A group of scientists worries that our artificial intelligence has not been accompanied by artificial ethics. Think predator drones.
What do we do when computers can intellectually outperform us, yet haven’t the capacity to make moral decisions?
(And for the philosophy/English/non-science majors, here’s more on AI.)
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Okay, the fact that that plane doesn’t have any windows is creepy as hell. It’s like something out of a sci-fi novel. OH WAIT. IT IS.
(I don’t remember WHICH novel–I heard about it on NPR–but there you go.)
No windows necessary. Yeah. That is creepy.
At SOME point I heard a promo for a story about the guilt felt by those who guide the drones back at … headquarters, wherever THOSE are, that the remote “pilots” weren’t quite so untouched by the deaths wrought by the drones as one might believe. Never heard the whole story though.
I just went looking for something like that, but didn’t find it. If you come across it again, would you post it?
All I could find was this — I don’t have time to listen to the Fresh Air segment (or to read the book!) right now, but MAYBE this was it:
“As technological warfare expert P.W. Singer explains in his new book, Wired For War, some military tasks previously assigned to humans are now being handled by machines.
“But, says Singer, the new technological battleground — in which robots fly spy planes and search out IEDs — raises a host of ethical and legal quandaries. ”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99663723
Oh oh I think that’s the story on NPR that I heard mentioning the sci-fi novel! Yay NPR is awesome!
Thankee! I just did a quick search and now I wonder if P.W. Singer is related to Peter Singer, the ethicist. This’ll give me something to explore later.
Whether a drone is sent into battle or a human pilot flies his bomber over the battlefield, the ultimate result is one side trying to obliterate their opponent. Should the pilots of the drones be uncomfortable with their assignment(s), then they should transfer to a CO (consciencious objector) position. Humans have battled each other since the time of Cain and Abel, and I’m not certain that robots will put an end to war.
That’s true for predator drones, certainly — that they’ll just continue the wars we start. But what if they start acting without instructions? Did any one else see “AI?” Hated that movie, but it made me think.
ZOMG THE DRONES ARE GONNA DEVELOP A CONSCIENCE AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
I doubt if they will. It’s simply a cleaner way to kill — the mess will remain on the receiving end. But someone will have to program the robot or push the bomb-button — and I can’t imagine that some of the button-pushers won’t feel guilt.
Imho, it’s impossible to sanitize war.
I don’t know — we in the media do it all the time. We rarely show our own war dead and we don’t show much in the way of Their War Dead, either. That, to me, is sanitizing. I understand keeping coverage within the bounds of good taste, but since when is war in good taste?
I think that kind of sanitizing is wrong too. If you watch Democracy Now, they show images. It’s horrid what’s happening over there, and in other wars too.
My favorite t shirt says God Bless (America is crossed out) Everyone. I do not believe that God favors us over anyone else. I do not believe that God takes sides. America was “blessed” on the backs of slaves and at the expense of the natives.
I have great respect for those who do fight and great respect for those who speak up in opposition to the fighting, both take a level of bravery I’m not sure I have. I am grateful for the freedoms I have but will NEVER stop working for the freedoms of every American.
That last sentence is as good a creed as any I’ve ever read, Vegas. On a similar note, not too long after 9-11, I saw a car with the bumper sticker: God Bless The World. No Exceptions. I thought that was the coolest — and a particularly brave bumper sticker, given the time and the attitude.
What she said.
In reference to Vegas. Boo, wordpress.
I had a long talk once with my father, the warrior. He was an infantryman, then he jumped out of airplanes, and in Vietnam he tortured the captured for information. It was one of the best conversations imaginable, and one we couldn’t have had a minute sooner than he started it.
datingjesus,
Please thank your father for his service to this nation. We wouldn’t have the freedoms that we do now without the men and women who go where they’re sent and do what they’re trained to do, even if they don’t like what has to be done. We, the citizens of the USA, are free BECAUSE of the brave. We are a representative republic and unfortunately, our elected officials (career politicians) have usurpted our generals and insist on running the war. This is especially true for Vietnam.
War is a horrible thing that no one should ever be exposed to and as such, should always be shown for the awful thing it is and will always be.
Finally, the USA didn’t start World War I, we became involved to help our allies. The USA didn’t start World War II, we entered it after we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. Adolf Hitler started the war in Europe in the 1930s so WWII had been going a long time before we became involved. Without the USA, Europe would have been raped by the NAZIs for how many more decades? The purpose of an army is to break things and kill people. A strong military prevents invasion from outside forces; only a nation like the USA can be destroyed from within its citizenry. God bless America because we may be needed to help another nation and its citizens.
Thanks for this, Sharon. My dad died in ’93, but we had good conversations about war and about freedom before that. It’s far more complex than those of us who haven’t served in the military would like to believe. I have family members in the military now, and we have good conversations about that, too.
We disagree. First of all, what does it mean to be free and what does it mean to be brave? When is it braver to not fight, but to object and face possible ridicule from those around you? If we fear being different, are we free? If hate crimes persist and not all citizens can even marry who he or she loves equally, are we free? If we can’t even have unbiased media free from corporate greed–thus, what we know is controlled by a very powerful few–are we free? I could be arrested in Virginia for holding the hand of another woman in public. Am I free? Are you free?
Is it brave to look into the eyes of an infant Vietnamese boy, and shoot him? Is this the price of war? Is this the price of freedom, that a little baby across the world must die for us to no longer be afraid?
WWI was a war of imperialism. WWII, too, had its own imperialistic interests. Why did it take the bombing of Pearl Harbor for the US to go to war to put an end to the Holocaust and the Nazi regime? The US knew what was happening in 1933. Further, if Hitler hadn’t miscontrued Nietzche’s Uberman, he wouldn’t have had the idea for a superior race in the first place. But back to the US. Howard Zinn has written that Truman knew what was going on and knew that Pearl Harbor would be bombed.
On a separate note, “rape” is a very melodramatic sort of word in such context and causes the reader to think you are merely trying for hyperbole so no one will argue. Also, how do you know that god blesses the US? What if god is on the other side?
Cheers and debate skills–
kickable,
When you said: “First of all, what does it mean to be free and what does it mean to be brave? When is it braver to not fight, but to object and face possible ridicule from those around you?” In most cases in life it is braver not to fight, but wars are often caused by one nation’s army crossing the border into another nation.
In Viet Nam it was common for the Viet Cong to use children as bombs to indescriminately kill their enemies as well as non-combatants. This is worse than the people who strap a bomb on their waist and get on a bus and blow up everyone on board.
If you believe that we are not free, I recommend that you visit, and/or live in Saudi Arabia and then you may discover how “not so free” women are and that they are nothing more than chattel. Or, you could try “being free” in a dictatorship where we wouldn’t be allowed to have this discussion.
WWI was about imperialism. In WWII the Pacific Theater was about Japanese imperialism while the European Theater was about world domination and ethnic cleansing. Hitler’s regime didn’t only murder Jews in the Holocaust, thousands of Roman Catholic priests, nuns, and parishioners were murdered. Likewise, gypsies, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled were also on the list to be sent to the ovens. FDR assisted our allies in Europe with the lend/lease program. There are theories that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack the US, but since his death there’s no way to know exactly what FDR knew before December 7, 1941.
Trust me, there’s nothing melodramtic about rape. The NAZIs stripped the humanity and dignity from every city, country, and person who wasn’t aligned with their ilk.
God has blessed the USA with more freedoms and rights than so many other countries around the world. If God were on the other side, then we would be saying Satan bless the USA.
While I’m not familiar with Virginia’s law about women holding hands in public, it’s a law after all and if it needs to be changed then get organized and change the law. You and I are free to work for change in our goverment.
Finally, I’m glad we are able to have a debate such as this; and I’d like to thank datingjesus for this blog. The discussion about robots in war is one that will be discussed for a very long time.
Ya’ll come again!
You said “y’all,” which means you’re perfectly welcome here! And you’re very welcome for the blog. Thank you for the discussion.
datingjesus,
Thank you for your kind remarks. By the way, “ya’ll” translates into “you all” in Texas. Thanks again!
You betchee (Missouri for “got it, and thanks).