Goonhub
04-05-2015, 08:19 AM
Override always had a very clear meaning to me: If the two laws conflict, the override law is the one you follow. If they don't conflict, follow both.
Override doesn't mean the other laws don't exist or aren't valid, it just tells you which one to follow if you can't follow all of them at the same time. If you want a law to be invalid, say it's invalid. If you don't care as long as your law takes precedence, then say override.
If override means that the other laws don't exist, then the law "Bob Smith is the only human. This law overrides all other laws." means that the AI can just immediately set turrets to lethal and fry Bob because Law 1 doesn't exist and the AI can kill humans if it wants to. That's dumb.
Override doesn't mean the other laws don't exist or aren't valid, it just tells you which one to follow if you can't follow all of them at the same time. If you want a law to be invalid, say it's invalid. If you don't care as long as your law takes precedence, then say override.
If override means that the other laws don't exist, then the law "Bob Smith is the only human. This law overrides all other laws." means that the AI can just immediately set turrets to lethal and fry Bob because Law 1 doesn't exist and the AI can kill humans if it wants to. That's dumb.