--- On Tue, 11/4/08, Trent Waddington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 9:31 AM, Matt Mahoney > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > As a second example, the video game Grand Theft Auto > allows you to have simulated sex with prostitutes and then > beat them to death to get your money back. While playing, I > declined to do so, even though it was irrational with > respect to the goal of attaining the highest possible score. > > Good for you. You have principles, you stuck by them, even when it > meant depriving yourself of something (a trivial something, but > something).
Remember "good" is only a belief. I behave the way I am programmed to. > My only fear is that people like you often turn into people who want > the game banned so that no-one else may engage in the activity you > disagree with - and this is why discussions about ethical treatment of > AGI systems makes me gag... because inevitably someone is going to say > "there oughta be a law" and the entire industry will come to a > screeching halt. > > Don't say it won't happen.. remember the blanket > ban on cloning technology. The issue here is people are concerned about teaching criminal behavior to children. (Again, I don't claim we should or shouldn't). So far there is no concern about the treatment of programs. Our laws regarding animal treatment are similar. We don't object so much to the suffering of animals (e.g. raising chickens in tiny cages for slaughter) as we do to public displays of it (e.g. cock fighting). AGI researchers could adopt a similar approach, i.e. not talking about their programs in human terms. But eventually, we will have to confront the issue. As I posted earlier, people will want to simulate their deceased loved ones, and once the technology is demonstrated, themselves. The first uploads are likely to be rough: no embodiment, a lot of incomplete and made-up memories, and poorly done AI, barely passing the Turing test. As technology improves (surveillance, computing power, better AI algorithms, perhaps brain scanning), the uploads will get more realistic. The problem* is when we give uploads legal and property rights. Humans have an incentive to do so, not just out of ethical concerns, but also for selfish reasons; first to alleviate grief by simulating loved ones, and second when people pass their rights to their simulations after they die in the belief that doing so will make them immortal. *I don't mean to imply that human extinction, or viewed another way, our evolution into a non-DNA based life form, is good or bad. However, it is normal for people to make such judgments. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=117534816-b15a34 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
