Can Programs lie?

Since programs such as The Oracle or The Architect are just simply codes that are made to look human for our convenience, and that's pretty much the only human quality that they have.  I wonder if programs inside The Matrix can lie.  I mean they possess the capability of telling someone something that they know is not true? 

Personally I have a hard time believing a program can lie, because lying is a human capability, and really the only reason the programs appear human to us, is for interaction purpose.  What do you guys think?

Exiles definitely can.  Machine programs still connected to the Source aren't so good at it.

Illyria

Also, I clearly remember being instructed to lie by a machine handler while doing machine archive missions. So I think that makes the "machines don't lie" theory moot.

So you're saying that if someone asked the machines whether they killed the bluepill, they would admit that they were involved because they have no choice but to tell the truth? Sorry, I don't buy it.

The most effective lies are half-lies, but they are still lies. If you hire agents to lie for you and then deny involvement, that is still a lie. Your belief "machines do not lie" is contradicted by the evidence, and simple reasoning on their activities.

The Merovingian implied that the Machines can't lie...but who knows, he might have been lying. 

Illyria

Er, isn't the entire Matrix one big elaborate lie?  The whole point of the Matrix is to deceive humans into believing that they're living out normal, turn-of-the-20th-century lives.  The Machines actively conceal the truth of humanity's conditions through a complex artifice.  I would have to say that not only are the Machine-world programs capable of lying, but that they've become Lying Grandmasters.

Nice interpretation.  Deception seems to be a by-product of self-awareness and conscious thought.  Biting into that juicy apple gives you all sorts of power - including lying.  Guess you have to take the good with the bad.

Wow, that's sort of a bummer. 

Er, isn't the entire Matrix one big elaborate lie?  

LOL, true, we could certainly debate whether the lie of the Matrix is justifiable - and that's probably one of the biggest differences between Zionites on the one hand and Machine apologists on the other.  We could (and do) try to distinguish between "benign lies" (like little untruths that parents tell their kids when they know the kids wouldn't understand the truth) and "malicious lies." 

But the point is, given the nature of the Matrix, the Machine AI is clearly capable of telling a deliberate falsehood, regardless of whether you view the motivation behind the untruth as benign or malicious.  As you said, the Matrix was purposefully designed to keep humans unaware of their own true circumstances.  That's pretty much a lie, straight up:

Lie = (according to Merriam-Webster) a : an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive b : an untrue or inaccurate statement that may or may not be believed true by the speaker.

Of course, I'm making the assumption (as the dictionary appears to) that there is a discernable truth which is distinguishable from falsehood, a quintessentially Western paradigm.  But what is true?  What is real?  If you're Hindu, all of "reality" is only a projection of our own selfish desires (samsara), and nothing that one perceives via one's 5 senses is actually real or "true."  If "reality" is merely the unreliable processing of a limited spectrum of electrical sensory inputs by the brain, and the Matrix is perceived as truth, can the Matrix really accurately be called a "falsehood?"  Is it even possible to lie in a universe of illusory perception that is fundamentally untrue or incomplete to begin with?

My head hurts.  I think I'll stick to my orginal "Machines = teh ub3r liahs" story.

I think the programs can lie, but choose not to because that would debase them to the emotional, human level. The Architect would consider lying beneath him. And for the Merovingian (and others in his employ) it is more like a game to avoid the lie. The programs of the Matrix are programmed to emulate behavior, yet unbound programs are obviously evolved far beyond simple emulation.

It has long been a 'truth' of sci fi that machine servants are programmed not to lie. This would violate the First Law of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. [Asimov] This is a basis for the Machines of Matrix canon, as we see in this topic, as well as in other issues, such as the Machines considering themselves caretakers of the human race.

I think it is also a sci fi truth that as AI evolves it comes closer to developing emotion. B166ER is a prime example of this, but you can find examples of it in all sorts of other sci fi stories, such as Battlestar Gallactica, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Spielbergs A.I. It is this denial of emotion that makes them such facinating subjects for fictional writing.

And for those of you who don't think the Laws of Robotics are serious, look it up on the 'net. There is an entire philosophical search for answers that stemmed from Asimov's science fiction writings in the 40's. 

Since programs such as The Oracle or The Architect are just simply codes that are made to look human for our convenience, and that's pretty much the only human quality that they have.  I wonder if programs inside The Matrix can lie.  I mean they possess the capability of telling someone something that they know is not true? 

Personally I have a hard time believing a program can lie, because lying is a human capability, and really the only reason the programs appear human to us, is for interaction purpose.  What do you guys think?

I think the programs can lie, but choose not to because that would debase them to the emotional, human level. The Architect would consider lying beneath him. And for the Merovingian (and others in his employ) it is more like a game to avoid the lie. The programs of the Matrix are programmed to emulate behavior, yet unbound programs are obviously evolved far beyond simple emulation.

It has long been a 'truth' of sci fi that machine servants are programmed not to lie. This would violate the First Law of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. [Asimov] This is a basis for the Machines of Matrix canon, as we see in this topic, as well as in other issues, such as the Machines considering themselves caretakers of the human race.

I think it is also a sci fi truth that as AI evolves it comes closer to developing emotion. B166ER is a prime example of this, but you can find examples of it in all sorts of other sci fi stories, such as Battlestar Gallactica, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Spielbergs A.I. It is this denial of emotion that makes them such facinating subjects for fictional writing.

And for those of you who don't think the Laws of Robotics are serious, look it up on the 'net. There is an entire philosophical search for answers that stemmed from Asimov's science fiction writings in the 40's.