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"[Science fiction] has become big business, where books are merchandised and promoted and distributed and placed on sale like slabs of bacon or cans of soup."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Verhaeren Factor | ||
| Provides autonomous robots with the capacity for independent creative action. |
What provisions could a roboticist make to ensure creativity in an autonomous robot?
| "I'll bet I know why android cooks were never too successful. Nobody ever included the Verhaeren factor in their brains."
The Verhaeren factor, if you've studied this stuff at all, is what makes robots capable of independent creative action. For instance, in the robots that turn out popular fiction - in a very small proportion, of course. "Yes, that's the trouble. They never realized that a cook is an artist as well as a servant Well, we'll give him in his brain what he needs for creation and in his body the tools he needs to carry it out..." |
| Technovelgy from Robinc,
by Anthony Boucher. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1943 Additional resources -
|
See also the entry for light-sculpture for one idea from Isaac Asimov. Also, can this robotic painter create masterpieces like his namesake?
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and Technology from Robinc
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Tech news articles related to Robinc
Tech news articles related to works by Anthony Boucher
Verhaeren Factor-related
news articles:
- Robot Painter 'Action Jackson' Mimics Jackson Pollock
- Midjourney AI Creates 'Théâtre D'opéra Spatial', Wins Art Fair First Prize
| Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk |
| LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot |
| Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition |
| SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet |
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
