The truth machine
by James L. Halperin · first published 1996
11mentions
8recommended by
11HN commenters
2011–2026first – last mentioned
73% recommend27% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A science fiction novel imagining a reliable lie detector and its effects on society, including what happens if the technology has a backdoor. It is a fun, thought-provoking read.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The invention of a truth machine puts an end to lying, a state of affairs which revolutionizes the world. There is a reduction in crime, children do better at school, insurance premiums fall and a world government is made possible. The novel is narrated by a computer.
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Read "Truth Machine" by Halperin. Might have broader than intended consequences.
on “Darpa Wants to Build a BS Detector for Science” ↗Wow powerful story, glad to see DNA testing making a difference in a system that will always be hit by bias and other problems. I recommend Truth Machine (book) too, basically a Sci Fi look at if someone invented a machine that can tell if a person is lieing and how it affects society... http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Machine-James-Halperin/dp/034541...
on “This is what it's like for an innocent man to spend thirty years in jail” ↗Interesting article. If anyone hasn't read it, James Halperin's Truth Machine (1997) is still one of my favorite books. It is an interesting take on technology which can reliably determine veracity and what could happen if it has a backdoor.
on “How technology could kill the art of lying” ↗The Truth Machine by James Halperin This is mediocre book with an absolutely jaw dropping concept at its core. It's worth reading for all involved with building technology.
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite book that nobody you know has heard of?” ↗There is an amazing novel called The Truth Machine by James L Halperin that speaks about this.
on “High-res image reconstruction with latent diffusion models from human brain” ↗A lie-detector that works is a trillion-dollar business. A great sci-fi novel that explores the implications of an accurate lie-detector is "The Truth Machine". I've given a lot of thought to this topic over the years, and have concluded that the way to tackle this problem is indirectly. The problem with "truth" is that it is subjective. There is a better…
on “How can you tell if someone is lying?” ↗there's a book called The Truth Machine that thinks about what the world might look like if we had a 100% accurate lie detector. Fun book.
on “Could the Government Get a Search Warrant for Your Thoughts?” ↗The Truth Machine is a great sci-fi novel exploring this topic (https://coins.ha.com/information/ttm.s)
on “An Alien Mind” ↗There was an interesting book about 20 years ago on the creation of a perfect lie detector, The Truth Machine by James L. Halperin. It primarily dealt with the screening that would take place throughout your daily activities suck as signing up for day care or a new job when the detector would force everyone to…
on “Ask HN: What happens to society when we have pocket AI lie detectors” ↗Halperin's debut novel _The Truth Machine_ also has people living "documented lives", with always-on video and audio recording, as a primary plot element.
on “I record myself on audio 24x7 and use an AI to process the information” ↗Wow - that's the first time I've heard that actually being operationalized. Who's read The Truth Machine? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_Machine
on “White House weighs encryption crackdown” ↗