This was an interesting read, considering Elon Musk's newly released robots (though apparently they aren't as advanced as they seem, but I barely know anything about them). Now I'm wondering if you have any new or adjusted thoughts on this topic. I would be interested in hearing them. 2050 doesn't seem all that unlikely to me, but also, I cannot imagine people wanting to fuck them...(I'm sorry that's just so strange to me.)
I think you're probably referencing the Tesla "robots" from last weekend, but as far as I'm aware they were all being remotely controlled, so weren't autonomously doing any of the things they appeared to be. Making robots look capable is easy; having them actually *be* capable is still next to impossible. All my thoughts are informed by roboticists (including some who are friends) so haven't changed. Ruth Aylett is great for further reading on this too.
The problem for me was always that the argument inverts itself— as you say, any belief that anything has an inner life is based on inference from my own. But I have no way of knowing if there are other kinds of inner life, which are nothing like mine: for all I know electricity has an inner life in some way which would be completely incomprehensible to me.
So I’m always a bit reluctant to assume that anything which looks like it has an inner life definitely doesn’t have one, I think. Robots are, in the end, only machines; but I have a sinking feeling that I am too. At some point it feels like the inference of an inner life has to be the better option to me? But then I might be the sort of person who would fall in love with a block of wood with a face drawn on it, so the standard of AI that can manipulate me is very low indeed
Interestingly this kind of came up in the event last night, on discussion of how measures of AI success (the Turing test specifically) are not aimed at proving that a machine/computer/AI has a consciousness, but that they are capable enough to convince humans that they do. The measure is of success of deception.
This was an interesting read, considering Elon Musk's newly released robots (though apparently they aren't as advanced as they seem, but I barely know anything about them). Now I'm wondering if you have any new or adjusted thoughts on this topic. I would be interested in hearing them. 2050 doesn't seem all that unlikely to me, but also, I cannot imagine people wanting to fuck them...(I'm sorry that's just so strange to me.)
I think you're probably referencing the Tesla "robots" from last weekend, but as far as I'm aware they were all being remotely controlled, so weren't autonomously doing any of the things they appeared to be. Making robots look capable is easy; having them actually *be* capable is still next to impossible. All my thoughts are informed by roboticists (including some who are friends) so haven't changed. Ruth Aylett is great for further reading on this too.
The problem for me was always that the argument inverts itself— as you say, any belief that anything has an inner life is based on inference from my own. But I have no way of knowing if there are other kinds of inner life, which are nothing like mine: for all I know electricity has an inner life in some way which would be completely incomprehensible to me.
So I’m always a bit reluctant to assume that anything which looks like it has an inner life definitely doesn’t have one, I think. Robots are, in the end, only machines; but I have a sinking feeling that I am too. At some point it feels like the inference of an inner life has to be the better option to me? But then I might be the sort of person who would fall in love with a block of wood with a face drawn on it, so the standard of AI that can manipulate me is very low indeed
Interestingly this kind of came up in the event last night, on discussion of how measures of AI success (the Turing test specifically) are not aimed at proving that a machine/computer/AI has a consciousness, but that they are capable enough to convince humans that they do. The measure is of success of deception.
Totally! But then maybe that’s what I’m doing as well, for all anyone else knows