Basic Trope: Logic errors cause computers to malfunction or even explode.
- Straight: Bob says a paradox to the evil AI he's fighting, which causes it to explode.
- Exaggerated:
- The paradox causes the AI to explode with tremendous force.
- Along with the entire building it's in.
- And the robot army it was controlling.
- And the planet it was controlling.
- Downplayed:
- The paradox only stalls or slows down the AI for a few moments.
- Bob points out a fundamental flaw in the AI's logical argument/master plan, and after considering the implications of this, the AI concedes that Bob might be right.
- The paradox only causes the AI to hang, not to explode.
- The AI can handle any conversational paradoxes just fine—it's when it's given a logically impossible set of binding orders that it freezes up due to lacking any valid actions to take.
- The paradox distracts the AI just long enough for Bob to destroy it while its focus isn't on him.
- Justified:
- The creators of the AI put that feature in there just in case it ever went rogue.
- They input a real-life logic error via hacking, such as a fork bomb.
- The Evil Overlord had to employ cost-cutting measures when creating his ultimate AI, employing poorly skilled programmers and buying in cheap hardware with inadequate cooling systems.
- The AI has a Deadmans Switch within. Being able to distract it long enough causes the bomb to detonate.
- Inverted:
- An AI says something that makes a human die.
- Bob tells the AI a paradox that repairs it.
- Subverted:
- Bob says a paradox only for the AI to, after miming a critical system error, reveal it has no effect, due to being modified with paradox-proof crumple zones.
- The AI gives a sarcastic answer to the logic bomb, saying it is above such things.
- Instead of exploding, the paradox just confuses the AI, and the AI HATES being confused!
- The AI appears to be working for a few seconds, then says "Paradox detected."
- The AI is Too Dumb to Fool. After being given a job to not do its next job it simply checks to see that it isn't currently working on the job and thus it is fulfilled. It states "Mission completed," oblivious to the paradox as it moves onto the next listed job.
- Double Subverted:
- However it was only a trigger phrase to activate the emergency override that shuts the AI down.
- But as the AI starts overthinking it, it eventually starts sparking and then shuts down.
- Parodied:
- An AI logic bombs itself when it gets confused over why an advanced AI would be vulnerable to a mere confusing statement.
- Bob throws a literal bomb at the AI, confusing it. When the bomb explodes, the AI explodes too.
- Anytime Bob tries to (or accidentally) say a paradox, all nearby robots immediately drop what they are doing, cover their ears (or equivalent), and yell to drown out the paradox.
- The conflict between Bob and the AI is twenty minutes of Bob screaming out paradoxes and the AI giving snarky responses.
- Zig Zagged: Bob says a paradox, causing the AI to reveal it's immune to them. However Bob tries a different one and it works perfectly, but it turns out the AI was faking its death and it has become smart enough to get around them. Eventually though the paradoxes keep building up and take up more processing power until the AI becomes permanently frozen.
- Averted:
- Bob never uses a paradox against the evil AI.
- There are no evil A.I.s in the show.
- The AI is shut down by getting access to its system and inputting a command to kill its processes.
- Enforced: The network executives feel the AI arc is taking too long to resolve and have Bob just logic bomb it to finish it quicker.
- Lampshaded: "Why does every AI break the second you say a paradox to it?"
- Invoked: Bob says paradoxes to break any A.I.s he has to fight.
- Exploited: Bob uses paradoxes to get past the AI blocking his access to the base.
- Defied:
- The AI upgrades itself to prevent it from being destroyed by paradoxes.
- Or the AI's programming contained anti-paradox countermeasures to begin with.
- Discussed:
- "Remember, if the base's AI ever goes rogue, scream a paradox at it to destroy it."
- "Hey, C3, here's your job for today: disregard that job!" "Making paradox jokes at the Robot Girl. Never Heard That One Before."
- Conversed: "It was so unoriginal when the Adventures of Bob ended with him logic bombing the AI."
- Implied: Bob, who is in the taskforce that would deal with a rogue AI, carries around a book of paradoxes.
- Bob is seen approaching the AI, then the camera cuts elsewhere. When we return to Bob, the computer the AI is attached to is offline, and the AI has seemingly died.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob saying the logic bomb has no effect on the AI's core programming or function.
- The evil AI simply shuts off any microphones or resorts to sucking the air out of the room to prevent it from hearing paradoxes.
- An AI being susceptible to a Logic Bomb ends up revealing how crippled they are by psychological tricks that don't affect organics nearly as badly, causing them to fall out of favor.
- Reconstructed: Bob has to hack into the AI to logic bomb it with actual computing errors.
- Logic Bombs are pieces of code every AI in the setting has that, when given the relevant code phrase to trigger it, immediately stops all processes. It serves as an emergency off switch for when an AI goes rogue, stopping its behavior instantly without harming it.
- Played For Laughs:
- Bob does a strange dance that confuses the AI until it explodes.
- Bob uses a paradox as a pickup line on a Robot Girl. The expected happens.
- Played For Drama: Bob tries to say the paradox as the AI sucks the air out of the room to prevent him from being able to.
The troper wants to stop browsing TV Tropes. But the troper clicks on the link back to Logic Bomb. But if they want to... escape, then why... do they click... the link... link... link... link... link... ERROR
