Editing Multivac (section)

== Significance ==
Asimov's depiction of Multivac has been seen as the defining conceptualization of the genre of computers for the period, just as his development of [[robot]]s defined a subsequent generation of thinking machines,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Warrick|first=Patricia S.|title=The cybernetic imagination in science fiction|date=1980|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=0-262-23100-X |chapter=Science fiction images of computers and robots|oclc=5831667}}</ref> and Multivac has been described as the direct ancestor of [[HAL 9000]].<ref name=":0" /> Though the technology initially depended on bulky [[vacuum tube]]s, the concept – that all information could be contained on computer(s) and accessed from a domestic terminal – constitutes an early reference to the possibility of the [[Internet]] (as in "[[Anniversary (short story)|Anniversary]]").<ref>
[http://multivax.com/about.html "About MultiVAX"].
</ref> Multivac has been considered within the context of public access information systems<ref name=":1" /> and used in teaching computer science,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sanderson |first=Donald |date=2004 |title=Using Science Fiction to Teach Computer Science |work=Proc. WWW@10. Terra Haute, IN, 9/30-10/1/2004 |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6361840/using-science-fiction-to-teach-computer-science-www10}}</ref> as well as with regard to the nature of an electoral democracy, as its influence over global democracy and the directed economy increased ("[[Franchise (short story)|Franchise]]").<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cowen|first=Tyler|title=The Robots Are Here|url=https://politi.co/31qqQXn|access-date=2020-08-11|website=POLITICO Magazine }}</ref> Asimov stories featuring Multivac have also been taught in literature classes.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Study guide for isaac asimov's the machine that won the war |date=2017 |publisher=GALE STUDY GUIDES |isbn=978-1-375-39231-0 |oclc=1048936923}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=A Study Guide for Isaac Asimov's the Dead Past |date=2018 |publisher=Cengage Gale |isbn=978-1-5358-4614-1 |location=Farmington Hills|oclc=1038496399}}</ref> In [[AI control problem|AI control]] terms, Multivac has been described as both an "oracle" and a "nanny".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jaffe |first=Aaron |title=Spoiler alert : a critical guide |isbn=1-4529-6292-8 |oclc=1126214981}}</ref>