Verruggio and his colleagues have identified key areas that include: ensuring human control of robots; preventing illegal use; protecting data acquired by robots; and establishing clear identification and traceability of the machines.
"Scientists must start analysing these kinds of questions and seeing if laws or regulations are needed to protect the citizen," said Verruggio. "Robots will develop strong intelligence, and in some ways it will be better than human intelligence."
(Via Cyborg Democracy.)
Hey, Verruggio, that's a good thing! In case you haven't noticed, we're in dire need of beings endowed with "better than human intelligence." I don't particularly care if they're carbon- or silicon-based.
Look at it this way: If we create a species of truly intelligent machines, they'll be forced to contend with many of the concerns that plague our own attempts to avoid destruction (self-induced or otherwise). So while they will indeed be "alien," I think we can correctly view them as relatives -- or, to use Moravec's term, "mind children."
What are Verruggio and his colleagues really afraid of? That superintelligent robots will enslave the human race in a cheesy cybernetic reenactment of "Planet of the Apes"? Don't count on it. The idea has proven cinematic appeal, but the overwhelming odds are that sentient robots, left to their own devices, will do what we should have a done a long time ago: take meaningful steps toward severing dependency on Earth (which, as noted by a growing chorus of scientists, promises to become less and less dependable).
No, I think Verruggio's fear is more egotistical. While well-intentioned, he doesn't like the idea of a nonhuman intelligence casually surpassing us -- which is precisely what it will do if we muster the compassion to allow it.
3 comments:
what do you think the prospects for AI will be?
Changeit--
That's a pretty broad question! Can you narrow that down?
Too broad by far!
weevee: nokyyo (like Tokyo, but less cooperative)
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