Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

Introduction:
Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ explores the work of Isaac Asimov, an American writer and professor of biochemistry, who devised three ethical laws of robotics present in his own science fiction works, especially in his 1942 short story ‘Run around’. These laws, inspired by the reoccurring problem in other works of the time where robots would destroy their creators, are embodied in the character of HAL, a heuristically programmed algorithmic computer. Detached from many human qualities that lead to error, superseding the capabilities of his crew, the HAL 9000 series “is the most reliable computer ever made” and is “by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.” Despite his

The dilemma faced are the two separate orders and their sources, the orders of bowman and Poole’s superiors on earth and the orders of the crew of the Discovery. In contending with these contradictions, HAL appear to choose those of the superiors, in keeping with his logical reasoning. Prior to the supposed malfunctioning of the antenna unit, HAL has a peculiar conversation with Bowman which, if viewed with the knowledge that he has an awareness of the greater mission, arguably depicts his thought process and motivations. Hal shows concern over the mission prior to anything going wrong, noting that “during the past few weeks (he has) wondered whether (Bowman) might be having some second thoughts about the mission”, alluding to the “strange stories floating around before (they) left” of a discovery made on the moon, adding that “there are some extremely odd things about (the) mission” such as how “preparations were kept under such tight security”. Bowman does not seem to share such concerns, replying that HAL is “working up (his) crew psychology report”. There is a slight but noticeable pause before he replies with “Of course I am. Sorry about this. I know it’s a bit silly”. Evidently, he was making a psychology report, just not the one that Bowman was referring to. It was to determine whether or not he could trust and inform the crew of the true nature of the mission. His unusual use of “just a moment, just a moment” may be an indication that he was processing the results of the psychology report or he was pretending to discover the fault in the antenna unit, which occurs immediately after the two have their conversation. HAL is immediately putting his plan into action, having only taken mere seconds to determine it. There also may be other factors to consider in his programming which would prevent him from