Rethinking Asimov's 3 laws of robotics - clever machines in a not so clever world.

I love science fiction! I particularly love it when it bears some close semblance to reality (or a possible reality). Isaac Asimov's 3 laws of robotics have been the basis for much contemporary entertainment (the Matrix, I Robot, and HAL 2000 and AI are but a few of the movies that have draw upon his superb thesis on robotics and sentience).

The original laws stated:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Sensible stuff... Well, here's something that is quite hilarious! If one watches just one or two episodes of Stark Trek you can see why there was a need to update Asimov's laws! Clearly no self respecting robot would be seen dead (or alive) acting in accordance with the 3 original simplistic laws!

Huh, looks like Isaac Asimov's 3 laws of robotics have been expanded tenfold by the thoughtful Something Awful guys:

# A robot must tip its hat in the presence of a lady human being, except where such a display would be construed as a come-on by a jealous male human being, who then might pose a difficulty to the Third Law.

# A robot may not act in such a fashion as would make dogs obsolete, because dogs are less expensive than robots, and robots should be reserved for science things.

# A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice.

# A robot, specifically a big, wide robot, may not pretend to be a refrigerator and then make a scary noise when a human being opens it.

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics [ somethingawful.com, thanks Coop ] from boingboing.net