CategoryEthics
Should Engineers Think Like Computers?
To limit ourselves to the symbolic logic that computers can do is to leave our humanity behind
When High Tech Must Be Kept Secret
Universities that do national defence research try to manage the tension between intellectual freedom and national securityA plasma physics professor who interpreted the “fundamental research exception” too loosely ended up in jail.
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Chinese Technocracy Surges Ahead with AI Surveillance
So what do the reservations expressed, about “the soul” and “love,” really mean?Both big tech entrepreneurs Kai-Fu Lee and Jack Ma seem to believe in souls but do not believe that souls can be trusted with freedom, the way governments can.
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Researchers: Apes Are Just Like Us!
And we’re not doing the right things to make them start behaving that way…In 2011, we were told in Smithsonian Magazine, “‘Talking’ apes are not just the stuff of science fiction; scientists have taught many apes to use some semblance of language.” Have they? If so, why has it all subsided? What happened?
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Elon Musk: You Are Liable for My Malfunctioning Code!
He hopes to put the blame for self-driving mishaps in parking lots on customersAt Mind Matters News, we have criticized his approach on numerous grounds. One problem that keeps getting left out is, who assumes moral responsibility and legal liability for self-driving vehicles?
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New Evidence That Some Comatose People Really Do Understand
Researchers found mental activity in response to verbal commands even in some “completely unresponsive” patientsThere is growing evidence that many comatose patients are quite aware of what is going on around them. For example, nurses are often very careful not to say upsetting things that the patient can hear because blood pressure often rises dramatically, even in deeply “unaware” comatose patients.
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The Lost Wallet Returns—and Experts Are Baffled
Social scientists struggle for explanations as to why people turned out to be more honest than theory led them to expectFinding a higher level of honesty than predicted was a surprise and the “scientific” explanations offered seem ad hoc and inadequate. The experts do not seem to know as much about us as they think they do.
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Random Thoughts on Recent AI Headlines: Google Gives Away “Free” Cookies…
Also, why AI can't predict the stock market or deal with windblown plastic bagsA good rule of thumb is that unexpected outcomes increase exponentially as a function of AI complexity.
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Facebook Moderators Are Not Who We Think
Companies offer terrible working conditions partly because they think AI will just take over soonAnd if that doesn’t—and perhaps can’t—happen, what’s the backup plan? Lawsuits?
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Will Facebook’s New Focus on “Community” Groups Prevent Abuses?
When you look a little closer at the proposal, you will see that the answer is noFacebook's move to a more group-focused interface gives the appearance of stronger privacy and community orientation but the structure and logic of social media ensure that these are appearances rather than realities.
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Betraying Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Espousing Abortion
Bonhoeffer opposed abortion but the president of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute argues for it
China’s AI Package for Africa Includes Mass Surveillance Technology
Africa sees development aid; China sees an expanding African database
A Scientist’s Nightmare: Doxxed on Twitter
The surprisingly good news is that online riots may be hurting the Twitter brand
Younger Thinkers Now Argue That Free Will Is Real
The laws of physics do not rule it out, they sayAssuming this trend among younger thinkers persists, the philosophical discussions around AI are not making determinism seem necessary or inevitable. And that, when you think of it, is an odd fate for determinism.
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Are we risking a planetary AI intelligence explosion?
Or are our problems with AI the usual boring stuff we prefer to avoid?Mind Matters News asked some of our house computer science experts for comment.
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A Critic of the Evangelical Statement on AI Misunderstands the Issues
On the question of moral responsibility, Dr. Swamidass seems to misunderstand the Statement entirelyRather than lacking insight into AI issues, this band of theologians is especially sagacious in applying theology to them.
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Can AI make us better human beings?
Helping us believe that is a promising new business area for someTo the extent that compassion is a moral choice (that is, not just a manipulation), a key issue is that there is no universal moral machine.
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Scientists’ Definition of Life Excludes AI, but Includes Embryos
A sophisticated AI machine would certainly be worth a lot of money but it has no more moral worth than a broken toasterSpeaking of moral value, the professors’ proposed definition would certainly include the earliest human embryos, their status as “human life” often denied by those who wish to justify their wanton destruction or casual instrumental use as natural resources.
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Need Cash Fast? Just Pretend That You Wrote Software
Tesla is not the first company to announce software it hasn’t written, but it is indeed the most brazenSoftware engineers call imaginary products “vaporware.” And if the tag fits, it wouldn’t be the first time that Tesla has marketed an illusion.
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