Editing Multivac (section)

==Storylines==
Multivac appeared in over a dozen science fiction stories by American writer [[Isaac Asimov]], some of which have entered the popular imagination.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pak|first=Chris|title=Science fiction and computing : essays on interlinked domains|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Co|isbn=978-0-7864-4565-3|editor-last=Ferro|editor-first=David|location=Jefferson|pages=13–37|chapter=Computers in Science Fiction: Anxiety|oclc=668182916|editor-last2=Swedlin|editor-first2=Eric G.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Goble, Neil|title=Asimov analyzed|date=1972|publisher=Mirage|oclc=254106640}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Seising|first=Rudolf|title=Science Visions, Science Fiction and the Roots of Computational Intelligence|date=2013|work=Computational Intelligence in Intelligent Data Analysis|series=Studies in Computational Intelligence|volume=445|pages=123–150 |publisher=Springer  |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-32378-2_9|isbn=978-3-642-32377-5}}</ref> In the early Multivac story, "[[Franchise (short story)|Franchise]]", Multivac chooses a single "most representative" person from the population of the United States, whom the computer then interrogates to determine the country's overall orientation. All elected offices are then filled by the candidates the computer calculates as acceptable to the populace. Asimov wrote this story as the logical culmination – and/or possibly the ''[[reductio ad absurdum]]'' – of UNIVAC's ability to forecast election results from small samples.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2014-05-08|title=Voters can be influenced by voter advice websites, but they do not follow the guidance blindly|url=https://www.democraticaudit.com/2014/05/08/voters-can-be-influenced-by-voting-advice-websites-but-they-do-not-follow-the-advice-blindly/|access-date=2020-08-11|website=Democratic Audit|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Data-driven democracy: Who decides?|url=https://aecpa.es/|access-date=2020-08-11|website=aecpa.es|language=es-ES}}</ref>

In possibly the most famous Multivac story, "[[The Last Question]]", two slightly drunken technicians ask Multivac if humanity can reverse the increase of [[entropy]]. Multivac fails, displaying the error message "INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER". The story continues through many iterations of computer technology, each more powerful and ethereal than the last. Each of these computers is asked the question, and each returns the same response until finally [[heat death of the universe|the universe dies]]. At that point Multivac's final successor, the Cosmic AC (which exists entirely in [[Hyperspace (science fiction)|hyperspace]]) has collected all the data it can, and so poses the question to itself. As the universe died, Cosmic AC drew all of humanity into hyperspace in order to preserve them until it could finally answer the Last Question. Ultimately, Cosmic AC ''did'' decipher the answer, announcing "Let there be light!" and essentially ascending to the state of the God of the Old Testament.<ref>{{Citation|last=Nahin|first=Paul J.|title=Computers as Gods|date=2014|work=Holy Sci-Fi!|series=Science and Fiction|pages=95–107 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-1-4939-0618-5_5|isbn=978-1-4939-0617-8}}</ref>  Asimov claimed this to be the favorite of his stories.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html#literary5 |title= Frequently Asked Questions about Isaac Asimov |quote= Of his own work, what were Asimov's favorite and least favorite novels? What were his favorite and least favorite stories? |date= 11 July 2014 |first= Edward |last= Seiler |publisher= Asimov Online }}</ref>

In "[[All the Troubles of the World]]", the version of Multivac depicted reveals a very unexpected problem. Having had the weight of the whole of humanity's problems on its figurative shoulders for ages it has grown tired, and it sets plans in motion to cause its own death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|author=D'Ammassa, Don|title=Encyclopedia of science fiction|date=2013|publisher=Facts on File|isbn=978-1-4381-4062-9|edition=2nd |oclc=882543352}}</ref>