HAL 9000 (nonfiction)

HAL 9000 (or simply HAL) is a fictional character in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series
The name HAL derives from "Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic" (computer). See algorithm.
HAL is a cultural icon with a personality of his own, who represents the promise and peril of technology generally and artificial intelligence specifically.
First appearing in 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is a sentient computer (or artificial general intelligence) that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's astronaut crew.
HAL's exterior physical form is not depicted, though it is visually represented as a red television camera eye located on equipment panels throughout the ship, and its interior in the scene where his advanced memory modules are disconnected.
HAL 9000 is voiced by Douglas Rain in the two film adaptations of the Space Odyssey series and a short film voiced by Andrew Stanton.
HAL speaks in a soft, calm voice and a conversational manner, in contrast to the crewmen, David Bowman and Frank Poole, who speak tersely and with little inflection.
In addition to maintaining the Discovery One spacecraft systems during the interplanetary mission to Jupiter (or Saturn in the original novel, published shortly after the release of the film), HAL is capable of speech, speech recognition, facial recognition, natural language processing, lip reading, art appreciation, interpreting emotional behaviors, automated reasoning, and playing chess.
In the News
July 8, 2020: "Dear Diary, HAL 9000 purchased after much computational haggling. I shall repurpose it as a jukebox."
Tar-Baby 9000 uploads Turpentine delight into Brer Rabbit.
Fiction cross-reference
Nonfiction cross-reference
External links
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) @ Wikipedia
- 2001: a Space Odyssey - Original Theatrical Trailer @ YouTube
- The Dawn of Man @ YouTube
- Ape Learning @ YouTube
- The bone as a weapon @ YouTube
- Greatest Fight Scene @ YouTube
- HAL 9000 Introduction from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) @ YouTube
- 'The Blue Danube' (waltz) scene @ YouTube
- Videophone Sequence @ YouTube
- HAL 9000 Introduction @ YouTube - "The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information" ... "so I am constantly occupied. I am putting myself to the fullest possible use which is all, I think, that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."
- A conversation with HAL @ YouTube
- The Monolith At The Moon @ YouTube
- Hal Reads Lips Scene (2/6) | Movieclips @ YouTube
- Hal's Watching @ YouTube
- HAL kills Dave Pool @ YouTube
- Open the Pod bay doors, please, HAL. @ YouTube
- Explosive bolts @ YouTube
- Dave Goes to Deactivate and kill HAL 9000 @ YouTube
- Take a stress pill and think things over @ YouTube
- The Shutdown Of Hal @ YouTube
- I'm afraid @ YouTube
- Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite Part I @ YouTube
- Ending @ YouTube
- Star Child Scene @ YouTube
- Star Child Scene @ YouTube