Page 2 \u2014 The First Town<\/h2>\n\n\n\n In the first town, the people sat down together. They wrote a very long list of rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Some robots are safe,” they said. “Some are not. We will sort them all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They made four boxes: one for robots that were fine, one for robots that needed watching, one for robots that needed help, and one for robots that were not allowed at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a very careful plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 3 \u2014 The Second Town<\/h2>\n\n\n\n In the second town, no one could agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We don’t need one big rule!” said some. “Every street should make its own rule!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so they did. One street said robots could play outside. Another street said robots had to stay in. One street said robots could help with homework. Another said they could not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon there were a thousand little rules \u2014 and nobody could remember them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 4 \u2014 The Third Town<\/h2>\n\n\n\n In the third town, the people wrote nine beautiful sayings on a scroll. Each saying was about kindness and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Robots should help people,” said the first saying.
The sayings were beautiful. But they were just words on paper \u2014 until someone made sure everyone followed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 5 \u2014 The Fourth Town<\/h2>\n\n\n\n In the fourth town, the people did something different. They did not write a big rule. They built a test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Before any robot can help us,” they said, “it must pass our test.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They built a testing room. Friendly helpers tested every robot. Some robots passed. Some needed more practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the people watched every robot carefully \u2014 because the people stayed in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 6 \u2014 Everyone Tried<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Each town tried to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first town made careful rules.
Every town meant well. Not one of them was lazy. Not one of them was careless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But each town had a problem \u2014 a problem none of them could see.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 7 \u2014 The Forgotten Question<\/h2>\n\n\n\n One day, a child asked a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These rules tell us what robots must not<\/strong> do,” she said. “But what should robots do<\/strong>?”<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe townspeople looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first town had no answer.
They had all been so busy making rules \u2014 they forgot to ask what they were building toward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 8 \u2014 The Five Good Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Then the child said something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Maybe robots should follow five good rules,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Be honest. Be fair. Take care. Be wise. Be kind.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The townspeople nodded slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These are not rules that tell robots what not<\/strong> to do,” she said. “They are rules that tell robots what to become<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 9 \u2014 The Four Towns, Together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The four towns did not throw away their rules. Their rules were good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now they added something more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They added the Five Good Rules \u2014 the rules about what robots should become<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd they wrote it all down, together, in one book. They called it The Righteousness Digest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo that every town, and every child, could remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPage 10 \u2014 A Question for You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The End.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here is a question for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you were in charge of a town, what rules would you make for your robots?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThink about it. Talk about it. Maybe draw a picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because someday, you might be one of the grown-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the towns might need your answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u00a0A Version for Young Readers (Ages 5\u20139) A gentle story for young children about four towns with different rules for their robots \u2014 and the question they all forgot to ask. Page 1 \u2014 Opening Long ago, in a world not so different from ours, there were four towns. Each town had robots. And each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-422","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digest.wiserighteous.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}