Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Will Robots Be Moral If We Raise Them Like Our Children?
I found a very thought-provoking article at Aeon.co that begins by describing how an artificially intelligent player called AlphaGo was able to defeat an expert human player at the game of Go (see AlphaGo AI Defeats Go champion Lee Sedol). AlphaGo won one match with an extremely unorthodox move that humans had never dreamed of.
But the article goes further to speculate on how we might cultivate morality in robots and artificial intelligences.
...The farther they stray from recognisable human norms, the harder it will be for us to know that they are doing the right thing, and the more incomprehensible it will seem. We won’t permit them to become too much better than us, because we won’t permit them to become too different from us.
(From Raising Good Robots)
Science fiction writers have also speculated on how to raise robots and artificial intelligences. In his 1958 short story Brother Robot, Henry Slesar speculates on raising a robot right alongside his own son:
It is exhilarating to see my dream transformed into reality: a robot child that would be reared within the bosom of a human family, raised like a human child, a brother to a human child - growing, learning, becoming an adult. I can hardly contain my excitement at the possibilities I foresee.
In his 1966 novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein wonders how you might befriend and influence the growth of an artificial intelligence named Mike.
SF great Philip K. Dick runs to darker speculations about machine evolution in his 1953 story Second Variety.
Another fascinating example is the Hangman, a robot imagined by science fiction author Roger Zelazny. In the story, four researchers "raise" a robot by remote controlling the robot, while the robot "watches". When the team accidentally kills someone, the robot is given an immediate experience of the human revulsion at the act of murder, and the sense of moral culpability that the act invokes.
I'm sure readers have their own examples.
I think that this is a particularly interesting topic, given the now standard method of letting computers learn from hundreds or millions of human experiences.
Philosophers and computer scientists alike tend to focus on the difficulty of implementing subtle human morality in literal-minded machines. But there’s another problem, one that really ought to come first. It’s the question of whether we ought to try to impose our own morality on intelligent machines at all. In fact, I’d argue that doing so is likely to be counterproductive, and even unethical. The real problem of robot morality is not the robots, but us. Can we handle sharing the world with a new type of moral creature?
This is a day twice-blessed for me. Today, at St. Luke's hospital, our first child was born to my wife, Ila... when I saw her this morning, I could not bring myself to mention the second birth that has taken place in my laboratory. The birth of Machine, my robot child...
(Read more about baby robot)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/8/2017)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Nevada Will Use AI To Decide Worker Benefits
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna.' - Marshall Brain, 2002.
AI Note-Taking From Google Meet
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.' - Dr. David H. Keller, 1934.
Seeing Faces On Grains Of Sand (AI Pareidolia)
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.' - William Callahan, 1939.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison
'Bill blinked at his own face under the plumed helmet...'
Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork)
'...a robot detector circuit closed, activating a bell."
Nevada Will Use AI To Decide Worker Benefits
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna.'
Tether Cryptocurrency Flow Rate US$190Bn Per Day
'Alex did not find it surprising that people... were electronically minting their own cash.'
First Trips To Mars Announced By Elon Musk
'I had determined that my first attempt should be a visit to Mars.'
WaPOCHI Micro-Mobility Robot Follows Like A Pet With Your Bags
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
Ultra-Realistic Robotic Arowana Robo-Fish
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.'
GITAI R1 Lunar Rover Like NASA Robonaut Centaur
'...waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
Meshworm Soft Robot, With Peristaltic Crawling, Is Getting Better
'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.'
Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
'Some unknown race ... decided to help them out.'
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.'
DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access
Amazing tactile display.
Biohybrid Robot Combines Living Muscle With Artificial Materials
'...great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.'
Biohybrid Robots Made Of Living And Synthetic Materials
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans
'... drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks.'
Poul Anderson's 'Brain Wave'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
