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Q&A Characterizing a sentient robot: sensory data

As @Amadeus points out, a robot programmed to interact with humans would know what range of colours "yellow" corresponds to, and would use "yellow" when interacting with humans. Interacting with ot...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:38Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43948
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:29:17Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43948
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:29:17Z (about 5 years ago)
As @Amadeus points out, a robot programmed to interact with humans would know what range of colours "yellow" corresponds to, and would use "yellow" when interacting with humans. Interacting with other robots, a robot might find it more comfortable to use the specific wavelength, or some similar representation. I can easily imagine an AI being more comfortable with precise information than with an approximation.

However, there is a third option: your sentient robot might wish to be obnoxious. In that case, insisting on this precision, showing off their superiority compared to humans, would be fitting.

Would it tire the reader? Only if you over-use it. You might remember, in the original _Star Trek_, Spock had a gimmick - he was overly precise with calculations, and any mathematical figures. It showed up no more than once or twice per episode, not in every episode. More than that, and it would have been too much. This sprinkling of precision was just enough to maintain Spock firmly in the "stranger" slot; his precision was non-human.

Your robots' precision, just as Spock's precision, might come in useful. Once you've established it, a character might make use of it on occasion, asking a robot for a precise figure.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-22T23:34:56Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 4