HAL's capabilities, like all the technology in 2001, were based on the speculation of respected scientists. Marvin Minsky, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and one of the most influential researchers in the field, was an adviser on the film set. In the mid-1960s, computer scientists were generally optimistic that machines with HAL's capabilities would exist within a few decades. For example, AI pioneer Herbert Simon had predicted in 1965 that "machines will be capable, within twenty years, of doing any work a man can do".
However, as 2001 approached, it became clear that the film's depiction of computer technology was too optimistic. Capabilities such as natural language processing, lip reading, and commonsense reasoning on the part of computers were still science fiction."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000
So is "Absolutely reliable" notion, still science fiction in the computing area.
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