Page 132 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Frankenstein Scenario
concerning how to get this beverage, and how to obtain the object in
which it is to be contained.
First, the robot goes to the kitchen. Then it begins a search for the
particular kind of beverage container that has been specified, in this case a
paper cup. The illustration depicts this process. The first frame represents
all the objects in the kitchen.Within this frame, a subframe is selected: eat-
ing and drinking utensils.Within this, the appropriate frame contains cups
and tumblers; within this frame, the desired category is paper cups. Even
this subset can be broken down further. One might specify 12-oz paper
cups, white in color, designed to withstand hot beverages as well as cold.
Eating and
Things drinking Cups and Paper
in kitchen utensils tumblers cups

Frame

Frames can apply to procedures as well as to the selection of objects.
Once the robot has the proper utensil in its grasp, what is to be done? Did
the robot’s user (human) want tap water, or is there some bottled water
in the refrigerator? How about canned soda water? Maybe the user wants
some of that mineral water she ran out of last week, in which case the
robot must either come back and ask for further instructions, or else
make a guess as to what substitute the user might accept.

FRANKENSTEIN SCENARIO
Science fiction is replete with stories in which some of the characters are
robots or smart computers. Science-fiction robots are often androids. Such
machines are invariably designed with the idea of helping humanity,
although it often seems that the machines play roles in which some humans
are “helped” at the expense of others.
A recurring theme in science fiction involves the consequences of
robots, or intelligent machines, turning against their makers, or coming

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