Я, Робот
The Evitable Conflict
Itwillmeanacertainsurrenderofbasiccivilliberties,butIamsuretheCongress-"
"Itwon’twork!"
"What!-Whynot?"
"Iwillmakeaprediction.Ifyoutryanysuchthing,youwillfindyourselfhamperedateveryturn.Youwillfinditimpossibletocarryout.Youwillfindyoureverymoveinthatdirectionwillresultintrouble."
Byerleywastakenaback,"Whydoyousaythat?Iwasratherhopingforyourapprovalinthismatter."
"Youcan’thaveitaslongasyouractionsarebasedonafalsepremise.YouadmittheMachinecan’tbewrong,andcan’tbefedwrongdata.Iwillnowshowyouthatitcannotbedisobeyed,either,asyouthinkisbeingdonebytheSociety."
"ThatIdon’tseeatall."
"Thenlisten.EveryactionbyanyexecutivewhichdoesnotfollowtheexactdirectionsoftheMachineheisworkingwithbecomespartofthedataforthenextproblem.TheMachine,therefore,knowsthattheexecutivehasacertaintendencytodisobey.Hecanincorporatethattendencyintothatdata,-evenquantitatively,thatis,judgingexactlyhowmuchandinwhatdirectiondisobediencewouldoccur.Itsnextanswerswouldbejustsufficientlybiasedsothataftertheexecutiveconcerneddisobeyed,hewouldhaveautomaticallycorrectedthoseanswerstooptimaldirections.TheMachineknows,Stephen!"
"Youcan’tbesureofallthis.Youareguessing."
"Itisaguessbasedonalifetime’sexperiencewithrobots.Youhadbetterrelyonsuchaguess,Stephen."
"Butthenwhatisleft?TheMachinesthemselvesarecorrectandthepremisestheyworkonarecorrect.
