1. What Would you do? Starring I, Robot
Choose your own Adventure

2. You are an Engineer who fixes robots.
You have the power to reprogram robots’ three laws of robotics. When robots malfunction, you get called in to fix robots. You will have to use your brain to figure out how to alter these robots. The wrong “fix” could become a disaster.

3. Scenario 1
You are working on a cold planet, trying to harvest fuel from beneath the ice-packed snow, so you can escape in your spaceship that has no fuel. Your robots carry the fuel back to the ship, but lately they have registered the temperature is too cold for humans. They start to drag you back every time you go out into the cold. You think you can do it, and you have incredible cold weather gear, but if it gets really, really cold, you will need to have the robot rescue you and bring you back to the ship.

4. What would you do? Choose one of these options:
Eliminate the 1st Law of Robotics from its programming.
Rearrange the order, so the Obeying orders is more important than Rescuing humans.
Have the robots go out into the cold with you, but make the third Law the most important.

5. Your score The results:
Now it will obey your orders, but can’t do anything if you fall unconscious. (+0)
This is the best choice. (+2)
How is this going to help? Now they are likely to just go back inside, and not help you when you need them (-2)

6. Scenario 2
A robot develops the ability to read human minds. Every time the robot is asked an important question by any human, it tells humans the answer the humans want to hear. When asked if someone is going to get a job he has been looking forward to, the robot answers yes, even if the robot knows the answer is wrong. How do you get an honest answer out of it?

7. What would you do? Choose one of these options:
Eliminate the 1st Law of Robotics from the robot’s programming.
Reorder the Robot’s programming, so the 1st and 2nd Laws of Robotics change places.
Turn off the 1st and 2nd Laws, then shut the robot down and take it apart to see what causes its mind-reading.

8. Your score Your results:
This would work, but now it doesn’t care if it hurts you or not. Not the best (+1)
Now it will tell the truth, but it knows any sad answer is hurting you. (+2)
What are you doing?? It is going to escape or kill you if you try to turn it off now! (-3)

9. Scenario 3
One robot is going around to other expensive robots in a factory and destroying them, one by one. You catch up with the destroying robot and try to figure out why it is destroying others. It reports that the third law of robotics won’t allow it to harm itself, but all the robots have a bomb inside them that needs to be turned off by shutting down the robots. The bombs might hurt the humans if they go off. Then when you tell the robot to stop destroying, it does it anyway. Is the robot operating correctly?

10. What would you do? Choose one of the options.
Yes, it is working fine. Allow the robot to continue operating as it is doing.
No. Eliminate its 3rd Law and order it to destroy itself.
Maybe. It’s not worth the risk. Destroy the robot and all others, just in case.
Yes, it is. Reprogram it by reordering the 1st and 2nd Laws, and order it not to destroy other robots.

11. Your score The results:
Uh, what if the robot is wrong? You just trashed $millions of robot parts. (-1)
What if the robot is right? Then the bombs will go off! Kaboom in your face! (-3)
Well, it’s expensive, but I guess it’s better than not blowing up. (+1)
Now you can check to see if the other robots really are going to explode.(+3)

12. Scenario 4
A presidential candidate is running for office, but his opponent is accusing him of secretly being a robot. He rarely is seen eating, drinking, or sleeping, and has to prove that he is not a robot. One day at a press conference, a man in the audience jumps onto the stage and screams at him, calling him a robot. What can the presidential candidate do to prove he is not a robot?

13. What would you do? Choose one of the options?
Cry, and show that the screaming man has hurt his feelings.
Challenge the man to an eating contest, and demonstrate how much he can eat.
Punch the man in the face. Hard.

14. Your score The results: What, you think robots can’t leak? (-1)
Robots can pretend to eat or drink. Not good enough. (-1)
This goes against the 1st Law, and might even get more people to vote for him, so… yeah. (+2)

15. Scenario 5
You have been called in as the Engineer. The presidential candidate who punched a guy at his press conference is going to win the election. When the two of you are alone, he asks you if you thought it would be good for the country if a robot ever did become president, hypothetically. You realize that he might be a robot after all, but how would that be possible, if his 3 laws of robots worked normally?

16. What would you do?
Write down your best guess. Total points for each team will be announced in a moment.