--- description: "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that" title: Researchers Aim to Teach Robots How to Say 'No' to Humans image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Researchers Aim to Teach Robots How and When to Say 'No' to Humans by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 6:21 AM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 6:21 AM CUT Anyone who’s seen “2001: A Space Odyssey” likely remembers the scene in which the HAL-9000 computer decides to go against orders and strand one of the main characters outside the spacecraft. But don’t worry: This research project to teach robots when they should refuse to listen to humans won’t end up like that. Probably. [Tufts University roboticists](http://hrilab.tufts.edu/ "undefined") Gordon Briggs and Matthias Scheutz are studying how to make robots more intelligent in the actions they take, and when those actions should go against explicit instructions. Should a robot walk forward even if it means should it even listen to the orders… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/researchers-aim-teach-robots-how-when-say-no-humans-n466681?cid=par-time-tech%5F20151120 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/"},"headline":"Researchers Aim to Teach Robots How and When to Say 'No' to Humans","datePublished":"2015-11-20T06:21:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:59.798Z","description":"\"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that\"","url":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/","keywords":["Tech","Innovation","robotics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/","name":"Researchers Aim to Teach Robots How and When to Say 'No' to Humans"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Autonomy in Robotics","description":"Autonomy in Robotics","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Kwe7Rt4a/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-14T21:24:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Kwe7Rt4a.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/","duration":"PT2M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4121691/robots-autonomy-innovation/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```