Asimov Get Plaque in Fhilly Maybe

A plaque commemorating Isaac Asimov championed by science fiction author Michael Swanwick  in his hometown of Philadelphia, it seems is gaining support.

There's a movement afoot to put up a plaque where Isaac Asimov lived while he was working (and writing seminal Foundation and Robot stories) at the Naval Yard during WWII. Asimov, in a weird twist, hated Philadelphia while he lived here,  but came back for the conventions year after year.  Now, according to author Swanwick,  it's time to Philadelphia to give back to him. The petition seems to have stalled at 364, 136 short of its goal.   How is it, I wonder, possible that there are not even 500 people in Philly who are even passing fans of the master and can't spare the time it takes to sign a credit card receipt?  Come ON!

Mr Swanwick and Mr Doctorow, I know I am not anywhere near you gents in science fiction field.  However I have been a fan for well over 40 years and Asimov, you could say, set the foundation on which I built my appreciation of the genre.    Philly may be Swanwick's home base, but they are not showing any of the love for the good doctor or for Swanwick's efforts.  The plaque would be a waste of time, willing to be that even if it were installed, it would not garner a second glance.

Pearls before swine perhaps.

I know I might be cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I have to say it.    Maybe the efforts would be appreciated elsewhere?      

Which "Laws" Should Our Modern Robots Use?

Ok science fiction/robot story fans, the next three lines  should be instantly identifiable. 

1)  A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2)  A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

3)  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws.

If you said anything other that Dr. Asimov's three robot behavioral constraints.  Asimov used these"laws" as foils for his story plots concerning robot's behavior often with a conflict between a law and what the robot needs to accomplish.

The curious thing about these laws is that many people know of them and consider them real restrictions on anything vaguely robotic.  So the problem at hand is which laws can realistically be incorporated and which are beyond our tech. 

Case in point The robot controlled car.  Here is the instance that The New-Yorker 

• Your car is speeding along a bridge at fifty miles per hour when errant school bus carrying forty innocent children crosses its path. Should your car swerve, possibly risking the life of its owner (you), in order to save the children, or keep going, putting all forty kids at risk?

Chances are you have only a few thousandth of a second to make the complicated maneuver. 

Now add in all the robotic devices that the military uses.  I sounds almost impossible to implement and in the next  couple of decades the problem will most likely triple in complexity.

Here is the url to the New Yorker article.                        

Isaac Asimov thought for the day

Courtney sent me in this quote from the esteemed Dr. Isaac Asimov that I thought I would share:

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Isaac Asimov

Asimov would roll over in his grave.....

I was reading in Boing Boing that in 1971 a new library in Troy, MI., was just being opened. In celebration of the event Isaac Asimov along with others, wrote an open letter to the new patrons (including the children) who would soon be frequenting it. This is what Dr. Asimov'http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs letter had to say:

"Congratulations on the new library, because it isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future, a teacher that knows more than any human being, a friend that will amuse you and console you---and most of all, a gateway, to a better and happier and more useful life."

Words of hope to a brave new world.

Rumor has it that the Troy library is likely to close soon due in part to budget cut backs....

complete Boing Boing article

Isaac Asimov interview on Youtube

SF Signal blog came across this really cool YouTube video of an interview of Isaac Asimov by host Harold Hudson Channer in 1986