DIALOGUE: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AROUND THE SINGULARITY -EARLE WAUGH ABDULLAH SALEH

What will we do when all things are possible?

DIALOGUE: A PLAY IN THREE ACTS Prologue

The State of the World under Singularity: Different World Urbanization, more slums, increasingly interconnected, increasing reliance on technology, robots and

Artificial Intelligence

Act 1 : The Role of Ethical Action in Singularity

A Massive Nest of Issues Are we giving up too much? Are we doing so willingly or subconsciously? Can an artificial intelligence be more just/equitable? Can machines ever replace our moral judgment? What if a machine decided to annihilate a segment or all of humanity? Medicalizing human construction-Artificial organs, Computer controlled heart, lungs, brain? Several Critical Writers with Ethical Content-the texts

Act 2 : The Ethical Debate concerning Singularity 1. FOXXCONN and Job Losses 2. Philip K Dick story about robots ending a war that humans waged on each other 3. Self driving cars 4. Social networks – google, facebook etc. 5. Surveillance  and Freedom

Act 3 Discussion with Class   Conclusions -Chatter in the Lobby

 

PROLOGUE

A Different World Urbanization

More slums, increasingly interconnected

increasing reliance on technology, robots and Artificial Intelligence

PROLOGUE

A Different World A World Devoid of Inequality

Universal Rights to Technology

Longevity Guaranteed

Problem-solving Organizations for People

ACT 1: THE ROLE OF ETHICAL ACTION IN SINGULARITY A Massive Nest of Issues

-Are we giving up too much? Are we doing so willingly or subconsciously?

Can an artificial intelligence be more just/equitable?

Can machines ever replace our moral judgment? Is ethics irrelevant?

ACT 1: THE ROLE OF ETHICAL ACTION IN SINGULARITY

What if a machine decided to annihilate a segment or all of humanity?

Medicalizing human construction-Artificial organs, Computer controlled heart, lungs, brain?

Robots Operating on Humans, Making Life or Death Decisions

ACT 1: THE ROLE OF ETHICAL ACTION IN SINGULARITY

Critical Writings on Ethical Issues

TRANSCENDING BIOLOGY: Ray Kurzweil

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND THE ETHICS OF FORECASTING: David Sanford Horner

THE HUMAN-NOT WELCOME IN THE FUTURE: William Joy

ETHICAL ISSUES IN AI: Richard Mason

ACT 2: THE ETHICAL DEBATE CONCERNING SINGULARITY

1. ROBOTS AND JOB LOSS?-FOXXCONN and 1.2m out of work

2. ROBOTIC WARS?-Philip K Dick story about robots ending a war that humans waged on each other.

3. LOSS OF INITIATIVE?-Self driving cars

Current Unmanned Surveillance Vehicle: Drone

Over 30,000 drones forecast for US airspace alone-border patrol, forest fire location, etc.

ACT 2: THE ETHICAL DEBATE CONCERNING SINGULARITY

4. EXCLUSION?-Social networks – google, facebook etc.

5. SURVEILLANCE?- The loss of freedom

6. ROBOTIC SNOOPERS?-Drones everywhere

DEBATING TEXTS-PRO:THE NATURE OF SINGUALARITY KURZWEILL

“six historical epochs that are driven, in a law-like manner (‘the law of accelerating returns’), by the exponential growth of information and technology”

“‘a theory of technological evolution’ as justification of the shape of future human society”

DEBATING TEXTS-PRO:EVOLUTION OF HUMAN AND MACHINE RICHARD MASON

“the question of granting personhood to an AI machine or robot depends on where the line is drawn between persons and inanimate objects”

“The overarching criterion is displaying some form of cognitive capacity—being conscious, having perceptions, feeling sensations”

DEBATING TEXTS-PRO:HUMAN TRANSFORMATION JOY

“genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology (GNR)—will extinguish human beings as we now know them”

“Joy’s big fish eat little fish argument quotes robotics pioneer Hans Moravec: “Biological species almost never survive encounters with superior competitors.”

DEBATING TEXTS-PRO:HUMAN TRANSFORMATION KURZWEIL

“human life will be irreversibly transformed.. Although neither utopian or dystopian, this epoch will transform the concepts that we rely on to give meaning to our lives, from our business models to the cycle of human life, including death itself”

“There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine or between physical and virtual reality”

DEBATING TEXTS-PRO:HUMAN NANOTECH ETHICS HORNER

“‘nanomedicine’ devoted not merely to ameliorative medical treatment but to the improvement of human performance”

“a forecast may only be properly made if it is made on the basis of sufficient knowledge, experience and evidence”

“if the outcomes are beyond our knowledge and control then we can’t be held responsible for them. But it is a central plank of moral theory that moral agency and judgement must be immune to luck”

“Ergo: the need for nano-ethics”

DEBATING TEXTS-CON:LOSS OF HUMAN CONTROL OF EVIL

JOY “self-replication amplifies the danger of

GNR: “A bomb is blown up only once—but one bot can become many, and quickly get out of control.”

“21st century technologies “are widely within the reach of individuals or small groups… knowledge alone will enable the use of them,” I.E. “knowledge-enabled mass destruction (KMD).”

“we are on the cusp of the further perfection of extreme evil…”

DEBATING TEXTS-CON:LOSS OF THE SPECIES ‘HUMAN’ OF TODAY JOY

“It seems far more likely that a robotic existence would not be like a human one in any sense that we understand, that the robots would in no sense be our children… that on this path our humanity may well be lost.”

“this is the first moment in the history of our planet when any species by its voluntary actions has become a danger to itself.”

“The only realistic alternative I see is relinquishment: to limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge.”

DEBATING TEXTS-CON:LOSS OF THE SPECIES ‘HUMAN’ OF TODAY MASON

“Physically they will be silicon based rather than carbon based; but, they will be able to think, feel, have moods, be emotional, interact socially with others, draw on common sense, and have a “soul.” Thus, Al-based systems, will become the next stage in the evolution of life, emerge as our successors, and create a future society populated and governed by computers”

DEBATING TEXTS-CON:LOSS OF THE HUMAN ETHICAL SYSTEMS MASON

“While the possibility of a machine being granted moral status is the most compelling ethical issue raised by AI, there are others, determined largely by the uses to which AI programs are actually put. These ethical considerations have evolved as AI research and development has progressed. AI programs form relationships with other entities. They are used, for example, to advise human users, make decisions, and in the case of intelligent software agents to chat with people, search for information, look for news, find jobs, and shop for goods and locate the best prices. Their role in these relationships engenders moral responsibility. “

ACT 3: DISCUSSION WITH STUDENTS

?

CONCLUSIONS: CHATTER IN THE LOBBY Widespread embrace of technology

by humans No guidelines for developing entities

more intelligent than we are Massive human

dislocation/destruction could be a result ( Atom bomb?)

Ultimately human ethics will have to grapple with outcomes

Can there be a “higher ethics”?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grunwald, Armin. Nanotechnology-A New Field of Ethical Inquiry? Science and Engineering Ethics 11 (2):187-201.

Horner, D.S., 2007a. Forecasting Ethics and the Ethics of Forecasting: the case of Nanotechnology. In: T.W. Bynum, K. Murata, and S. Rogerson, eds. Globalisation: Bridging the Global Nature of Information and Communication Technology and the Local Nature of Human Beings. ETHICOMP 2007, Vol.1. Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan 27 -29 March 2007. Tokyo: Global e-SCM Research Centre, Meiji University, pp. 257-267.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Joy, William. 2000. “The future doesn’t need us.” Wired Magazine.

Kurzweil, Ray. 2005. The Singularity is near: when humans transcend biology. London: Duckworth.

Mason, Brian. 2004. Ethical Issues in Artificial Intelligence http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0122272404000642#mc0473

Zadeh, L.A. 1988.Fuzzy Logic. Computer, Vol. 21, #4, 83-93

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. Abdullah Salehzoobida@gmail.com

Dr. Earle Waughewaugh@ualberta.ca