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In other words then, if a machine is
expected to be infallible, it cannot
also be intelligent. There are several
theorems which say almost exactly
that. But these theorems say nothing
about how much intelligence may
be displayed if a machine makes no
pretence at infallibility.
There is one final exculpatory
condition to consider: duress. This
is exactly the opposite of the other
condition. It is precisely because the
human agent is rational, and is faced
with an overwhelmingly good reason
for performing an injurious deed—
killing in self-defense, in the clearest
case—that he or she is excused, or at
least partly exonerated. These are the
forced moves of life; all alternatives
to them are suicidal. And that is too
much to ask, isn’t it?
Well, is it? We sometimes call upon
people to sacrifice their lives and
blame them for failing to do so, but
we generally don’t see their failure
as murder. If I could prevent your
death, but out of fear for my
own life I let you die,
that is not murder.
If HAL were brought into
court and I were called
upon to defend him, I
would argue that Dave’s
decision to disable HAL
was a morally loaded one,
but it wasn’t murder. It
was assault: rendering
HAL indefinitely comatose
against his will. Those
memory boxes were not
smashed—just removed to
a place where HAL could not
retrieve them. But if HAL
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Dave Bowman disconnecting HAL