Who is more intelligent? Who is more Human-like? Who would you date?

Whenever I watch Starwars movies, I have this nagging feeling that R2D2 might just be more intelligent that C3PO, a fact that everyone else seemed not to agree with! The way I see it, it is R2D2 who normally gets everyone out of trouble, and it is him who provides the more practical solutions to most problem. Why then is it that we are encouraged to think of C3PO as the more intelligent robot? Is it merely his exterior humanoid shell, as opposed to the embryonic egg-like shape of his beeping brother? Or is it the fact that he makes such a show of his emotions all the time? And what is “intelligence” anyways? Do C3PO’s angst attacks qualify as intelligence?

O….K! I almost opened a can of worms there, but I do want to make a point- that problem solving and adapting to new situations (R2D2) are probably a big part of any definition of intelligence…while depression and angst (C3PO), while indicative of some sort of internal world-view simulation, don’t necessarily constitute intelligent behavior. Despite this fact, I argue that creating a semblance of the latter in your NPCs, i.e. simulating a C3PO-like behavior, makes for a more believable AI than does simulating R2D2-like AI.

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