492 The Middle East and Asimov’s Laws of Robotics
Punditpalooza: What’s the noun of assembly for op-ed writers? “A pontification of priests” has “pontification” in it, but “priests” seems strikingly inappropriate. Some might argue that “a drift of swine” would be more like it, but I think “a glozing of taverners” is more charitable and perhaps more accurate. In any case, you can find them, and links to all the articles they wrote, mostly about the NIE, here.
Ahmadinejad and the Gulf: Marc Lynch notices what most everyone else failed to notice in our astonishment at the NIE: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad glad-handing at the GCC. Prof. Lynch is more cautious, but these two events — the release of the NIE, Ahmadinejad in the Gulf exchanging platitudes about closer ties — could together make yesterday a decisive turning point in the world’s relations with Iran. How quickly can the United States pivot? I don’t think you appease someone like Iran’s diminutive president. I suspect you bait him with his megalomania until he chokes on it or finds himself caught in a cage. Like in chess or martial arts: You show your opponent a false opening, a feigned weakness, invite him in, and use his weight against him.
Moumediene/Al Odah v. Bush: Habeas corpus and Guantanamo at the Supreme Court. Brief resource center here. Good overview of what’s at stake from The Christian Science Monitor.
Dawn Visitors: Security detained 25 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo Wednesday morning. Security also detained either 11 (Reuters) or 13 (AFP) brothers in Sohag December 4. The Brotherhood renounced violence in the 1970s.
No Fuel in Gaza: Israeli sanctions have forced all official filling stations in Gaza to close indefinitely. No fuel also means that power stations can’t generate electricity and waterworks can’t pump water. So people are living in the dark without running water. The Palestinians are asking Egypt to help.
Tighter Control of Mercenaries: Mercenaries just got even less useful. The Pentagon and the State Department signed an agreement putting tighter military controls on Blackwater. Better late than never. Used to be that they were somewhat useful because they were not accountable. At least they still make blimps. I like blimps. But I’m not sure they’re the best use of Americans’ Hard-Earned Tax Dollars.
AU-EU Summit: Egypt hosted a preliminary meeting on the Lisbon EU-AU summit. So what? In 2004-2005, a high-level meeting on Darfur and human rights in Egypt would have sounded like a pipe dream.
Russia Flexes Naval Muscles in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
The Wacky Men and Women of the MKO: Video of a bizarre and ultimately boring parade of the Mojahidin-e Khalq, sort of the Scientologists of the “terrorist community,” set to techno. (Thanks, Blake, and congratulations)
Robots: I’ve been chewing over this weeks-old post from Mountainrunner for a few days now, and I have to confess, I’m not any closer to knowing what to think now than I was when I first read it. Mountainrunner reports that a South African robotic cannon went berserk, killing nine.
This has implications for his research, which sounds very interesting. Take his survey on perceptions of robots in warfare simply to be asked questions you likely never will be again. Ron Arkin’s paper on “constraining lethal actions in an autonomous robotic system so that they fall within the bounds prescribed by the Laws of War and Rules of Engagement” (PDF here) is also well worth the detour.
Now, I know when I’m out of my depth, but speaking as an unarmed human being, I’m wondering if we need an NGO to campaign for Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics in the same way human rights organizations campaign for the implementation of international humanitarian law. Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics, first postulated in Runaround (1942), are:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the 1st Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the 1st or 2nd Law.
In Robots and Empire (1982), Asimov added a “Zeroth” Law, to proceed and supersede all the others: “A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”
Why can’t all robots be like QRIO? (Elaborate bow, Mountainrunner)
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mullah cimoc say ameriki intel agencies the mass insubordiantion against him president bush for to stop the WWIII.
israeli spy neocons and israel intel agent him try to start WWIII base on one more big lying but usa bureaucracy not accept. now pres. bush not have the power because leave office soon. bureaucrat not the fear of president bush regime.
this example of israeli spy in whitehouse and pentagon control usa but instead silent revolution?. this the very import develop for usa people the live free of control by master in tel aviv.
google: mighty wurlitzer +cia
is true: usa media most biggest enemy of ameriki people.
Comment by mullah cimoc — December 6, 2007 #
Often while talking to people I catch myself thinking if they are Eto Demerzel, especially government officials, or yesterday at the BBC thingy 🙂
Comment by Amr Gharbeia — December 6, 2007 #
I guess to find out, you could hand them a gun and instruct them to shoot the man standing next to them. If they refuse, they’re clearly a 20,000-year-old robot emperor masquerading as a human.
Comment by The Skeptic — December 7, 2007 #
Speaking of robots, I heard The Skeptic is a replicant but doesn’t know it. Pass it on.
Comment by arabist — December 9, 2007 #
[…] and much less importantly, I must confess I’m still thinking about robots. The product of too much time and too little sleep, no doubt. At the risk of […]
Pingback by Terrorism, Counterterrorism | The Skeptic ?????? — December 12, 2007 #