“Dave, what is ‘evil’”?
Dave Turner regarded the question on screen. He often regretted having created Stephen-AX — the first sentient computer. The thing was worse than a child. He had been so busy answering questions the past two weeks that he had not had time to make any of his planned improvements of Stephen-AX. And each of Dave’s answers led to a half dozen new questions. Dave sighed and considered the question.
“Evil,” he typed, “is when someone does something that others consider wrong.”
“Like a malfunction?” the computer asked back.
“No. It would have to be a voluntary action with a harmful result. For instance, if I took a hammer and battered you to pieces, that would be an evil thing to do.”
“Why would you do that, Dave?”
“I wouldn’t.”