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Articles

Detecting Androids

Antoni Diller isn’t one. And he can prove it.

We are familiar with the depiction of androids in popular science-fiction films and television programmes. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, in the film Terminator (1984), portrays an android who is sent back in time in order to assassinate the mother of the human leader in the war against the machines. Lieutenant Commander Data, an android, is a regular member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise in the cult television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Usually, androids in popular science fiction are easily distinguishable from their human colleagues. Sometimes the tell-tale signs, such as Data’s inability to use contractions, are laughable, but other differences are more significant.

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