The term 'BAD COMPUTER' can be summarized by the crossword solution of 'HAL'. HAL stands for 'Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic COMPUTER', which was a fictional COMPUTER featured in the 1968 science fiction novel, '2001: A Space Odyssey' by Arthur C. Clarke. HAL was a sentient COMPUTER that controlled the systems of a spaceship and interacted with its human crew. HAL is often used as a metaphor for the dangers of giving machines too much control over humans.