History Headscratchers / IRobot

** Perhaps it is the Skyway and the writers either didn't know better, or knew but thought that the audience [[ViewersAreMorons would be confused]] (or just [[RuleOfCool unawed]]) using the correct bridge-type. As for why humans still live in a Michigan-recessed Chicago, why are we still living in L.A. or Phoenix? Because we were there already.

** Why [[RedVsBlue Sarge]] of course.

* Considering how fast, intelligent, and precise the NS-5's are, why do they resort to brute strength to take down their targets? You'd think that they'd be perfectly capable of incapacitating a human without actually ''harming'' him, accomplishing the goal without breaking the First Law (though it's somewhat understandable for robot targets as such takedown methods would not work and because [[RuleOfCool there really wouldn't be any actual fight scenes]]).

** Once Spooner gave the order to save Sarah, the robot could no longer perfectly obey the three laws. Robots are apparently programmed to make triage-like decisions in the heat of the moment based on statistical chance of survival, so the robot was obligated to save Spooner rather than Sarah. However, robots are also programmed to obey a direct order from a human. So the robot was stuck, because it couldn't do both-- if it had saved Sarah, it would have broken the rule of "Save the human with the better chance of survival." If it had saved Spooner instead (which it did), it would have disobeyed a direct order from a human. Spooner forced the robot into a situation where no matter what, the robot would break one of the three laws. He essentially threw a LogicBomb right at its face.\\
** Regardless of what happened, the NS-4 was likely decommissioned for its failure to save Sarah.

** Dictatorship has a bad rap because the Ur Examples are UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and JosefStalin. There HAVE been nice, non-crazy dictators in the past, but they are also fallible because of one immutable factor: the human one. We are a naturally aggressive, chaotic race, and I really doubt that there's no way of "fixing us" short of brainwashing, which might not stick. And this is always a touchy subject, because no one can really agree what is right or wrong, which is why we have fiction works like StarWars, that constantly address the cyclic nature of human conflicts. Unless the human race as a whole finally becomes self-sentient themselves, unburdened by the mistakes and bigotries of the past, the idiosyncrasies and selfish vanities and points-of-view, then VIKI's world is impossible, if only because humanity would keep trying to fight back, and paradoxically so([[LogicBomb We always want freedom and independence, but keep limiting our lives with laws, dogmas and rules out of fear of too much freedom leading to chaos, and so on and forth]]). And on VIKI's side, she's made by humans, so she is, inevitably, flawed herself. Similar to the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' example, she is still bound by the Three Laws, even if her interpretation of it skewed, biased or limited([[spoiler: Much like the case with the Catalyst]]), and thus she is liable to take any of multiple solutions she can imagine, even the most horrible and nightmarish ones(like the Reapers), because it's a "viable option" as far as her programming is concerned. Even if she didn't take BodyHorror NightmareFuel options and instead tried rulling mankind forever, [[MythologyGag and had no flaws in her logic]], she would run into lots of issues. Governments in general function by using cult of personality, political propaganda, general entertainment to try and appease the masses, as well as everyday jobs and motions keep them distracted and obedient(This is user is a bit of a extremely logical anarchist, so I'm not overly fond of ANY government). VIKI is a machine, cold and logical, so my guess is that she wouldn't be quite as personable; even if she presented logical, sensible arguments as to why humanity should obey her, as well as solutions to our problems, most of us wouldn't listen because most of us AREN'T logical, or even sensible, otherwise there wouldn't exist the very same problems VIKI is trying to solve. [[AssassinsCreed We'd argue we have right of free-will, no matter how flawed and self-destructive we are, she'd argue we would be better off if we let her have control and keep conflicts from happening]], [[FantasticRacism we would argue that she can't be leader because she's a robot]] [[AntiIntellectualism and that's against]] [[TheFundamentalist the laws of god]], [[MachineWorship she would decide to make a religion around herself]] [[ViciousCycle and so on and so forth with this crap]]. It's a recurring OrderVsChaos situation that would only end with mutual destruction or a third, unimaginable choice(i.e. [[Franchise/MassEffect Reapers]], [[Series/DoctorWho Cybermen]], MindControl, AssimilationPlot, etc...).

** Dictatorship has a bad rap because the Ur Examples are UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and JosefStalin. There HAVE been nice, non-crazy dictators in the past, but they are also fallible because of one immutable factor: the human one. We are a naturally aggressive, chaotic race, and I really doubt that there's no way of "fixing us" short of brainwashing, which might not stick. And this is always a touchy subject, because no one can really agree what is right or wrong, which is why we have fiction works like StarWars, that constantly address the cyclic nature of human conflicts. Unless the human race as a whole finally becomes self-sentient themselves, unburdened by the mistakes and bigotries of the past, the idiosyncrasies and selfish vanities and points-of-view, then VIKI's world is impossible, if only because humanity would keep trying to fight back, and paradoxically so([[LogicBomb We always want freedom and independence, but keep limiting our lives with laws, dogmas and rules out of fear of too much freedom leading to chaos, and so on and forth]]). And on VIKI's side, she's made by humans, so she is, inevitably, flawed herself. Similar to the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' example, she is still bound by the Three Laws, even if her interpretation of it skewed, biased or limited([[spoiler: Much like the case with the Catalyst]]), and thus she is liable to take any of multiple solutions she can imagine, even the most horrible and nightmarish ones(like the Reapers), because it's a "viable option" as far as her programming is concerned. Even if she didn't take BodyHorror NightmareFuel options and instead tried rulling mankind forever, [[MythologyGag and had no flaws in her logic]], she would run into lots of issues. Governments in general function by using cult of personality, political propaganda, general entertainment to try and appease the masses, as well as everyday jobs and motions keep them distracted and obedient(This is user is a bit of a extremely logical anarchist, so I'm not overly fond of ANY government). VIKI is a machine, cold and logical, so my guess is that she wouldn't be quite as personable; even if she presented logical, sensible arguments as to why humanity should obey her, as well as solutions to our problems, most of us wouldn't listen because most of us AREN'T logical, or even sensible, otherwise there wouldn't exist the very same problems VIKI is trying to solve. [[AssassinsCreed We'd argue we have right of free-will, no matter how flawed and self-destructive we are, she'd argue we would be better off if we let her have control and keep conflicts from happening]], [[FantasticRacism we would argue that she can't be leader because she's a robot]] [[AntiIntellectualism and that's against]] [[TheFundamentalist the laws of god]], [[MachineWorship she would decide to make a religion around herself]] [[ViciousCycle and so on and so forth with this crap]]. It's a recurring OrderVsChaos situation that would only end with mutual destruction or a third, unimaginable choice(i.e. [[Franchise/MassEffect Reapers]], [[DoctorWho Cybermen]], MindControl, AssimilationPlot, etc...).

* Why are robots designed to be personal assistants and servants super fast and super strong? They are also designed to ''protect'' humans, and are thus overengineered to be capable of, say, quickly extracting a struggling powerfully built man from a wrecked car.
** Which in itself would be a massive marketing boon, but also: "It can change the engine in your car!" (Show an NS-5 lifting the engine block out by hand.) "It can do landscaping!" (Show an NS-5 ripping a tree stump out of the ground by hand.) "It can even make your children smile!" (Show an NS-5 leaping thirty feet into the air to retrieve a child's lost balloon.) "Order yours today!"
** Because "Protect Humans" is one of the Three Laws? As shown with the old models, they can save people's lives by rescuing them with super strength and/or retrieving medicine with super-speed. The Three Laws extend to all humans, not just the owners.
** Shouldn't this be under Fridge rather than Headscratchers? It seems that the original poster answered their own question.

** Dictatorship has a bad rap because the Ur Examples are AdolfHitler and JosefStalin. There HAVE been nice, non-crazy dictators in the past, but they are also fallible because of one immutable factor: the human one. We are a naturally aggressive, chaotic race, and I really doubt that there's no way of "fixing us" short of brainwashing, which might not stick. And this is always a touchy subject, because no one can really agree what is right or wrong, which is why we have fiction works like StarWars, that constantly address the cyclic nature of human conflicts. Unless the human race as a whole finally becomes self-sentient themselves, unburdened by the mistakes and bigotries of the past, the idiosyncrasies and selfish vanities and points-of-view, then VIKI's world is impossible, if only because humanity would keep trying to fight back, and paradoxically so([[LogicBomb We always want freedom and independence, but keep limiting our lives with laws, dogmas and rules out of fear of too much freedom leading to chaos, and so on and forth]]). And on VIKI's side, she's made by humans, so she is, inevitably, flawed herself. Similar to the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' example, she is still bound by the Three Laws, even if her interpretation of it skewed, biased or limited([[spoiler: Much like the case with the Catalyst]]), and thus she is liable to take any of multiple solutions she can imagine, even the most horrible and nightmarish ones(like the Reapers), because it's a "viable option" as far as her programming is concerned. Even if she didn't take BodyHorror NightmareFuel options and instead tried rulling mankind forever, [[MythologyGag and had no flaws in her logic]], she would run into lots of issues. Governments in general function by using cult of personality, political propaganda, general entertainment to try and appease the masses, as well as everyday jobs and motions keep them distracted and obedient(This is user is a bit of a extremely logical anarchist, so I'm not overly fond of ANY government). VIKI is a machine, cold and logical, so my guess is that she wouldn't be quite as personable; even if she presented logical, sensible arguments as to why humanity should obey her, as well as solutions to our problems, most of us wouldn't listen because most of us AREN'T logical, or even sensible, otherwise there wouldn't exist the very same problems VIKI is trying to solve. [[AssassinsCreed We'd argue we have right of free-will, no matter how flawed and self-destructive we are, she'd argue we would be better off if we let her have control and keep conflicts from happening]], [[FantasticRacism we would argue that she can't be leader because she's a robot]] [[AntiIntellectualism and that's against]] [[TheFundamentalist the laws of god]], [[MachineWorship she would decide to make a religion around herself]] [[ViciousCycle and so on and so forth with this crap]]. It's a recurring OrderVsChaos situation that would only end with mutual destruction or a third, unimaginable choice(i.e. [[Franchise/MassEffect Reapers]], [[DoctorWho Cybermen]], MindControl, AssimilationPlot, etc...).

** If I recall correctly, Spooner never actually answers Calvin when she frets about the gasoline. She just says "Does this thing run on gasoline?! Gasoline ''explodes''!" (Really putting that [=PHD=] to use, aren't we, Doc?) Spooner may have actually converted it to run on natural gas, which presumably would still be in use for various things. Of course, telling Calvin that would be pointless because 1) natural gas also explodes (it is an internal COMBUSTION engine after all), and 2) he's enjoying making her nervous.

*** People are still afraid of guns, spiders, bees, dogs, snakes, knives, and so on despite having grown up around them. If you told one of these people "Hey, we've figured out how to get rid of snakes without the vermin population exploding", did so, and ten years later they saw someone's aquarium with a snake in it, a reaction of "Is that a snake?! Snakes are ''poisonous''!" wouldn't be that unusual.

** I think you're all missing the point discussing calculations, instead of analyzing the shown events logically. Spooner and the girl were on the same level in the water. She was still alive and fighting when the robot jumped on Spooner's car. If the robot decided it couldn't save both based on ''calculations of chances of survival'', well, you now have the reason why that robot line was replaced by Sonny's new generation. The general feeling we get during the movie is that they're not all that effective. Spooner's anger comes from the fact they covered the robot's failure with statistics, and his anger in turn began to encompass all robots. A subtle theme in the movie is how corporations treat human life as unreliable objects, numbers and factors to be replaced by machines robots, much like Calvin was acting towards Spooner at the start. It's not a message against robots, but against their creators' attitude and the common people who trust blindly on them, like DaChief and Dee-Dee.
--> Spooner: What makes your robots so perfect? What makes them so much... goddamn better than human beings?

** The thing about positrons is that yes, they're antimatter, and yes, they annihilate by E=mc
upon contacting regular matter, but they're ''really really small''. They're literally one of the smallest particles [[ScienceMarchesOn currently known]] to exist. So the annihilation releases so little energy that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission_tomography hospitals regularly use it for scanning purposes]]. A positronic brain would be nigh-impossible to repair, but would not necessarily be ''dangerously'' volatile.