Key Item is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

. One of a connected series of stories concerning the fictional supercomputer Multivac

Multivac

Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer in many stories by Isaac Asimov. According to his autobiography In Memory Yet Green, Asimov coined the name in imitation of UNIVAC, an early mainframe computer...

, it was originally to be printed in a periodical Computers and Automation in 1959, but not used. It later appeared in the July 1968 issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and was reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories is a 1975 collection of short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov.It includes the following stories:*"Darwinian Pool Room"* "Day of the Hunters" * "Shah Guido G." * "Button, Button"...

.

Plot summary

Multivac refuses to work and teams of scientists cannot locate the fault. The character, Jack Weaver, does not realize the Multivac has feelings and assumes it is broken when it refuses to answer his question. Then the other scientist, Nemerson, realises that the instructions that have been given to the computer are missing one key item; they need to be polite to Multivac. When the word "Please" is added to the instructions, the computer goes back to work. "After all, a machine has feelings – when it isn't a machine anymore."

See also

• Artificial Intelligence
• Manners
  Manners
  In sociology, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct which demonstrate that a person is proper, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing transgressions, the...
  
  
• Android
• Robot
  Robot
  A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
  
  
• Cyborg
  Cyborg
  A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...