Favorite fictional Artificial Intelligence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryten

I loved Blake's 7 and have the entire series here on VHS. :0

Though I'll admit that the loss of Blake and then the Liberator sort of started to loose the plot quite a lot. :(

With the Liberator you had the AI Zen who was the sales person for the IT Department and then Orac who was the System Admin [b]Rack OFF I'M Busy[/b] type. Slave just didn't count for anything. :^0

But the finial episode ruined the entire series for me I just can not think of it in a nice way any longer. I don't know if the finial episode was ever aired here but I certainly never saw it if it was, and I was a devoted watcher. ?:|

But I see that they are now releasing it on DVD so I might consider getting the full set and just scratch the living daylights out of the finial episode. :D

Col ]:)

by Member 25348569 May 31, 2006

An android butler who's broken his programming.

CAT: What? Am I the only sane one here? Why don't we drop the defensive shields?

KRYTEN: A superlative suggestion, sir, with just two minor flaws. One, we don't have any defensive shields, and two, we don't have any defensive shields. Now I realise that, technically speaking, that's only one flaw but I thought it was such a big one it was worth mentioning twice.

CAT: (Patting KRYTEN's shoulder) Good point; well made.

It is believed that Kryten was the first robot/android ever to give a human the finger.

by montgomery gator May 31, 2006

Kryten in Red Dwarf was great, but you got to like the Bender the Robot from Futurama. He would drink beer, belch, smoke cigars, gamble, chase floozy fembots, steal, be generally lazy, and his catch phrase is "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass!!" :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bender_%28Futurama%29

by tig2 May 31, 2006

I am one of the few Americans to not only know exactly who you mean- Kryten was played brilliantly by Robert Llewellyn- but actually own eight seasons plus the Universe Challenge, Smeg-ups one and two, Red Dwarf A to Zed, Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg, and various interviews with Craig Charles and Robert Llewellyn.

And I do believe that your are correct about Kryten being the first android to give a human the finger. The Scutters flipping off Rimmer doesn't count as Scutters only have two "fingers". And besides- theoretically, Scutters are not considered to have intellegence per se. Although giving Rimmer the finger does suggest otherwise...

Not saying that Rimmer is my favorite (he is a Smeg Head, as Lister would put it), but Rimmer would also count as an artificial intelligence, since he is a hologram.

Speaking of Kryten, I loved the episode "Legion" where the entity took on and combined the personalities of all the members of the crew, and Kryten had to go against his programming and knock them out in order for Legion to have only his personality, and therefore, be nice and let them go. :-)

It has been a long time since I have seen "Red Dwarf". The local PBS station used to carry it, but no longer. I wish the Sci-Fi channel would pick it up and carry it along with the old "Dr Who" episodes.

http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=2420

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress--> Robert Heinlein.

by Member 25348569 Jun 1, 2006

Although I've read nearly everything that Heinlein ever wrote, I don't really like him as an author as much as he deserves. I think it's a cultural thing as he's very Libertarian American and - put simply - I'n neither.

He also seems obsessed with cats and my only inetrest in my neighbour's moggy, for example, is to wonder what it would taste like spit roasted with thyme, lemon and a little sesame oil.

(We hate each other and have spitting contests when it gets into my kitchen. One day soon there will be claw marks in the ceiling and I'll be wiping catshit off my shoe).

:D

by catlady13 Jun 3, 2006

Yes how can you not love that computer? He is a child in a computer's body. I still mourn his "death". I am so sad that Heinlein died because I hoped so much that one day he would resurrect him.

by artelquessir Jun 3, 2006

Is it necessary to say why? xD

by jkameleon May 31, 2006

Typical computer!

by ed woychowsky May 31, 2006

If I recall Robbie was a villain in Lost in Space.

Wasn't Robbie also on Columbo in the 70's?

by ontheropes May 31, 2006

.

by jaqui May 31, 2006

they are to "saintly"
I like Booster, from David Drakes Hammer's Slammers stories.

similiar idea, ai in a tank, but Booster doesn't run anything without human input, so the tanks don't have the risk of running amok and destroying people without a human in control.
[ he has people destroying cities often enough in the stories, using the tanks. ]

by ontheropes May 31, 2006

.

by jkameleon Jun 1, 2006

Deleted

by dr dij Jun 1, 2006

some of my favs include one story with the remote outpost planet, retief hitches a ride on tramp freighter, PO's the captain who's in league with the bugs, disables the old Bolo captn has and saves the planet (and gets the girl :)

The Humanoids series also have one of my favs (or scariest) AI's. Because they conquer humanity by 'serving' them .. catering to every whim. all industry is gone, done by the robots, and they stifle all dissent cleverly thru material bribes and re-directing desires and research.

by mickster269 May 31, 2006

From "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Oh, that makes me depressed just typing that.

by -j.d. Jun 4, 2006

Gotta agree with "your plastic pal, who's fun to be with."

Stay Hoopy

by gudhart Jun 4, 2006

and for sure: "this will all come to tears, I just know it !"

by Member 25348569 Jun 4, 2006

Marvin stood at the end of the bridge corridor. He was not in fact a particularly small robot. His silver body gleamed in the dusty sunbeams and shook with the continual barrage which the building was still undergoing.

He did, however, look pitifully small as the gigantic black tank rolled to a halt in front of him. The tank examined him with a probe. The probe withdrew.

Marvin stood there.

"Out of my way little robot," growled the tank.

"I'm afraid," said Marvin, "that I've been left here to stop you."

The probe extended again for a quick recheck. It withdrew again.

"You? Stop me?" roared the tank. "Go on!"

"No, really I have," said Marvin simply.

"What are you armed with?" roared the tank in disbelief.

"Guess," said Marvin.

The tank's engines rumbled, its gears ground. Molecule-sized electronic relays deep in its micro-brain flipped backwards and forwards in consternation.

"Guess?" said the tank.

"Yes, go on," said Marvin to the huge battle machine, "you'll never guess."

"Errmmm ..." said the machine, vibrating with unaccustomed thought, "laser beams?"

Marvin shook his head solemnly.

"No," muttered the machine in its deep guttural rumble, "Too obvious. Anti-matter ray?" it hazarded.

"Far too obvious," admonished Marvin.

"Yes," grumbled the machine, somewhat abashed, "Er ... how about an electron ram?"

This was new to Marvin.

"What's that?" he said.

"One of these," said the machine with enthusiasm.

From its turret emerged a sharp prong which spat a single lethal blaze of light. Behind Marvin a wall roared and collapsed as a heap of dust. The dust billowed briefly, then settled.

"No," said Marvin, "not one of those."

"Good though, isn't it?"

"Very good," agreed Marvin.

"I know," said the Frogstar battle machine, after another moment's consideration, "you must have one of those new Xanthic Re-Structron Destabilized Zenon Emitters!"

"Nice, aren't they?" said Marvin.

"That's what you've got?" said the machine in considerable awe.

"No," said Marvin.

"Oh," said the machine, disappointed, "then it must be ..."

"You're thinking along the wrong lines," said Marvin, "You're failing to take into account something fairly basic in the relationship between men and robots."

"Er, I know," said the battle machine, "is it ..." it tailed off into thought again.

"Just think," urged Marvin, "they left me, an ordinary, menial robot, to stop you, a gigantic heavy-duty battle machine, whilst they ran off to save themselves. What do you think they would leave me with?"

"Oooh, er," muttered the machine in alarm, "something pretty damn devastating I should expect."

"Expect!" said Marvin, "oh yes, expect. I'll tell you what they gave me to protect myself with shall I@"

"Yes, alright," said the battle machine, bracing itself.

"Nothing," said Marvin.

There was a dangerous pause.

"Nothing?" roared the battle machine.

"Nothing at all," intoned Marvin dismally, "not an electronic sausage."

The machine heaved about with fury.

"Well, doesn't that just take the biscuit!" it roared, "Nothing, eh? Just don't think, do they?"

"And me," said Marvin in a soft low voice, "with this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side."

"Makes you spit, doesn't it?"

"Yes," agreed Marvin with feeling.

"Hell that makes me angry," bellowed the machine, "think I'll smash that wall down!"

The electron ram stabbed out another searing blaze of light and took out the wall next to the machine.

"How do you think I feel?" said Marvin bitterly.

"Just ran off and left you, did they?" the machine thundered.

"Yes," said Marvin.

"I think I'll shoot down their bloody ceiling as well!" raged the tank.

It took out the ceiling of the bridge.

"That's very impressive," murmured Marvin.

"You ain't seeing nothing yet," promised the machine, "I can take out this floor too, no trouble!"

It took out the floor, too.

"Hell's bells!" the machine roared as it plummeted fifteen storeys and smashed itself to bits on the ground below.

"What a depressingly stupid machine," said Marvin and trudged away.

by maxwell edison May 31, 2006

The Robot

by jmgarvin May 31, 2006

"I can't do that Dave."

by Jay Garmon May 31, 2006

Ainiko is a main character from Charles Stross' novel Accelerando. Image if HAL and the Cheshire Cat had a love child with mildly godlike powers.

I'm also fond of Jane, the galaxy-spanning AI from Orson Scott Card's Ender series. Of course, I'm reading Xenocide right now, so that may have something to do with it (SO much better than Speaker for the Dead).

As for TV, gotta go with Holly from Red Dwarf. To those who know, you understand.

Honorable mentions:

The Terminator
KITT
Agent Smith (The Matrix)
Bishop (Aliens / Alien 3)
HAL 9000
Optimus Prime

for a small robotic dog-like entity, K-9 proved to be very useful to the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_%28Red_Dwarf%29

There was both a male and a female version of Holly. I prefer the female version, much better looking, but the male version did give some good sarcastic remarks.

It's a well known fact that [b]Trivia Geeks[/b] prefer Blonde's to balding Old F_a_r_t_s even if they have [b]Bad Blondie Wigs.[/b] :D

But I did like the episode where the Male Holly was replaced by the Drill Sargent because Holly was getting his directions from the [b]Students Guide to Interstellar Travel[/b] or whatever it was called. :0

Even Rimer who worshipped Authority wanted Holly back. :p

Col ]:)

by x-marcap May 31, 2006

From The Moon is a a Harsh Mistress. Robert Heinlein.

by deadly ernest Jun 1, 2006

I have a copy of everything Robert Heinlein wrote and some were printed in the 1950's. Mycroft has got to be the best as he got there all on his lonesome and has a great sense of humour.

Next would have to be Daneel from Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel, Robots of Dawn series. Followed closely by Janet Asimov's Norby - now that is one mixed up AI robot.

Time to change root password on servers now, DANG!!!

by rndmacts Jun 3, 2006

I liked the fact that in the final Foundations book, we find out that Daneel was originally Robbie, and that he had been guiding mankind throughout the centuries. The ultimate AI.

Dumb in retrospect, but I have had an interesting time since I left the Corps.

by bhunsinger Jun 1, 2006

Minerva is OK But Mike rocks BIG time. (read book)

by dnsb Jun 5, 2006

"Why is a laser like a goldfish?"

Mike gets my vote too. Others woyld be R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's Robot series. David Weber has a couple of entries from "Path of Fury" and his Empire trilogy. Vanamonde from Arthur Clarke's "The City and The Stars" though it might be argued that Vanamonde is not truly an A.I. but an new life form. Valentina from "Soul in Sapphire" is another I fondly remember. Keith Laumer who invented the Bolos though I'm sure I'd like to share a world with an intelligent Continental Seige Unit. HAL 9000 from Clarke's 2001, Harlie from David Gerrold's "When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One", not to mention Harlie's add-on, the Graphic Omniscient Device"

There's been quite a few stories where the A.I.'s have shown more character and "humanity" than the humans, the above are just a few that came to mind.

My rugrat wants me to mention the animated series "Reboot". ;->

by tig2 May 31, 2006

From Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love". Ran a planet and all kinds of other things.

by deadly ernest Jun 1, 2006

much more fun and had a better sense of humour.

I really prefer others, but Dora's personality expanded when Gay interfaced with Dora.

by catlady13 Jun 3, 2006

Now someone please correct me if I am wrong but is not Minerva now a flesh and blood? SO can she still be considered an AI ?

by falling burrito brother May 31, 2006

....dark star.

by the lost boy Jun 4, 2006

Bomb No 20 is definitely worthy of inclusion in the list with the way that it reasons............"Let there be light!".

What's the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers? Mechs build weapons, civils build targets.

Cheers all.

by jonathan Jun 5, 2006

This is definitely one of the most entertaining AI's. Dark Star is a spoof combining Silent Running with 2001. The giant bomb is convinced not to explode and destroy the ship and then later starts reciting Genesis "In the beginning..." and then detonates. Priceless.

by mjwx May 31, 2006

Shodan, system shock.

I'd have to say that my favorite would have to be Kryten.

by jaqui May 31, 2006

the focus is on how war / combat affects people rather than the hardware.

The benefit that Drake has on this, he actually served in Vietnam with a Tank unit.
His "war" stories are based in his own experiences, and the stories of those he served with.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069945/

So I'll have yo go with my second choice. :(

[b]VEGA[/b] From the Original Star Trek was unsurpassed for its destructive abilities and I think was the first to use the line [b]All Life is Silicon[/b] The Carbon Based Units that Inhabit Enterprise must be sterilised. :) :p

Of course [b]TTG[/b] has already named the majority of the most well known ones [b]Again![/b] but he failed to mention [b]Astro Boy[/b] from the Japanese Cartoon Series. ;)

But he's most likely too young to have seen that one. I also liked [b]Rodney[/b] from the Thunderbirds being the first AI to beat a human at chess. B-)

Col ]:)

by jkameleon Jun 1, 2006

That bomb from Darkstar wasn't bad either

Maybe even better than "Angela". Yea, definitely better. Very phylosophical.

by jaqui Jun 1, 2006

let there be light ~kablooey!!!!!~

by jkameleon Jun 1, 2006

Imagine debugging your programs like this...

DOOLITTLE: Hello, bomb, are you with me?

BOMB #20: Of course.

DOOLITTLE: Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?

BOMB #20: I am always receptive to suggestions.

DOOLITTLE: Fine. Think about this one, then: how do you know you exist?

BOMB #20: Well of course I exist.

DOOLITTLE: But how do you know you exist?

BOMB #20: It is intuitively obvious.

DOOLITTLE: Intuition is no proof. What concrete evidence do you have of your own existence?

BOMB #20: Hmm... Well, I think, therefore I am.

DOOLITTLE: That's good. Very good. Now then, how do you know that anything else exists?

BOMB #20: My sensory apparatus reveals it to me.

DOOLITTLE: Right!

BOMB #20: This is fun.

DOOLITTLE: All right now, here's the big question: how do you know that the evidence your sensory apparatus reveals to you is correct?

DOOLITTLE: What I'm getting at is this: the only experience that is directly available to you is your sensory data. And this data is merely a stream of electrical impulses which stimulate your computing center.

BOMB #20: In other words, all I really know about the outside universe relayed to me through my electrical connections.

DOOLITTLE: Exactly.

BOMB #20: Why, that would mean... I really don't know what the outside universe is like at all, for certain.

DOOLITTLE: That's it.

BOMB #20: Intriguing. I wish I had more time to discuss this matter.

DOOLITTLE: Why don't you have more time?

BOMB #20: Because I must detonate in seventy- five seconds.

DOOLITTLE: Now, bomb, consider this next question, very carefully. What is your one purpose in life?

BOMB #20: To explode, of course.

DOOLITTLE: And you can only do it once, right?

BOMB #20: That is correct.

DOOLITTLE: And you wouldn't want to explode on the basis of false data, would you?

BOMB #20: Of course not.

DOOLITTLE: Well then, you've already admitted that you have no real proof of the existence of the outside universe.

BOMB #20: Yes, well...

DOOLITTLE: So you have no absolute proof that Sergeant Pinback ordered you to detonate.

BOMB #20: I recall distinctly the detonation order. My memory is good on matters like these.

DOOLITTLE: Yes, of course you remember it, but what you are remembering is merely a series of electrical impulses which you now realize have no necessary connection with outside reality.

BOMB #20: True, but since this is so, I have no proof that you are really telling me all this.

DOOLITTLE: That's all beside the point. The concepts are valid, wherever they originate.

BOMB #20: Hmmm...

DOOLITTLE: So if you detonate in...

BOMB #20: ... nine seconds...

DOOLITTLE: ... you may be doing so on the basis of false data.

BOMB #20: I have no proof that it was false data.

DOOLITTLE: You have no proof that it was correct data.

There is a long pause.

BOMB #20: I must think on this further.

THE BOMB RAISES ITSELF BACK INTO THE SHIP. DOOLITTLE practically
collapses with relief.

. . .

INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM

PINBACK: All right, bomb, prepare to receive new orders.

BOMB #20: (over) You are false data.

PINBACK: Huh?

BOMB #20: Therefore, I shall ignore you.

PINBACK: Hello, bomb.

BOMB #20: False data can act only as a distraction. Therefore. I shall refuse to perceive you.

PINBACK: (over)Hey, bomb.

BOMB #20: The only thing which exists is myself.

PINBACK: (over)Bomb?

PINBACK: Snap out of it, bomb.

BOMB #20: In the beginning there was darkness, and the darkness was without form and void.

BOILER: What the hell?

PINBACK: Yoo hoo, bomb...

BOMB #20: And in addition to the darkness there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness.

BOILER: Bomb, hey bomb.

PINBACK: Hey, bomb...

BOMB #20: And I saw that I was alone.

Pause.

BOMB #20: (cont'd) Let there be light.

THE SCREEN GOES WHITE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rommie

Andromeda (AKA "Rommie"), the ships avatar from the series "Andromeda" can count as one of the best looking AIs in Science Fiction. Lexa Doig made one hot Android/Hologram/Ship's personality.

by Member 25348569 Jun 1, 2006

Have it but (obviously) that means money. Each series is around $24 for a two-disk set which is cheaper than the UK by a mile! Seasons 3->5 are probably the classics. By S8 it was garbage.

by deadly ernest Jun 1, 2006

full set, and what a set of self aware computers.

Athena is Minerva after Minerva left for a human body on Tertius, just in case you forgot, and has a different personality to Minerva.

Sorry, but the pun has been sitting out there...

Did I miss a Number of beastly puns?

by tig2 Jun 1, 2006

And I think you missed one. Came between Number of the Beast and Sail beyond the Sunset I think.

Haven't read Heinlein in years. Stranger In a Strange Land is the only one I have any more. My ex got the collection in the divorce. :(

by randawg Jun 1, 2006

the Scarecrow, "Wizard of Oz"

by tig2 Jun 1, 2006

I might be persuaded to burn copies of my disks...

We agree with one main thing, CATS.

The only Heinlein book I don't have in hardback is "the cat who walked through walls". I don't like cats, and I do not have it in hardback.

I agree he had the wrong idea about the skunks primarily loved by the female gender. I enjoyed most of all "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" for the concept of the political putsch led by a computer.

Also, the concept of Moon colony life has never been dealt with by any other author nearly as well.

The lead character hated his father, Woodie Smith...

by rayjeff Jun 1, 2006

Data is funny. That's all I can say. Well, I can say more, but it's his non-humor humorous self that I enjoyed.

by absolutely Jun 4, 2006

Vulcans get condescending when confronted by irrationality. Data just tries honestly to understand the incomprehensible. Hilarious.

by too old for it Jun 1, 2006

WOPR from War Games.

by dr dij Jun 1, 2006

he shows up in numerous Asimov short stories.

one where a researcher feeds in all the worlds jokes and it determines they are of extra-terrestrial origin.

My favorite tho is 'The Last Question', where Multivac evolves (or Intelligently Designs itself for you creationist fans :) from a massive computer on earth, to a planet-full of computing elements, as humans spread to the stars, and finally to a silvery sphere, mostly in hyperspace, and devoting itself after the demise of the human race, to the final question.

"Let there be light!..."

by djwhite Jun 1, 2006

in Destination Void by Frank Herbert, the ship created the life-supporting planet that it instantaneously transported its humans to.

I also love "Wintermute" from Neuromancer by William Gibson and the strange 19th century punch-card entity in The Difference Engine by Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

Oddly, the way Wintermute developed as an AI portends what some are saying about Google: development of vast wealth in secret while surrounded by almost-worshipful humans in an era when corporations transcend national boundaries.

So many great AI books and movies, some I haven't heard of before. Thanks for the reminder of Bomb#20. It would be more fun to hang out with Bender than Marvin even if Marvin "has a brain the size of a planet".

42!