The Future of Artificial Intelligence: One of Mankind's Oldest Dreams

[JohnPaulus V Arcangel]

               What is the human mind capable of, that a computer is not? Besides being lazy. The answer is empathy, or the ability to feel for others-whether it be love for a child, pity for the weak, or grief for the dead. All of these are well developed concepts found in the average human. More particularly found in the female brain.  The male brain on the other hand is more suited for systemic thinking, but is less able to empathize. In that sense its closer to a computer. So if the objective is of an AI is to make it think like a human, then you must teach it to empathize like a woman. No offense to any men out there, it’s just how you were built. As machines grow more and more technologically advanced, our society will gradually become more and more systematic. Our communities will team up with robot-like “people” unable to feel for humans. We, as a society, and for the sake of progress, cannot allow that to happen. Computers must learn to empathize.  Same goes for humans, especially humans.

                But what’s the point of all this mombo-jumbo theoretical, nearly impossible to understand science? Is it really necessary to make machines think like humans?  Empathy would only get in the way of making decisions. Human thought may not be fully compatible with level-headed decision making, but is there really such a thing as non-human thought?  When computers became so advanced, that they could calculate faster than human beings, a new dream was born.  If we can create a machine that can do advanced mathematics, why can’t we create one that can think like a human? It’s the idea of creating an intelligent being with our own hands, is one of mankind’s oldest dreams.  In a sense, the concept of an AI is the result of dreams.  But not just AI. Civilization itself is the process by which humans give form to their dreams...Some dominating others.

                Not all dreams are pleasant. Some people have expressed fears of non-human intelligence.  We’ve all seen terminator right? The idea of robots rebelling against their human masters scares many people.  Isaac Asimov, the author of I Robot, (or  more notably made popular from the movie I Robot)  created three basic laws.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

This demonstrates that while robot intelligence is a different form that of humans, together they can both coexist. In order to give computers intelligence, we must first have a thorough understanding of what intelligence is. That is where the need for a practical and feasible expert system arises.

                An expert system is a type of proxy program by which a computer makes a decision as an expert would.  For an example, MYCIN is a expert system that decides which kinds of antibiotics to prescribe.  The system asked a series of questions that narrows down the range of appropriate drugs. But an expert system isn’t enough to make an AI. Of course expertise is a necessary prerequisite but insufficient on its own.  Making big time decisions like a human would require a consideration of a wider range of factors.  For an example, like launching a retaliatory nuclear strike.  In such a scenario, the entire global situation becomes the criterion for making a decision. So if MYCIN were screw up the prescription, then the patient will go into anaphylactic shock. A “weak AI” that has a very limited range of knowledge which it bases its decisions on, simply won’t cut it.

                AI’s that have been made are considerably large in size. ( LT, GPS, ANALOGY, SAINT, SIR, or even the computer when playing a video game is considered the closest thing to an AI that we currently have) But as circuit integration continues to advance they’ll become even smaller.  Perhaps as small as human brains, or even smaller than that. Robotics will continue to advance, that is a given. Perhaps one day we can create androids, or robots that resemble humans… But realistically speaking AI’s are more likely to evolve in the opposite direction.  After all AI are becoming systems that specialize in mass information processing, without human intelligence, thought, or emotion-a machine that has no individualism, or sense of self, but rather behaves as a collective, exhibiting the qualities of a society.  Proof can be found in modern day video games.  The computer doesn’t care if “people” are killed in the game, it just sends out wave after wave of more “people” in order to take you, the player, down. It just continues to aggregate data collected by individuals, and determines how the collective will act. Kind of like how a beehive works. Honeybees travel between the hive and flowers. The key to achieving that will be networking AI together.  If the objective is to control society, it’s the better model to use. It allows one to filter information- disseminate only what you want disseminated.

                What a difficult situation the possible evolutionary routes AI’s have. If we want to create an AI it must think and empathize like a human, but in order to preserve peace, and better society they must evolve as super computers. But I believe that is where the beauty of it really is. It is the combination of the two types of possible evolutionary AI developments that will truly make an artificially intelligent being. As I learned in psychology class recently, the brain is composed of two hemispheres, left and right. The left hemisphere is more suited for rational, logical, sequential, analytical, objective thinking, while the right side of the brain is best with random, intuitive holistic synthesizing, subjective thinking. After all, aren’t humans capable of both logical and illogical thinking?

                What do you think of the future development of AI? Do you think it’s going to be useful in future society? How so?

 

[JohnPaulus V Arcangel]

Humans in a sense, use algorithms. They just don't know it at times, but it dominates your life. They may vary from time to time. Example, Your art teacher says you can do whatever you want on that piece of paper. But did he really mean you could do whatever you wanted? Could you draw nudity, impalement, gore, and other things dubbed inappropriate by the school?

 I also understand what you’re getting at. Computers only do what they are told. Have you herd of a concept called "the ghost in the machine?" It’s a term coined by the philosopher Gilbert Ryle. You know Descartes, right? “I think therefore I am”  Descartes espoused the theory of mind and body. He believed that our thinking minds exist in a separate dimension from our bodies, which are governed by the laws of physics. Now if that were true, then couldn’t you say that a mechanical “body”, inhabited by a ghost “mind” is a human being? Ryle criticized Descartes on those theories of his, saying such a thing, surely wouldn’t be human. Now IF we were to accept that theory for just a moment here, then we would agree to the statement that a human is composed by a machine, and a ghost, perhaps the opposite is true as well. If we placed a ghost inside a machine, we could in effect give birth to a new person.

Besides, in some sense, humans do as their told to. Whether it be an authorities figure giving instructions, or some object/concept, that inspired some action to take place, humans are always following something.

Throwing this out, could you still actually say that a computer can fake empathy, but it couldn’t experience empathy? What if I told an AI to live?

[Gary Anderson]

I just saw an interesting interview with a scientists who is trying to match the brain's electric activity to computer circuitry so that a person who thinks about a muscular movement could trigger that movement in a computerized exoskeleton.  I'm not explaining this well, but the idea is that paraplegics could think about a movement and that thinking would trigger a computerized body device to make those movements.  I don't consider that "artificial" intelligence--just science put to use for human good.

[Duncan Brown]

Computers use algorithms.  So it will only do a commanded task.  In essence a computer can fake empathy, but it couldn't experience empathy.

[Joaquin Zuniga]

When computers and/or computer programs become self-aware we are officially done for. They will destroy us and make us their slaves!

 

But it would be pretty awesome if we had self aware computers though, we would be able to do things a lot faster with their help, think of things beyond our comprehension. It would be the dawn of a new age.