Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"All fiction is propaganda, and the fiction we like is the propaganda we believe in, and the fiction we don't like is the propaganda we don't believe in."
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Computers Can Dream | ||
| A sufficiently complex AI computer can have activity similar to that of a human dreaming. |
In this excerpt, Dr. Chandra is talking with SAL 9000, an artificially intelligent computer system.
| [Dr. Chandra] 'Very well. Let me put it this way. You have operated continuously, have you not, since you were first switched on?'
[SAL] 'That is correct.' 'But you are aware that we human beings cannot do so. We require sleep – an almost complete break in our mental functioning, at least on the conscious level.' 'I know this. But I do not understand it.' 'Well, you may be about to experience something like sleep. Probably all that will happen is that time will pass, but you will be unaware out. When you check your internal clock, you will discover that there are gaps in your monitor record. That is all.' 'But you said that there might be risks. What are they?' 'There is a very slight chance – it is impossible to compute it – that when I reconnect your circuits, there may be some changes in your personality, your future behaviour patterns. You may feel different. Not necessarily better, or worse.' 'I do not know what that means.' 'I'm sorry – it may not mean anything. So don't worry about it. Now please open a new file – here is the name.' Using the keyboard input, Chandra typed out: PHOENIX. 'Do you know what that is?' he asked Sal. With no discernible pause the computer replied: 'There are twenty-five references in the current encyclopedia.' 'Which one do you think is relevant?' 'The tutor of Achilles?' 'Interesting. I didn't know that one. Try again.' 'A fabulous bird, reborn from the ashes of its earlier life.' 'Excellent. Now do you understand why I chose it?' 'Because you hope that Hal can be reactivated.' 'Yes – with your assistance. Are you ready?' 'Not yet. I would like to ask a question.' 'What is it?' 'Will I dream?' 'Of course you will. All intelligent creatures dream – but no one knows why.' Chandra paused for a moment, blew another smoke ring from the cheroot, and added something that he would never admit to a human being. 'Perhaps you will dream about Hal – as I often do.' |
| Technovelgy from 2010: Odyssey Two,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Not known in 1982 Additional resources -
|
Compare to computer play time from Point of View (1975) by Isaac Asimov.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from 2010: Odyssey Two
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
Tech news articles related to 2010: Odyssey Two
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
| Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer |
| Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet |
| Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness? |
| Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249 |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
