The AGI Robots are Coming

By Tony Thorne MBE

A collection of speculative stories about all kinds of robots, including… ACCESSIBILITY – Not only pets will go prowling around at night. LIFETIME – In a primitive form, kids can own one of these toys now. BUGSIE – What might a criminal gang do with a versatile robot? CLERICAL ERROR – An ideal candidate may have his own ideas. ROBOTS INCLUDED – A somewhat different kind of alien invasion. TO BE CONTINUED – A sentient machine might not want visitors. DEVIANT - How do we control the people who control the robots? EQUALITY – The laws say robots must protect humans.. always? PAINFUL REDUNDANCY – Even unusual professions will be at risk. FREE RANGE - A likely, but indifferent, kind of alien invasion. KILLER –How might an unscrupulous person exploit an AI robot? TEETHING TROUBLE – Intelligent prosthetics could be a problem. THREE HANDED – Utility AGI robot devices need clear instructions OPERATION PLUS – Robotic medical treatment should be errorfree. CURTAINS – Spare part replacement surgery may go a long way. NANOTECHNOID – Definitely a different kind of alien invasion. MONUMENT - Given time, robots will learn to improve themselves. GODLIKE - Unlike bio-life forms, might robots become immortal? Plus a glossary, with an Introduction to AGI robots and The Singularity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Aug 23, 2017

Tony Thorne MBE

I am an Englishman, born and technically educated in London, England, and now living in Austria; but in the winter, in the warmer Canary Island of Tenerife. I originally qualified as a Chartered Design Engineer, specializing in Applied Physics products. For developments in the field of low temperature (cryo)surgery instruments, and very high temperature (carbon fibre) processing furnaces, the Queen awarded me an MBE. Earlier in life I also wrote and sold science-fiction and humorous stories, was an active SF Fan, and a spare time lecturer for the British Interplanetary Society. Now retired I write quirky speculative fiction; mostly tall Science Fiction and Macabre tales, with over 100 short stories published in various collections, including MACABRE TALES, THE BEST OF THE TENERIFE TALL TALES, THE JUNIOR PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY, BEST SELLING AUTHOR PLAN etc.. The first 4 volumes in my near future, 5 stars SF espionage series for general readers, POINTS OF VIEW, are now available from Amazon, Smashwords etc. My best selling title, THE SINGULARITY IS COMING, is published in English and Chinese versions.

Book preview

Table of Contents

The AGI Robots are coming!

Introduction by the author

LIFETIME – In a primitive form, kids can own these toys now

BUGSIE – What can a criminal gang do with a versatile robot?

ACCESSIBILITY – Not only pets will prowl around at night

CLERICAL ERROR – An ideal candidate has his own ideas.

ROBOTS INCLUDED – A different kind of alien invasion

TO BE CONTINUED – A sentient robot might object to visitors

DEVIANT - How to control the people who control the robots?

EQUALITY – The laws say robots must protect humans, always.-

PAINFUL REDUNDANCY – Unusual professions are at risk

FREE RANGE – Another, but indifferent, kind of alien invasion

KILLER –How might an unscrupulous person exploit a robot?

TEETHING TROUBLE – An intelligent prosthetics problem

THREE HANDED – Utility AI devices need clear instructions

OPERATION PLUS – Error-free robotic medical treatment ?

CURTAINS – Spare part replacement surgery will travel

NANOTECHNOID – A different kind of alien invasion

MONUMENT – Robots may learn to improve themselves.

GODLIKE – The ideal companion for a lonely emigrant

Introduction - When AGI becomes ASI and the Singularity

Glossary of terms, as I use them-

About the Author, and some of his other books

The AGI Robots are coming!

Tony Thorne MBE

The AGI Robots are coming!

Tony Thorne MBE

Published by Etcetera Press

Copyright 2009-17 Tony Thorne MBE

Introduction by the author

The term 'robot' is not so easy to define nowadays, but few can deny that the robot age is not only with us now, but actually began some time ago. Automatic, computer controlled, machines now fill factories, undertaking complex tasks faster and with more accuracy than any human worker ever could, and they can work for much longer hours! They have no union (at least not thus far), and have never decided to go on strike to improve their lot. Robots also already exist as pets; and others, for various domestic applications, will soon invade even the less affluent households.

Arguments still rage as to whether computers and robotic machines will eventually develop true intelligence. Many scientists now believe this is only a matter of time, if it hasn’t happened somewhere already. The rapid pace of the Internet’s evolvement has already spawned some concern lately. All things considered, it is clear that many machines today are already much smarter than several people you may know.

This collection of stories explores some of the advances that may occur when AGI is achieved. The tales were written not so long ago, but runaway ASI is not mentioned in them. At the time of their penning, I hadn’t yet heard or even thought about this concept. The stories mostly revolve around Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and identify some of the most prominent loopholes, a tactic employed by that legendary author of the laws in most of his own robot stories. Dr. Asimov’s Three Laws are:

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law: A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

We already know that when AGI arrives, and then ASI soon after it, the First and Second Laws will not be adequate to protect us from the new beings we will have created. The Second Law and the Third may not be adequate from their points of view either. Thus, there is urgent need for us to dream up some better laws. This must be a clear objective, one we must undertake immediately, but that is already turning out to be easier said than done.

Scientists working on these projects have already discovered how difficult it is to even define the basic factors involved. How many of the clever scientists developing AGI are seriously engaged in designing human-friendly algorithms for their creations? Not all of them for sure, especially those working all hours to develop intelligent battle robots, which are – perhaps to your surprise – being put into use right now. Some have already killed people, but as of yet, robots cannot be charged with homicide.

    The following mixture of light and dark tales explores just a few of the ways robots, originating from various sources may be used, or may even use themselves. It also considers some of the ways we may react to them, as well as some possible loopholes in Asimov’s famous laws.

    The book ends with a glossary of robotic terms, as I use them, plus an introduction to the awesome subject of THE SINGULARITY...but first...

        THE AGI ROBOTS ARE COMING..!

Johnnie Waterson was nearly nine years old and very persuasive. 'Please Dad, do let me have one, I've always wanted a little pet dog. Jimmy next door has one. I want one, too. Please, Daddy!'

His generous father gave him a fond look, but then he frowned. 'We'll have to see, son. Your mother is not very keen on the idea with all the messes it would make around the house. And, would you always look after it?'

'Oh yes, Dad, of course I would.'

'What about its meals?'

'I'd buy its special food with my pocket money, if you give me some more, and feed it every day.'

'What if you forgot one day?'

'No, Dad, I never would. Oh, Dad, please let me have one.'

'Well son, there's another problem. What about when we go away on vacation? I'm not sure if we can afford the cost of a kennel. They’re pretty expensive nowadays.'

'I thought about that, too, Dad, and my pal Jimmy across the street says he'll look after it whenever we're away.'

'Very good, son, but perhaps that means he wants us to look after his dog when he and his parents are away?'

'No, Dad, his grandparents always have it.'

'Well, Johnny boy, you do seem to have things organized, but don’t you ever forget that a pet is not only for Christmas. I'll have a talk with your mother.'

'Gee, thanks, Dad. I can hardly wait'

Christmas morning soon came, and like many children do on that glorious morning, Johnnie awoke earlier than usual to a welcome pile of gifts. Together with all the smaller presents on his desk, he could see a large box with his name on it. Johnnie eagerly hopped out of bed, put on his dressing gown and slippers and looked around. No sign of a little dog anywhere, though. He despondently began opening the smaller packages. They contained socks and a tee shirt, some chocolate, and all the usual not very interesting things. When his parents came in, he tried to hide his disappointment with the average presents. But, his father smiled at him reassuringly. 'Open that big box, son. I think you’ll love what you’ll find inside it.'

Johnny shrugged and proceeded to open the box. However, inside was not the cute little puppy that he craved. Instead, nestled in bubble plastic wrapping, he found what appeared to be a nearly fully-grown dog, together with a large handbook. He was surprised at first, and then puzzled.

'But it's not a real dog, Dad. It's just a toy ..!'

'Oh, wait a minute, son, and you'll see what it really is,' his father exclaimed with a proud chuckle. He flip opened a patch on the underside of the creature and checked the small panel revealed underneath it. 'It's a Robodog, fully charged and ready to go, the very latest intelligent model robot dog. I'll activate it now, like this, and you'll soon see what it does.'

He pressed the startup button, and the Robodog’s eyes immediately opened. It got up, yawned, and began turning around peering everywhere, until suddenly it saw Johnnie. It trotted up to him and began to wag its tail. Then it rubbed itself against him and gave a couple of contented little barks.

Johnnie was impressed. He picked up a small rubber ball and rolled it across the room. 'Fetch it, boy!' he called.

The Robodog jumped up and leapt across the room. It stopped the ball with one front paw and then batted the ball back to Johnnie with the other paw. The parents were even more impressed than their son was.

'A real dog couldn't do that,' Johnnie's mother exclaimed. 'And it'll stay clean and tidy, too. You won't even have to feed it, so you can keep all of your pocket money!'

'That’s right, and it automatically knows when it needs recharging,' his dad added. 'It goes to the nearest power socket and plugs itself in.'

His mother left the bedroom and went downstairs to get breakfast ready. Johnnie and his dad opened the big handbook and started to absorb everything. The largest section outlined several things the Robodog could not do, and things that should never be tried, like throwing a stick over a high fence, or into a river, and then asking the Robodog to retrieve it.

After breakfast, Johnnie and his dad took the dog out into the garden and began to play with it. They soon found that it could run faster than they could, but it always returned when Johnnie called it.

After only an hour, the lucky boy knew that he already loved this dog. He went across the street to show Jimmy his new pet, who obediently trotted along beside him 'I'm going to call him Doggie,' he announced proudly. 'Let’s have a game of soccer with Doggie as goalie. I’ll explain to him what to do.'

The game was a big success at first. Doggie learned fast, and soon proved to be an excellent player. However, they had to keep Jimmy’s real dog out of the way, and after a while, the boys gave up trying to get a ball past the now expert goalkeeper, even when they widened the goal posts. They decided to take their dogs for a walk instead.

The path across the field led to the riverbank. On the way there, the boys picked up a stick each and kept throwing them as far ahead as they could. As expected, both dogs tore after them, but Doggie could run so fast, it always got to its own stick first and then quickly retrieved the other one meant for Spot. Spot clearly became very frustrated with this new competitor, but never attempted to attack Doggie or try to take a stick from him.

The boys reached the riverbank and walked along it with their pets. Suddenly, Jimmy threw a stick into the river.

'Go get it, Spot!' he shouted.

Both dogs leapt into action, but Doggie suddenly stopped dead. It knew water when it saw it. Spot soon returned triumphantly with the stick and proudly dropped it at Jimmy’s feet. Then, he proceeded to shake himself vigorously to get dry, ejecting a spray of river water onto Doggie. Immediately, there sounded a series of high-pitched beeps, and a loud, very stern, voice began to repeat continuously.

'Warning! Possible malfunction…Wet environment situation.'

It only stopped when the two boys used their handkerchiefs and had the Robodog completely dry again. Spot, meanwhile, kept trying to get Jimmy to pick up the stick and throw it in the river again, which he eventually did. On his return, Spot dropped the stick by Jimmy again and then went over to Doggie ready to have another good shake. Beeping noisily, the Robodog backed up then dashed off at its top speed to get away from the drenched Spot, who promptly followed it. The boys watched the dogs tearing back along the bank until they were out of sight.

'Doggie’s gone home to get his battery charged up, I think.’ Johnnie decided. 'I’ll have to go back and check.'

Having his birthday only three weeks after Christmas had always presented Johnnie’s parents with a problem deciding what gift to give him. But Johnnie could hardly wait to see what presents he would be getting this year, especially from his grandparents, who had only given him the tee shirt and socks for Christmas. On the breakfast table stood another large package. He opened it eagerly and to his great delight found it was the latest model Holobox IV, with three different games included. In addition, his grandparents had given him an envelope containing a voucher for the Hologame of the Month club, valid for a whole year. He scarped down his breakfast, and only an hour later was immersed in a three-dimensional fantasy world, battling hordes of weird and wonderful monsters. His parents could hardly drag him away from his new Holobox for lunch. Jimmy came around in the afternoon and joined in the second part of the first game, as an opposing warlord.

Later the following day, while Johnnie’s mother was clearing up his room for him, she picked up Doggie and placed him, sitting up, on the highest shelf of the largest toy cupboard. She closed the transparent glass door and left the Robodog, still in standby mode, staring out and up at the ceiling. After a while, an oily tear began to trickle down its cheek, as it scanned again the recorded last statement it had heard its little master speak the night before, and now stored forever in its primitive, but semi-intelligent, brain.

'See! A pet Robodog CAN only be for Christmas!'

Later the following year, Johnnie’s mother decided, it was time again, to turn out all her son’s unwanted toys. She took Doggie down from the shelf and regarded it thoughtfully, for a few moments. On a sudden impulse, she bent down and switched it on. Nothing happened. She decided its battery must have run down, and there was not enough charge left, to activate it and go to an electric socket by itself. She tucked it under one arm and went downstairs to the kitchen, where she plugged the end of its short tail into a convenient wall-socket. Its eyes lit up immediately, but faintly, indicating that charging was in progress; satisfied, she went back upstairs to finish checking Robbie’s toys over.

A few busy hours later, she heard a knock at the front door, and went down to see who was calling. It was an old man, shabbily dressed. He indicated a rickety old electric cart, parked outside, and gave her a feeble smile. 'Do you have any old things you don’t need any more. It’s for a good cause.'

She hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat annoyed at the interruption, and then replied. 'No, I’m afraid not. Anything we have is going to the big local charity sale that’s on next week.'

'Not even an old toy, something for Tim, my little grandson there?'

The old man pointed to the cart again, took a deep breath and let out a short wheezy whistle. A young boy raised his head from the passenger seat, then waved and whistled back to him.

'What is it Grandpa?' he called, and was then amazed to see a small dog come bounding out of the doorway, between the old man’s legs, and rushing towards him. It leapt over the low garden wall, sprang up into the cart, and into his open arms. Barking softly, it opened its mouth, and a soft plastic tongue emerged. It began licking the boy’s face, and wagging its stubby tail, enthusiastically.

'Oh, thank you, lady!' the boy shouted. 'A little dog is what I’ve always wanted.'

Robbie’s mother shrugged, accepting the inevitable. 'Well why not?' she thought, feeling good with herself. 'After all, it’ll soon be Christmas, and the boy looks so happy.'

She took the old man’s hand, and exclaimed, 'Wait a moment, I’ll go and fetch the handbook, I’m sure you’ll need it.'

Now for a closer look into those famous Laws of Robotics, and how an intelligent machine using them might be exploited.

BUGSIE 37

Although equipped with Asimov’s Laws, Avram Seven-X1 was no ordinary robot. It was the first of a new line that the company’s research scientists had fitted with an extra pair of arms, joined to the middle of its long body. These could function as legs, too, by interchanging the hands with feet. Even its normal hands could be swapped for feet if required, making it into a very versatile crawling machine, designed primarily for use in difficult terrains and various other hostile environments. The prototype was immediately nicknamed 'The Bug' for obvious reasons by some joker in the marketing department, and the name stuck.

Its six jointed legs, or arms, could be fitted with alternative specialized feet, including versions fitted with spikes, or suckers or even inflatable floats. The Bug could, therefore, travel over all kinds of rugged ground, including snow and ice, on water, and even climb up vertical walls. Marketing soon got under way with the emphasis on industrial applications, and very soon after just a few demonstrations backed up with a comprehensive video program, the orders began to pour in. The Bug was definitely a big marketing success.

The problem was that everyone wanted one, including the banes of society, who would often get what they wanted in one way or the other. So one dark night, the Louie Giotto gang raided a carelessly guarded warehouse and managed to steal the thirty-seventh model of The Bug off the production line. It was still secure in its crate, ready for delivery to a shipping company the next day.

Louie’s mob had a discredited scientist, Kurt Schneider among them, who claimed he knew something about robots. Schneider had had assured his chief that although they were unable to harm humans or allow themselves to be harmed (unless they were protecting somebody), there were certain things robots probably could do which Louie might find interesting. A robot had to obey the orders given to it by a human, providing they did not violate any of Asimov’s Three Laws. He explained these to his chief and then outlined a couple of useful, but legal, orders they could give to a robot. Finally, the deplorable scientist mentioned that he knew where there was a suitable robot, and the potential of it inspired Louie to plan The Bug’s heist a few days later.

Everything went smoothly. Bug 37's crate arrived at the gang's hideout safely in their large van. Rudi Donner, the handyman, decoded the seal on the crate and opened it. Then, before anyone could stop him, he leaned over and pressed the big power-on button on the robot's chest. Its eyes lit up immediately. Kurt pushed Rudi away angrily and then took over, as he was prone to do. He connected Bug 37 to a laptop computer and was soon studying the programming menu that appeared on its screen. It took him some time to figure everything out, clicking through the enormous list of FAQs, but the scientist was soon able to activate the imposing robot and start negotiating with it.

After a few mentally exhausting hours, he had the machine successfully aware that its owner was now one Louie Giotto, who must be obeyed at all times. Louie was delighted with his new minion, especially after successfully trying out a few simple commands, such as - Pick that thing up, smash up this, bring me that over there. Bug 37 obeyed each and every command perfectly. Then, Louie decided to find out what Bug 37 would not do. He handed the robot a gun and ordered it to shoot Rudi, the oldest member of the gang, who he had found rather annoying lately. Naturally, the robot would not kill Rudi, but Rudi strangely corrected his off-handed behavior from that point forward. Louie was impressed with his new power.

The next evening, Louie, Kurt and Rudi drove to a large solitary building with 'Bugsie' (as they called it now) resting snugly in its crate in the back of their van. They had already spent the afternoon telling Bugsie what they wanted it to do when the journey across town came to an end.

Making sure nobody was around, and leaving Rudi to keep watch, Kurt opened the crate and activated the robot. It sat up, climbed out into the road and then waited. Louie crossed his fingers and gave it the go command. It promptly opened up