Robot Week Kick-Off

5/26/2009

I love Robots and so I'm pleased to announce that Robots are the topic for this week.

Background. I watched Terminator: Salvation on Saturday with my good friend Seth and it got me thinking about AI and robots and whether or not what’s presented in Terminator, Matrix, and a number of other ‘Robots as Frankenstein’s Monster’ movies could actually happen. As it stands, I’m not really sure- but in an effort to fully explore the possibilities, I want to break this week into four different parts so that we can discuss the topic fluidly.

1. Today will be an introduction with some questions to get your reaction.
2. Wednesday will be a religious/philosophical discussion about whether AI can actually become self-aware and what it means to be human.
3. Thursday will be a religious/philosophical discussion about whether or not technology needs to begin killing us off with guns before we decide that it’s enslaved us.
4. Friday will be a political discussion about whether or not governments have the right to target ethnic groups through profiling (and even genocide?).

I can’t do an exhaustive study on robots because there are literally too many religious, philosophical, and political issues at steak in movies like these in order to sum them up in a few days. But I’m pretty sure that in one sense, all of these stories are a reiteration of the Tower of Babel- they’re all about what happens when humans place their faith, hope, and love into technology rather than on God (or even their fellow man).

You might want to read up on the Tower here and here if you’re not familiar with it. In preparation for this week, you may also want to read up on Asimov’s theories about what humans would/should do to prevent a Frankenstein’s Monster occurrence.

Questions to consider today and this week:

   Do you think AI (artificial intelligence) will ever become self-aware?
   Could we already be enslaved to technology/robots?
   Why (in fiction at least) do the things we create always rise up against us?
   Do the oppressed have the right to overthrow their oppressors?

Jeff link

5/26/2009 07:07:36 am

Hmm. Not sure my answers are all that interesting, but here goes:

#1) Uhmmm. Yeah. I do. But I bet once we get close everybody will start moving the goal post around as to what counts as self awareness. Extreme alarmists and extreme fans of AI will move the goal post in the same direction. They'll both define self awareness in a broad, easy way. Skeptics will grab on to rather narrow views of what counts as self aware. As for myself, I don't know if I see a particularly wise way to define the topic of self awareness.

#2) Probably we already are enslaved to technology in some sense... But that's actually a pretty superficial analysis. Any slavery that comes from within is really not what it appears to be. Because really, what we're a slave to is our own weakness and folly. On the surface it might look like we're enslaved to the our capacinno's, it might look like we're enslaved to the internet, or twitter, or television shows. But really, it's our own lonliness and poor self esteem and lousy discipline that are our master. The gadgets and gizmos, they're just the foreman.

#3) There does seem to be something built into us: the idea that the created will rise up against the creator. Perhaps we're trying to justify our own rebelliousness as a race and as individuals.

#4) If two beings are equal, in terms of where they are in creation, the answer is
Yes." In this context, it seems to me that a related question is "Does the created have the right to overthrow an opressive creator?" I think that's a more complicated question. Part of the answer, in terms of robots, I think ought to distinguish between God's creation out of nothing and humanity's acts of creation, which are really just acts of transformation, as we're stuck with the materials that were there to begin with.

Seth link

5/26/2009 05:12:13 pm

I'll field your questions later but I wanted to give you some more fodder:

Outer Limits episode "Family Values"
http://www.hulu.com/watch/69831/outer-limits-family-values#x-0,vepisode,1

And, the Outer Limits version of "I, Robot"
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4531/outer-limits-i-robot#x-0,vepisode,1

You can probably put off "I, Robot" because you've read the books but "Family Values" is worth the 40 minutes.

Chris link

5/27/2009 02:15:13 am

It's of course very possible that these things have already happened. Are you familiar with Asimov's story "The Last Question"?

As far as creation ex nihilo, it's possible (considering the the idea of the The Singularity) that eventually, computers will be better than we we are at making computers. These computers could use nanotechnology on a subatomic level to simulate creation ex nihilo. We make the first computers but we can't make the computers that these computers make etc. Of course, this doesn't do away with pesky questions like "how did atoms (let alone whoever made the first computers) get here in the first place?" or "why does matter have mass?" Even if we're living in a simulation millions of generations removed from physical reality (and really, how can we prove we're not?), that doesn't negate the need for a Prime Mover.

Nathan link

5/27/2009 11:06:45 pm

Thanks for the comments, all!

I've been busy at work and unable to interact much beyond posting a blog daily, but I wanted to say that I liked all of these comments.

@ Jeff- my next post probably makes it sound as though I disagree with you about whether robots or technology can actually gain "self-awareness." But I think you're absolutely right when you say that it depends on your definition of "self-awareness." I was thinking of it in terms of an artificual humanesce awareness/intellect, but there are already robots and computers that are able to make decisions on their own.

@ Seth- I watched the Leonard Nimoy Outer Limits episode with the robot. It was pretty interesting. I think the robot in that story was much more "Heideggarian" than what we see in most TV/Movies. He was not only a compilation of his creator's programming, but was able to learn and cope with his environment in a way that we haven't really seen in robotics.

@ Chris- I love Asimov. He was a terrible writer, but a great detective storyteller. I find most of his stories more interesting than Sherlock Holmes. I'm sure I've read 'The Last Question' because I've read almost all of his robot shorts, but off-hand I don't remember it well enough. I'll look into it later this week.

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Robot Week Kick-Off

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