bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (10/16/83)
The two computers were not the same at all during the mission. They had the same programs, but HAL was the one talking to Dave and Frank all day. That is what drove this self-programming AI project mad. HAL had two fundamental programs that conflicted in a subtle way. One was the built in pride system that was part of HAL's simulated emotional makeup. HAL computers were perfect, they never gave false data. Quickly patched on top of this was the message that HAL was to lie about the true nature of the mission to Frank and Dave. This disrupted HAL's programming. While fail-safe code stopped HAL from crashing, HAL worked quietly on how to solve the problem. Eventually he came up with the solution. Should he Kill Frank and Dave, he would no longer need to lie about the mission. His programming didn't prevent that entirely, so he did that. But this was too much, since he had to further lie etc. to kill them (The AE-35 unit) and then the programs went totally crazy. -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304