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Robotic moral compass
As you probably know, Twitter trolls had a dreadful impact on Microsoft’s AI chat robot with it becoming pro-Nazi and racistshortly after launch. The worlds most 'sophisticated' (most humanised?) robot Erica (built by Hiroshi Ishiguro) is evolving a more sophisticated approach to language and converstation also learning from each human interaction she has. I imagine that within 20 years every home will have a robot (Amazon 'Alexa+' that looks like you, is stronger and faster than you, in some ways smarter than you) - a result of Amazon's future procurement of Boston Dynamics?. I see no barriers to the physical development of sophisticated humanised robots, but the challenge of setting of a workable and reliable emotional and moral compass maybe a dealbreaker for this area of the robotic industry and those industries these robots could serve. Who will set the moral compass for Alexa+? Can we trust or allow Amazon or Google or Microsoft to do it? Can we allow Alexa+ to carry on learning from us after she has been unwrapped? How should she respond to unfair commands? If achieved, will the ability of Alexa+ to be totally ethical, morally fair be the only distinguishing trait that separates Alexa+ from a real human being?
82 months ago
1 answer
I feel that in the background to the question posed by Mr. Mark Robertson might be Hollywood movies that have tried to present robots in a romantic, "human" way, in a manner similar th that offered by Karel Capek in his play "RUR" the title of which could be translated literary as "inteligent universal robots". In the play, robots are made from a "synthetic organic matter" and are presented as being of "flesh and blood" and not a machinery; they can be seen to be more like human clones rather than mechanical robots. They may be mistaken for humans and can think for themselves. Their eventual rebellion leads to the extinction of the human race.
This is a literary, romantic view of robots. The computer-based machinary that is being developed now can very easily avoid any complications from robots having "feelings". They can be programmed exactly to what is needed, and they can always be switched off. For example, the currently available "sex machine" robots can provide a dosen+ different ways of providing sex (service) but they do not expect to be satisfied in return; also, they do not fall in love. For a human to expect that should turn to a human being...
82 months ago
