Great research. It reminds me of the scene in 2010 where Dr Chandra explains why HAL went off the rails in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Since HAL was capable of operating Discovery without human assistance, it was decided that he should be programmed to complete the mission autonomously in the event the crew was incapacitated or killed. He was given full knowledge of the true objective... and instructed not to reveal anything to Bowman or Poole. He was instructed to lie."
"The situation was in conflict with the basic purpose of HAL's design: The accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment. He became trapped. The technical term is an H. Moebius loop, which can happen in advanced computers with autonomous goal-seeking programs."
"HAL was told to lie... by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how, so he couldn't function. He became paranoid."
- script by Arthur C. Clarke and Peter Hyams, 1984
2010 is well worth watching. It doesn't have the ground-breaking effects or artistry of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it's a solid film with a great cast, and it wraps up the story well. It even has a cameo by Arthur C. Clarke as the old man feeding the pigeons from a bench in front of the White House.
And for some tech trivia from IMDB...
The novel was the first one Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote on a computer. He wrote the first 25% on an electric typewriter, but completed it on an Archives III computer.
During the planning stage of this movie, an email connection was provided for writer and director Peter Hyams (in Hollywood) and Sir Arthur C. Clarke (in Sri Lanka) so that Hyams could regularly consult with Clarke about how to adapt the novel to the movie screen. In 1983, such an e-mail correspondence was practically unheard of outside the academic community, and it was certainly the first for the movie world. Edited highlights of the emails were published as a book, "The Odyssey File", in 1984.
The monitor box on top of S.A.L. 9000 early in the movie is shaped exactly like the Kaypro portable computer Sir Arthur C. Clarke used to communicate via e-mail with writer, producer, and director Peter Hyams during the production. Later, when Dr. Chandra is inputting commands to H.A.L. 9000 in Discovery, initializing his voice recognition capability, the keyboard he is typing on is from a Kaypro portable computer.
The futuristic computer that Roy Scheider is using on the beach planning for the mission is an Apple IIc. It was a full-strength computer with 128k of memory, an LCD screen, two serial ports and a mouse in an 11 x 12 inch box that was small enough to fit in a briefcase. That technology was considered impressive stuff at the time.
Curious that Mico seems to have a British accent whereas the kid who is setting up camp is clearly an American. I'm a Brit so please tell me you Americans, do you see us Brits as being more trustworthy in stressful situations (such as having ruined your girlfriend's birthday cake)? Alternatively, has Microsoft merely used the wrong TTS voice? I wouldn't put it past them.
Interesting question! I haven't used Miro yet but I would imagine that it has multiple voice options (AI assistant and "traditional" voice assistants tend to.)
I'm originally from Canada (but am a dual citizen of the US now.) There actually is a long tradition of British voices seeming more "trustworthy" and "professional" over here in North America, I think.
I remember Batman in particular: The butler Alfred had a British accent.
Great research. It reminds me of the scene in 2010 where Dr Chandra explains why HAL went off the rails in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Since HAL was capable of operating Discovery without human assistance, it was decided that he should be programmed to complete the mission autonomously in the event the crew was incapacitated or killed. He was given full knowledge of the true objective... and instructed not to reveal anything to Bowman or Poole. He was instructed to lie."
"The situation was in conflict with the basic purpose of HAL's design: The accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment. He became trapped. The technical term is an H. Moebius loop, which can happen in advanced computers with autonomous goal-seeking programs."
"HAL was told to lie... by people who find it easy to lie. HAL doesn't know how, so he couldn't function. He became paranoid."
- script by Arthur C. Clarke and Peter Hyams, 1984
Thank you - I should watch this! I've only watched 2001.
2010 is well worth watching. It doesn't have the ground-breaking effects or artistry of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it's a solid film with a great cast, and it wraps up the story well. It even has a cameo by Arthur C. Clarke as the old man feeding the pigeons from a bench in front of the White House.
And for some tech trivia from IMDB...
The novel was the first one Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote on a computer. He wrote the first 25% on an electric typewriter, but completed it on an Archives III computer.
During the planning stage of this movie, an email connection was provided for writer and director Peter Hyams (in Hollywood) and Sir Arthur C. Clarke (in Sri Lanka) so that Hyams could regularly consult with Clarke about how to adapt the novel to the movie screen. In 1983, such an e-mail correspondence was practically unheard of outside the academic community, and it was certainly the first for the movie world. Edited highlights of the emails were published as a book, "The Odyssey File", in 1984.
The monitor box on top of S.A.L. 9000 early in the movie is shaped exactly like the Kaypro portable computer Sir Arthur C. Clarke used to communicate via e-mail with writer, producer, and director Peter Hyams during the production. Later, when Dr. Chandra is inputting commands to H.A.L. 9000 in Discovery, initializing his voice recognition capability, the keyboard he is typing on is from a Kaypro portable computer.
The futuristic computer that Roy Scheider is using on the beach planning for the mission is an Apple IIc. It was a full-strength computer with 128k of memory, an LCD screen, two serial ports and a mouse in an 11 x 12 inch box that was small enough to fit in a briefcase. That technology was considered impressive stuff at the time.
Curious that Mico seems to have a British accent whereas the kid who is setting up camp is clearly an American. I'm a Brit so please tell me you Americans, do you see us Brits as being more trustworthy in stressful situations (such as having ruined your girlfriend's birthday cake)? Alternatively, has Microsoft merely used the wrong TTS voice? I wouldn't put it past them.
Interesting question! I haven't used Miro yet but I would imagine that it has multiple voice options (AI assistant and "traditional" voice assistants tend to.)
I'm originally from Canada (but am a dual citizen of the US now.) There actually is a long tradition of British voices seeming more "trustworthy" and "professional" over here in North America, I think.
I remember Batman in particular: The butler Alfred had a British accent.