Artificial intelligence should be protected by human rights, says Oxford mathematician
It's all in the definitions.
"It's getting to a point where we might be able to say this thing has a sense of itself, and maybe there is a threshold moment where suddenly this consciousness emerges," du Sautoy told media at the Hays Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales this week. "And if we understand these things are having a level of consciousness, we might well have to introduce rights. It's an exciting time."
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"I think there is something in the brain development which might be like a boiling point. It may be a threshold moment," du Sautoy said. "Philosophers will say that doesn't guarantee that that thing is really feeling anything and really has a sense of self. It might be just saying all the things that make us think it's alive. But then even in humans we can't know that what a person is saying is real."
When does a machine get its "personhood" assigned? They'll get that defined soon. They'll need to get it done before the eugenicists define the machines as "useless power-eaters".
3 comments:
They're wondering about AI 'rights'? Not very seriously, if their attitude towards human intelligence developing in the womb is any indicator.
"It's getting to a point where we might be able to say this thing has a sense of itself, and maybe there is a threshold moment where suddenly this consciousness emerges"
What's this "getting to" stuff? If you're going to make unfounded assertions, why wait? You could do it right now.
Here's how it works: make an assertion then, in lieu of offering rational evidence or a reasoned argument, simply redefine your words to make your assertion true. So, for example, simply define "consciousness" as "the appearance of conciousness", and "appearance" as, say, "prima facie", and voila! any old Turing machine becomes a life form deserving of all the same human rights as -- well, actual humans.
I realize this Oxford guy is just looking for a way to say, "Wow! Technological advances are way cool!" but his oohing and aahing over AI has all the earmarks of the '70s-era slack-jawed, empty-brained, marijuana-induced sense of wonderment we used to emote at deepities like "The secret of the universe is one hand clapping", made possible only by a stubborn refusal to apply critical thinking skills to the assertion. After all, it was the thrill of the sense of wonder we were seeking, not truth.
CJ,
Exactly!
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