Editing 1626: Judgment Day
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In this strip, the AI believes that {{w|nuclear weapons}} are not good things to have, and that the {{w|Nuclear arms race|amount}} of them we have is extreme overkill (14,700 held by the U.S.A and Russia now, 71,000 in the past). Once it's done freaking out, its solution is to shoot the world's nuclear arsenal into the sun. But before it does so it asks the humans: ''What's wrong with you?'' It has thus passed a judgment over humanity. The comic title is thus a pun on the word "{{w|judgment}}" since the computer is being {{w|judgmental}} with humanity and scolding us while correcting our ways, instead of instigating {{w|Last Judgment|Judgment Day}} or any other kind of {{w|Armageddon}}. | In this strip, the AI believes that {{w|nuclear weapons}} are not good things to have, and that the {{w|Nuclear arms race|amount}} of them we have is extreme overkill (14,700 held by the U.S.A and Russia now, 71,000 in the past). Once it's done freaking out, its solution is to shoot the world's nuclear arsenal into the sun. But before it does so it asks the humans: ''What's wrong with you?'' It has thus passed a judgment over humanity. The comic title is thus a pun on the word "{{w|judgment}}" since the computer is being {{w|judgmental}} with humanity and scolding us while correcting our ways, instead of instigating {{w|Last Judgment|Judgment Day}} or any other kind of {{w|Armageddon}}. | ||
| β | As pointed out in the | + | As pointed out in the [[what if?]] [http://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ Robot Apocalypse], nuclear weapons aren't any safer for computers than for human beings (the {{w|Nuclear electromagnetic pulse|EMP}} would destroy circuits), so an AI would want them gone as quickly as possible. |
{{w|North Korea}} claimed to have [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35240012 successfully tested] its first {{w|hydrogen bomb}} on the evening of the day before this comic was published; at about 8:30 PM in {{w|Massachusetts}} where [[Randall]] lives. At that time it was already 10:00 AM on the day of the comic's release in {{w|Pyongyang}}, the capital of North Korea, but that was still several hours before this comic was released. This comic could thus be Randall's response to the ongoing {{w|nuclear arms race}}. | {{w|North Korea}} claimed to have [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35240012 successfully tested] its first {{w|hydrogen bomb}} on the evening of the day before this comic was published; at about 8:30 PM in {{w|Massachusetts}} where [[Randall]] lives. At that time it was already 10:00 AM on the day of the comic's release in {{w|Pyongyang}}, the capital of North Korea, but that was still several hours before this comic was released. This comic could thus be Randall's response to the ongoing {{w|nuclear arms race}}. | ||
