A new model for building AI (Humans)

by dhw, Thursday, November 18, 2010, 13:05 (5118 days ago) @ xeno6696

MATT: Yet, you forget the most prescient analysis from Kurzweil; AI may become superfluous because it will soon be possible to extent human consciousness with that of the mechanical...think of processors and computer memory installed within the human brain!!! This scenario ... in my mind more probable ... and what do you think of human consciousness then?-This is precisely the scenario I was envisaging when I wrote about organic humans being "subjected to technological implants", with their behaviour being dictated by technology and not by their personal identity. It's scary enough that an engineer several thousand miles away can tap into my computer even now and take it over. The same thing could be done with a computer implanted in the brain. It's nightmarish but utterly plausible, and poses a threat to our individual autonomy. Human consciousness can be manipulated psychologically (e.g. with propaganda) and also physiologically (e.g. with drugs), but technological manipulation may well be the greatest threat. Even without implants, technology is affecting the way our brains work. How many young people nowadays are capable of the simplest mental arithmetic? However, I don't quite know how to answer your question because I'm not sure I understand what point you're trying to make! Sorry.-
MATT: If you see the movie AI ... and I hope you do ... watch how your emotions react to the 'lost child' of the story. If machines interacted with men in this fashion, I predict that man would over-moralize to the point of effeminacy; the society that would invariably evolve around such a monstrosity as that child would undoubtedly be one in which man would lose his autonomy...we would have to all become Jainists in order to survive!-I haven't seen the film AI, but will look out for it. It's not clear to me, however, why an android would lead to us all becoming Jainists. Wouldn't the android be a special case, to be considered on a par with humans, while every other form of life remains the same? If so, won't our attitude towards the rest of life also remain the same?