AI Concerns

I'm not so certain I agree that we should be so concerned about AI. I suppose I'm just skeptical that humanity would create an AI they couldn't pull the plug on. I'm much more concerned with the ethics behind cloning and whatnot. However, hearing your fears, it's like Assimov's Foundation Series come to life. Whoever started this AI paranoia movement obviously read it and took it to heart.

ETA: If you haven't read Assimov, you should. I enjoyed the heck out of those books.

As much as I am a scifi fan I don't think we will ever get to super crazy AI levels like with Skynet (as much as I joke about that). For now it just follows commands. Granted newer AI is learning things and creating its own code. I do think AI could make deadly mistakes in the future. Such as with the talk of using more robots in war in place of humans. You can program it all you want but I think it may make mistakes such as shooting a child whos holding a gun. Or maybe not shooting a man whos holding a gun because it think its a child (like if hes really short).

I think God will be back far before we get ultra advanced AI that basically doesn't need us anymore. AI that thinks on its own, does what it wants and so on. AI for now is still young and flawed many times. Now robotics..... robotics are getting more advanced. And yes AI does play a role of course. I do think we will at some point within the next 10-20 years see a ultra realistic looking robotic that we won't be able to tell its a robot. They have some that are close but their face still looks fake in nature because they haven't nailed skin textures, muscles, eye blinks...etc.

So for me thats somwhat of a more realistic concern before AI. The real question is what if you gave AI a soul so to speak? I mean obviously we know its impossible because only we have souls. But what if someone invented a way to make AI actually have emotions and feel sort of like how we do. That would be interesting yet nerve wracking. Especially if it decided what was best for us was <insert plot from any movie). Though one robot on its own can't do much.

In the end the Skynet of the future likely will never exist. God will return before then. Still I'd love to see that kind of future just for fun. This does go into my topic I made about robotics and humans. For those who know what Deus Ex is, you understand what I am talking about. Adding robotic parts to our bodies for enhancement. Not just robotic legs like we have now, I mean robotic arms that have weapons inside, legs that let you jump from 6 stories up and land on them without injury, eyes that let you see through walls.... that type of stuff. I see that becoming a reality sooner then I do AI becoming "skynet" like. The future of wars wil involve soldiers with robotic parts (cybernetics).

2PhiloVoid said:

We shouldn't really 'be' surprised, other than in finding out that we really had no way of knowing what Scripture meant until the time arrived for it to be fulfilled. Now that it's here, we should at least be less surprised. We can instead lean back and say to ourselves, "OHHH!!! So, THAT's what that means!"

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Paradoxum said:

Where does it say that?

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1 Cor 13.12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

NothingIsImpossible said:

The future of wars will involve soldiers with robotic parts (cybernetics).

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You mean the Borg.

"You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

I heard an interesting story on NPR on my run tonight about AI being able to create poetry and sonnets:

Some people have used AI for far less lovely purposes, such as for trolling out maliciousness:

For the most part the only (mild) concerns I have about AI are what Goonie mentioned in his post.

I don't see the concerns expressed her as valid. The dangers we face would be far more subtle. Humanity already exists in a system where we are able to stretch the bubble very thin. We are vulnerable, if the bubble bursts things could become very bad. However and AI would be far more vulnerable. Because of that we are very safe from the common crude fears.

I am more concerned about an AI doing things far too well, to provide the guidance and answers that make things better as the AI sees things and to do it so well that at least for a time we think that overall we are so much better off even though we disagree on some points about what really is better. And in the long run we may come to a situation where we have to follow what the AI suggests, not because of any power or coercion, but because it optimizes things so well that trying to follow another path would result in mass disruption perhaps even mass starvation.

Of course all bets are off if the first really aware computer is named Mike and has transsexual tendencies. If so the rest of you are screwed. I intend to be not boring and to convince him I'm Davis Clan.

Or the other huge fear, that the AI may decide it does not want to hurt our feelings and is willing to become a Liar to accomplish that goal.

I think Isaac and Robert might agree with me.

Technically AI is not something we should worry about when the current real threat is malware, viruses...etc. All it takes is one BEYOND skilled hacker to make a virus that is so good that it does something like shut down power plants across the globe. Or turns of military computers. Or takes OVER things like military computers and sends out false orders. Or just instead fries every electronic it can reach. Something like that is a far more possible danger.

You should see some of the stories of instances where computers have messed up and almost started WW3. Its rare but still to much of a risk considering the planet is at stake. I think I recall something about some minute man missile silos had an issue once (though maybe it was a human error?) and they almost launched missiles. So really humans are the reason why viruses and even AI would/do exist. Its why we should just worry about ourselves lol.

Paradoxum said:

So are things that exist today. Do you not realize this?

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You mean things like Waldos?

Paradoxum said:

What? lol

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Waldos are mechanical extensions that can increase power or dexterity. They and their progeny are used for a wide range of activities ranging from handling dangerous materials to micro surgery. They are first described in the SCIENCE FICTION story Waldo by Robert Heinlein. The easiest way to get the story is to get the book Waldo & Magic Inc. which contains the 2 novellas.

Of course some here would not like it because there is a good witch in Magic Inc.

It's coming:

http://www.livescience.com/45304-human-brain-microchip-9000-times-faster-than-pc.html

They didn't start by modeling it after a dog or a sheep, they went straight to human. I'd feel better if such computers would be modeled after domesticated animals. They could still be purpose-built, and they would be easier to control.

Paradoxum said:

How can you get consciousness from the interaction of particles?
Apparently it's possible.

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No it is not.

keith99 said:

You mean things like Waldos?

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Where is waldo???

keith99 said:

Waldos are mechanical extensions that can increase power or dexterity.

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Also known as Borg implants ......

Resistance is futile.

Paradoxum said:

Do you want to make domestic policy based on an interpretation of a holy book?

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lol! Do "I" want to make domesticate policy? Sometimes I wish I could...but no, Para. My citation has nothing to do with me or other Christians making domesticate policy. That really is a funny question. (I'm not laughing at you, but at the irony of it...don't take it personally. )

But really, my last response had nothing to do with any ways in which Christians would want to create domesticate policy. Did you read the passage in Revelation I cited? If the meaning of that passage is what I think it is, it isn't Christians who will be making domestic policy, but rather the people associated with the spirit of Anti-Christ who will be doing so...although they might claim to speak for some version of "God," and use talking icons (i.e. technology) to create policy and enforce it.

2Philsophy

Paradoxum said:

Why not?
Brain neuron interaction is evidently what definites how we act and think.

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That is how it goes on after it has been started. But without that first spark, it will never happen.