Meditations of the Machine

Yesterday, the New York Times published an interesting piece on the artificial intelligence ethics conference organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. The meeting was held in February at the Asilomar Conference Grounds on Monterey Bay in California.

The group of scientists addressed the ethical implications of creating autonomous intelligent robots. (The article cites several examples that already exist, from predator drones to computer viruses. It links to another NYT article from June 2009 on the development of robots that can find power sources and recharge themselves.)

The interesting thing about this article is how it shows once-skeptical scientists coming to the conclusion that the public needs to be aware of the increasingly important role AI will play in our lives and to reckon with the possibility of a coming Singularity. (The author also notes that some futurists’ writings on the Singularity have become nigh religious, as if it were the Rapture.)

The article links to an overview on the “AAAI Presidential Panel on Long-Term AI Futures.” Be sure to check out the AI Topics page at AAAI’s Web site as well.

Filed by webmaster at 11:55 am under Future of Human Consciousness, Robots
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Alas, the global recession has finally trickled down to our artificial friends. In Japan, robots will soon be on the welfare lines.

Remember my post about getting a bipedal robot on the moon by 2012? With robot unemployment levels this high, that’s starting to look like a robot dream deferred…

Filed by webmaster at 11:38 am under Robots
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Isn’t this just asking for it? I mean, you know that once a robot tastes dead man-flesh, it’s just going to want to know what live human tastes like.

Admittedly, there is a potential upside to independent robots that feed on biomass, but I think it might be wiser to allow them to dine only on inorganic material, like Nissans.

Filed by webmaster at 11:01 am under Robots
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