Law 1: A robot must never harm a Human Being or, by inaction, allow a Human Being to come to harm.
Law2: A robot must obey any order given by a Human Being, unless following such an order would violate the first law.
Law 3: A robot must act to protect its own well-being, excet where doing so would violate one or both of the first two laws.
So what happens if a robot observes two Humans fighting? If it intercedes, one of the Humans will inevitably be harmed by the robot's action. If the robot does not intercede, one or both of the Humans will inevitably be harmed. What's a robot to do?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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"So what happens if a robot observes two Humans fighting? If it intercedes, one of the Humans will inevitably be harmed by the robot's action."
ReplyDeleteTwo humans are fighting. Why does stopping the fight harm one of them? Why does not interceding cause harm to one of them?
Not interceding allows harm to come to them by inaction.
ReplyDeleteInterceding in a fight generally involves physical violence.
"Interceding in a fight generally involves physical violence."
ReplyDeleteRobots (tend to have) superhuman strength so this is not necessarily true. Probably why you said "generally". :)