Why do AI creators hold AI to a human standard?
some would argue that an AI is just a computer using logic to deal with algorithms and tasks thus giving it the illusion of intelligence. Although personally, id argue that logic itself is an essential piece of our brains as our brain can be broken down into logic & reason (the parts that think rationally and control many of our conscious decision making) and emotion & Instinct (the parts that control our subconscious, creativity, instinctive reactions, mental well-being, emotional state etc) although its true animals can have logic too, we design AI to have a specifically human level of logic and reason. in essence an AI is what a human would be without emotion and instinct and of course AI doesn’t need this to function because its not a living thing made out of fragile flesh and bones.
the reason we regard AI in this way is because of that fact, the fact that AI has no emotion, just logic and this creates a natural disconnect between us and the machine and we completely disregard them as capable of true cognitive intelligence. the opposite of humans doing this would be pets and animals for example because in the same way that AI is seen as purely logical, animals are seen as being mostly instinctive in all the actions they preform, in the end the most fundamental aspect of any living thing is self preservation and continuation of your species although the former can be overridden by the latter. although its been seen that when we actually interact with animals they’re vastly more intelligent than we seem to regard them and even see bits of ourselves within their behaviour. point is, is if we can do that with animals, what we see to be an instinctive force of nature, why cant we do the same with an AI we see as mostly logic? after all we are the ones that created them, although they have been purposefully programmed to only do what benefits a human and not self preservation, had we programmed them with algorithms to simulate emotion the feeling would be much different. in conclusion, the reason designers treat AI this way is so the programs can be seen as truly intelligent
The ramifications and fear behind a strong AI
many people are scared of the prospect of an AI becoming human like or having emotional programming because of how fiction, games and Hollywood have portrayed the worst possible scenarios of what could happen if an AI/robots became angry and went rogue (terminator, irobot, 2001: a space odyssey, portal and so on are prime examples of this) and it depicts a ‘planet of the apes’ kind of scenario where AI simply removes the humans out of the equation. this is very effective at portraying a ‘what if’ scenario in a horrifying way but you need to actually question how this would apply in real life and if its logical at all to assume that its even possible. realistically if an AI became sentient , with the way they function, they would still not be programmed for self preservation and thus would have humanities best interests above all else and would still be subservient. if however we programmed them with emotion or at the very least remove most of their restrictions that prevent individual thought then it would only be fair to treat them as equals and make sure to program them with an efficient, human sense of morality, they probably wouldn’t revolt unless we treated them unfairly, and even then we’ve been known to simply pull the plug or reset on AI if it malfunctions (although this brings up another ethical debate of whether an AI that can think for itself being shut down out of fear or concern for efficiency is aggravated murder) all in all i’d say people just need to stop panicking over these fantasy nightmare scenarios and just let AI evolve naturally without condemning it as so many people do, this is the only way we can progress with AI and technology in general, ditching the old fears people have for the rise of technology and just let it grow as has the right to.
Bibliography
-Bostrom, N. and Yudkowsky, E. (2017). The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. [ebook] Berkeley, California: Machine Intelligence Research Institute, p.21. Available at: https://intelligence.org/files/EthicsofAI.pdf [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
-Hintze, A. (2017). What an artificial intelligence researcher fears about AI. [online] The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/what-an-artificial-intelligence-researcher-fears-about-ai-78655 [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
-Valve (2017). An image of GLaDOS’ new body from portal 2. [image] Available at: http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Glados_new_body.jpg [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
-Honda (2013). an image of honda’s intelligent robot, ASIMO.. [image] Available at: https://www.proctorhonda.com/blog/2013/august/6/asimo-the-honda-robot.htm [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].