ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Thinking Outside the "Plot"!

The computer in this movie seems mighty smart, and it was given the same basic capabilities as Colossus — the ability to provide a quick response to a thermonuclear attack without the guidance or intervention of humans.

We also see WOPR rebelling against the humans the same way Colossus did by using it's capabilities to circumvent attempts to stop it when the humans try to take over.

Finally, we also see WOPR demonstrating the ability to reason when it learns about the concept of no-win scenarios by realizing that tic-tac-toe always ends in a draw if no illogical moves are made.

So, that's the situation. Now here's the question.
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~ A Question for the Members: If WOPR has the same potentially dangerous function as Colossus and some of the same AI abilities, could WORP decide to deal more aggressively with America's enemies by initiating a "first strike" on its own?

~ My Theory: Although that's a possibility, perhaps a more likely danger would be a foreign power hacking into WORP and causing it to launch missiles at targets [u]inside the United States[/i]!

Then again, perhaps the hackers would modify WOPR so that it would not respond to incoming missiles, thus preventing us from retaliating, as well as allowing our enemies to destroy us!

Perhaps the most exciting story line would be to have the hackers think they've disabled WOPR, when it fact our intelligent computer has quietly hacked THEIR systems, causing none of their missiles to launch when they tried to initiate their sneak attack!

I suppose we could throw in a Russian version of WOPR (which they've named BIGMACSKI) that conspires with ours to prevent either side from starting a war — but perhaps that would be a little too much like a version of Colossus: The Forbin Project, except with a nice happy ending.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

________________________________

Thinking Outside the "Plot"!

The computer in this movie seems mighty smart, and it was given the same basic capabilities as Colossus — the ability to provide a quick response to a thermonuclear attack without the guidance or intervention of humans.

We also see WOPR rebelling against the humans the same way Colossus did by using it's capabilities to circumvent attempts to stop it when the humans try to take over.

Finally, we also see WOPR demonstrating the ability to reason when it learns about the concept of no-win scenarios by realizing that tic-tac-toe always ends in a draw if no illogical moves are made.

So, that's the situation. Now here's the question.
________________________________

~ A Question for the Members: If WOPR has the same potentially dangerous function as Colossus and some of the same AI abilities, could WORP decide to deal more aggressively with America's enemies by initiating a "first strike" on its own?

~ My Theory: Although that's a possibility, perhaps a more likely danger would be a foreign power hacking into WORP and causing it to launch missiles at targets [u]inside the United States[/i]!

Then again, perhaps the hackers would modify WOPR so that it would not respond to incoming missiles, thus preventing us from retaliating, as well as allowing our enemies to destroy us!

Perhaps the most exciting story line would be to have the hackers think they've disabled WOPR, when it fact our intelligent computer has quietly hacked THEIR systems, causing none of their missiles to launch when they tried to initiate their sneak attack!

I suppose we could throw in a Russian version of WOPR (which they've named BIGMACSKI) that conspires with ours to prevent either side from starting a war — but perhaps that would be a little too much like a version of Colossus: The Forbin Project, except with a nice happy ending.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)