Artificial Intelligence, lots of questions
This edition of Kayes Views focuses on Artificial Intelligence, in response to a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal – “Should Robots With Artificial Intelligence Have Moral or Legal Rights?” by Daniel Akst. Those fearful of AI, me being one of them, can easily imagine robots becoming our enemy if not eventually taking over the world. But do these new intelligent creatures have more to fear from us than we do from them? Hence the title of the article.
Complicating this question is the debate about whether these creatures will become sentient beings. In other words, through AI, will they develop feelings? And if so, do they therefore deserve individual rights similar to those expected by humans? It’s an interesting question.
It is not inconceivable that AI-powered creatures will make better moral choices than many humans. This assumes that the moral choice, in the traditional sense, is the better choice in virtually every situation. In most cases, there is an inherent logic to goodness. The more thought put into any decision, the more we are pointed in the direction of some higher sense of morality. If this is generally true, then AI creatures will automatically or perhaps naturally, process all the information necessary to make sound, moral decisions. That might be an ideal, or naïve viewpoint, but I don’t think it is farfetched.
Other interesting questions… Could an AI creature, initially programmed or controlled in some way by an evil individual or government, still somehow find the higher moral decision? Can AI overcome human evil, or even human sin, or is it simply evil on steroids? From the opposite perspective, could we program an AI creature using initial information from a certain select group of individuals, like say Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John Wooden, Vince Lombardi, Winston Churchill, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Knute Rockne, Red Auerbach, and Jesus. Would that composite creature not make an amazing president?
One more… Would an individual AI creature, or a team of them, or even a community of them as sentient beings, eventually discover the existence of God? If our highest moral state or most noble manifestation involves a personal connection to God, wouldn’t AI creatures discover that pathway? With or through AI, perhaps we become less human, but more God-Like. If that is the case, we have nothing to fear from AI.
Meanwhile, the use of AI will undoubtedly continue to expand. It will change many aspects of everyday life. It will speed scientific discovery and make performing countless tasks more efficient. Two very positive effects. But what impact will it have on low-skilled workers or more broadly on interpersonal relationships? Will AI robots replace friendships, or will they deepen friendships in some way?
Every major scientific discovery has changed the human experience, from the Industrial Revolution through the Internet age, and the AI era will be no exception. Some aspects of life will become easier, some more complex. Through it all, will remain the eternal search for meaning and truth.
Stay tuned to my next newsletter.
Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.