> Philip wrote:
> I think ethics only come in where an intelligent entity can identify
> 'otherness' in the environment and needs that are not its own. Ethics
> are then rules that guide the formulation of the intelligent entity's
> behaviour in a way that optimises for not only the intelligent entity's
> needs but the also the needs of the otherness.
>
More and more game theory and evolutionary theory is converging on the idea
that an individual's benefit is served better by cooperation than by
competition. In the long run, doing the right thing is selfish (most of the
time). And as with everything else, there are always exceptions.
That's one reason I've looked at this discussion with a bit of skepticism.
On the one hand, hard-wired rules may be counterproductive, as they will
inevitably encounter situations in which they are inappropriate or even
harmfunl. On the other hand, if we are talking about really intelligent
entities, they should be able to work out the cost-benefit reasoning behind
cooperation.
Every major evolutionary advance in the history of life has involved
symbiosis, and I keep thinking it possible that the next step is not AGI
alone, but a partnership between carbon- and silicon-based intelligences.
That said, the partner far more likely to screw up that relationship is the
carbon-based one.
C. David Noziglia
Object Sciences Corporation
6359 Walker Lane, Alexandria, VA
(703) 253-1095
"What is true and what is not? Only God knows. And, maybe, America."
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi, Special to Arab
News
"Just because something is obvious doesn't mean it's true."
--- Esmerelda Weatherwax, witch of Lancre
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