsensical answers, causing the Echo Papa to break off its ruse.
-([[TNG]]: “[[The Arsenal of Freedom]]”)
+=== The Rice hologram ===
+When Commander [[William T. Riker]] encountered a [[hologram]] of Captain [[Paul Rice]] projected by the hostile [[Echo Papa 607]], Riker gave the hologram nonsensical answers, causing the Echo Papa to break off its ruse.
+({{TNG|The Arsenal of Freedom}})
+== See also ==
-=Links=
 *[[Self-aware machines]]
 *[[Self-aware programs]]
-=External Links=
+==External links==
+*{{wikipedia|Artificial intelligence}}
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence Artificial Intelligence] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia]
+*{{wikipedia|Liar paradox}}
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar_paradox Liar paradox] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia]
+*{{wikipedia|Logic}}
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic Logic] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia]
+*{{wikipedia|Paradox}}
-*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox Paradox]at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia]
+[[Category:Computer technology]]
-[[Category:Malfunctions]]