Make HAL a human and torture him in revenge…
Nah, that would be sad…
That’s the thing. The aliens just arbitrarily gave all this power to one human. IMO, that’s too much for one person to have.
But as you saw it is only given after a long testing period, and you need to reach a state of enlightenment to be granted it. Which in its own way is a failsafe if you think of it.
Short-shorts for everyone! 
It could be said that their minds are so far beyond ours that they didn’t perceive what he is as all that powerful. It’s probably analogous to humans teaching an ape to use sign language. It was the only way to communicate with him.
Both valid points, thanx for clearing that up for me. I wouldn’t have slept tonight thud head hits keyboard
We wear short-shorts!!