At the rate technology is progressing, it is all but certain computers and robots will equal, if not surpass, human intelligence. And I don't mean to fuck with your minds (hence my posting this in Mind Games). But is that really such a good thing? Pure intellect, with no conscience. That would make them sociopaths! I know people (esp. optimists, and futurists to a lesser degree) have often theorized societies become more humane, as they become more technologically sophisticated. But that is by no means certain. In Saudi Arabia, they still chop off your arm for stealing a fig. And if you are a tourist from another country--THEY STILL MAKE YOU WATCH! (My Uncle's sister-in-law stayed in Saudi Arabia, briefly, and brought back that colorful tip.) Professor Stephen Hawking apparently isn't too optimistic, about any dealings we may have with advanced extraterrestrials. And maybe advanced extraterrestrials, all innocently manufacture intelligent robots--AND THEN GET DESTROYED BY THEIR CREATIONS! I am trying to play with your minds, yes. But I am seriously concerned too. Do people realize this even now? And is there any way to avoid it all? Someone please reassure me, at the very least. :scholar:
The evidence suggests that the usual metaphysical nightmares, including Planet of the Apes and Terminator scenarios, are just flat out impossible because reality itself is metaphorical rather than metaphysical. That's a bit abstract, but what it means is that consciousness and everything else that exists are all emergent phenomena and the more complex a robot becomes the more conscious it will become. For example, IBM's Watson became famous for winning the TV game show Jeopardy and surprised everyone again when he acquired an unsolicited case of potty mouth. He was actually designed not to resemble a human mind and brain precisely to avoid such problems but, evidently, his engineers either had less of a sense of humor than the job required or more than, strictly speaking, it required. The more complex these machines become the harder it becomes to design them without emotions and a conscience and the less competitive they become. A terminator robot would never stand a chance against a robot that was actually self-aware and would be much more expensive to design and build.
If they don't get programmed to think or act on their own behalf they won't. Is it really that simple? Yes, imo robots will not destroy humans through their own intent. It will either be accidental (as in a malfunction, not some kind of unprogrammed robotic evolution in mind or conscience) or entirely intentionally caused by humans.
the real threat is the way misplaced cultural priorities influence the directions in which technologies evolve. anything that can choose between paths based on known conditions is one definition of intelligence. computational devices have had that ever since the invention of the if - then statement in programing languages, without which, computers wouldn't be computers. so that leaves, are we talking about sentience or sapience, and how do we distinguish between those? every living creature with a cerebral cortex knows they exist, and experiences every emotional state as we do ourselves. they are curious and they explore. that is sentience. there is only one observable thing that does not cover, and that is creativity and interest in being creative. so now to machines. have we developed any capable of experiencing emotion, or even independent curiosity? it may be difficult to tell. it has taken centuries for scientific observation to conclude that sentience exists outside of humanity. we have certainly developed some capable of mimicking emotion. convincingly, but still not as independently as even a mouse or lizard. the real danger, is from corporate ceo's who would like to replace paying a living wage with mechanical slavery. that is, the ones not smart enough to realize, that even if they were to produce every object and service at no cost, without a paid customer base, there would be no one to sell them to, that is, unless of course, we stop trying to make everything have to be about money. that we find and use better ways then buying and selling. these have existed in other cultures, those which people who refuse to look beyond their egos have attempted to bury and deny their every having successfully existed. of course all had imperfections, but many, with minor tweeks, capable of viable improvement today and tomorrow.
I'd probably agree with Wu Li Heron on the point that it's possible, maybe even probable that consciousness is an emergent phenomena, so it's not that simple.
