Robots are now being programmed with "ethics" in order to make complicated moral decisions. One has to wonder whose "ethics" are the ones being implanted in Robby the Robot's artificial brain. Sound far fetched?
Philosopher Susan Anderson and her computer scientist hubby Michael Anderson, have teamed up in a new field of research, called "machine ethics". Using each of their different expertise they now claim to have programmed a robot to behave "ethically" We already have machines out there that are doing ethical tasks, such as automatic cash withdrawal machines. Many other robotics are still in the developmental stages, such as cars that drive themselves and elder-care robots. The approach has yet to develop far enough in order for the robots to weigh different obligations with satisfactory decision principles. So when several of the robot's directives pull in different directions, it will not be able to adequately distinguish between which one "ethical decision" is prime.
So, if Obamacare's ethics are the ones being implanted, or the "Hastings Institute", which is a think tank for euthanasia, are the ones which Robby receives in his computer brain, hmmmm?
Elder-care robots! Just in time for Christmas and Obamacare. Look under your tree. I wonder if Robby will be sitting on the death panel? Does this all sound like a science fiction novel gone mad?
Those of you who are old enough, may remember the movie "Forbidden Planet". In this story, monsters from the Id, or the primitive sub-conscious mind of man, create a moral dilemma for poor Robby the Robot. Poor Robby's robotic brain short circuits, when he is unable to distinguish which ethical decision to follow, because of the conflicted mind of his own creator.
There's a huge fly in the ointment when it comes to humans trying to program "ethics" into machines. Remember also the poor scientist in the movie "The Fly", who also does not see the fly which gets into his machine. Well, there's a lot flies out there. Whose the fly here? Whose "ethics" will be programmed into Robby? I hope it's not Donald Berwick, the Director of Medicare/Medicaid, appointed by, none other than the fly in the White House.
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3 comments:
Even if they put in Isaac Asimov's "3 Laws of Robotics" (below) the problem would be how is a human defined.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Here's the problem. You can define the 3 rules of robots by Isaac Asimov, but he's dead and robots have moved on, and so have their makers.
A video concerning this research can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLdvCDFriTQ
A pdf concerning the science/philosophy behind the research is freely available here:
www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/aimagazine/article/view/2065/2052
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