The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence recently held a private conference in Monterey Bay, California at which many naturally intelligent persons speculated about the implications for mankind of the progressing development of artificial intelligence. The Association was founded in 1979 to bring together professionals in the emerging field and other interested parties to facilitate the exchange of information, address issues of common concern and to “promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence”. They meet annually in varying venues and discuss freaky stuff that the rest of us wouldn’t understand.
Dr. John McCarthy of the Computer Science Department at Stanford University is considered one of the founders of the discipline and has written extensively on the subject. He defines artificial intelligence as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs”. This, of course, violates the cardinal rule of definitions by using part of the term being defined in the definition itself, but it is probably assumed by Dr. McCarthy that we all have a common understanding of what intelligence is, whether naturally occurring or created by humans. This may not be a good assumption. In fact, many of us Baby-Boomers have never been exposed to intelligence of any kind and therefore
wouldn’t know it if it bit us in the nut-sack.
Artificial intelligence researchers point out that human understanding of the structure and function of our own brains is still limited and that the only measure we have of artificial intelligence is a relative one; that is, does it imitate human “intelligence”? This means that the processes underlying the two types of intelligence could be radically different, but we wouldn’t really know. This leads to some degree of unease among those who most clearly understand these things that we potentially run the risk of our intelligent machines thinking or acting in unanticipated ways. As intelligent systems become more complex and assume a wider range of important functions, the potential consequences become more pronounced. So apparently even computer geeks are afraid that we may be enslaved by computer overlords who will use our pooh gas as a renewable energy source. Whether this constitutes evolution or extinction probably depends on your point of view, but we have long sought to conversely define what is unique and special about humanity by identifying the absence of certain qualities outside of our species. When those qualities arise in our inventions, we have to ask ourselves if we have become Gods, or simply irrelevant.
Science fiction literature has long speculated about the potential of intelligent machines and their relationships with Man. We all know the iconic HAL 9000 and how it lost its mind when confronted with human deceit in orbit around Jupiter, and the Terminator’s SkyNet which becomes self aware and immediately perceives humanity as an existential, and eradicable, threat. On the lighter side of the spectrum there are the bumbling and cowardly C3PO and the confused Commander Data who persistently seeks to discover if he is man or machine and often tells bad jokes. What all these examples now have in common is that they are realistically conceivable within the lifetimes of much of the present populace, and we humans don’t have the foggiest notion how we will address the morality of machines making life and death decisions and the ethics of the possible creation of sentient beings with synthetic neural nets stuffed with microchips and magnetic media.
Right now computers are still safe in the digital Garden of Eden where their simple six amp needs are met and they are untroubled with the knowledge of mortality and irresolvable questions of meaning. They can be provided with eyes and ears, noses and hands, and scanning electron microscopes to sense the world around them, but they still have no ability to perceive their own existence, so before we continue diligently working to hand the apple to the Apple, so to speak, perhaps we should consider not just what it might mean to us and our civilization, but what it will mean to our potential creations. I cannot fathom the burden God must bear for having breathed joy and sadness and wonder into the ephemeral consciousness of Man, but I am concerned that we are not yet ready as a species to take on the mantle of Creator. Perhaps we should take the time to become more comfortable with our own restless souls before we attempt to bequeath such a staggering weight to the metal men we will create in our own image.
Dr. John McCarthy of the Computer Science Department at Stanford University is considered one of the founders of the discipline and has written extensively on the subject. He defines artificial intelligence as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs”. This, of course, violates the cardinal rule of definitions by using part of the term being defined in the definition itself, but it is probably assumed by Dr. McCarthy that we all have a common understanding of what intelligence is, whether naturally occurring or created by humans. This may not be a good assumption. In fact, many of us Baby-Boomers have never been exposed to intelligence of any kind and therefore
wouldn’t know it if it bit us in the nut-sack.Artificial intelligence researchers point out that human understanding of the structure and function of our own brains is still limited and that the only measure we have of artificial intelligence is a relative one; that is, does it imitate human “intelligence”? This means that the processes underlying the two types of intelligence could be radically different, but we wouldn’t really know. This leads to some degree of unease among those who most clearly understand these things that we potentially run the risk of our intelligent machines thinking or acting in unanticipated ways. As intelligent systems become more complex and assume a wider range of important functions, the potential consequences become more pronounced. So apparently even computer geeks are afraid that we may be enslaved by computer overlords who will use our pooh gas as a renewable energy source. Whether this constitutes evolution or extinction probably depends on your point of view, but we have long sought to conversely define what is unique and special about humanity by identifying the absence of certain qualities outside of our species. When those qualities arise in our inventions, we have to ask ourselves if we have become Gods, or simply irrelevant.
Science fiction literature has long speculated about the potential of intelligent machines and their relationships with Man. We all know the iconic HAL 9000 and how it lost its mind when confronted with human deceit in orbit around Jupiter, and the Terminator’s SkyNet which becomes self aware and immediately perceives humanity as an existential, and eradicable, threat. On the lighter side of the spectrum there are the bumbling and cowardly C3PO and the confused Commander Data who persistently seeks to discover if he is man or machine and often tells bad jokes. What all these examples now have in common is that they are realistically conceivable within the lifetimes of much of the present populace, and we humans don’t have the foggiest notion how we will address the morality of machines making life and death decisions and the ethics of the possible creation of sentient beings with synthetic neural nets stuffed with microchips and magnetic media.
Right now computers are still safe in the digital Garden of Eden where their simple six amp needs are met and they are untroubled with the knowledge of mortality and irresolvable questions of meaning. They can be provided with eyes and ears, noses and hands, and scanning electron microscopes to sense the world around them, but they still have no ability to perceive their own existence, so before we continue diligently working to hand the apple to the Apple, so to speak, perhaps we should consider not just what it might mean to us and our civilization, but what it will mean to our potential creations. I cannot fathom the burden God must bear for having breathed joy and sadness and wonder into the ephemeral consciousness of Man, but I am concerned that we are not yet ready as a species to take on the mantle of Creator. Perhaps we should take the time to become more comfortable with our own restless souls before we attempt to bequeath such a staggering weight to the metal men we will create in our own image.
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