Greetings Dear Reader,
On the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon hosts a segment called
Showbotics. He features new developments
in robot technology in some creative ways.
Recently he featured an interview with the creation of Hanson Robotics, Sophia. This robot is human in appearance and has
over fifty facial expressions. It uses artificial
intelligence (AI) technology to talk, interact, and even sing. When Sophia sings with
Jimmy Fallon on the show it is both intriguing and disturbing.
Before I dive into that, here are a few more facts about
Sophia. She is the first robot to be
granted citizenship in a country; Saudi-Arabia.
Her appearance is based on the late Audrey Hepburn. She is programmed to recognize and use human
emotions. Her interactions are currently
scripted but Hanson, her designer is working towards AI that is close to human sentience.
My brother and I were discussing his thoughts on her Tonight
Show appearance and he expressed concern about human morality and the creation
by humans of sentient machines. I have
very divergent thoughts about this. They
run the course of both our design and our weaknesses.
Tolkien points out in his essay, On Fairy Stories, that we
are designed to be sub-creators under the guidance of the Creator. We are meant to create beautiful and amazing
things. We are designed to be curious
and to seek out the how and why of the universe.
My first response to Sophia is how amazing and intriguing
the science and potential of this technology is. I see it well that we are driven to create something
in our image. It is perhaps the ultimate
expression of our likeness to our own Creator.
It is also true that there are many potential benefits to the world in
having machines that can do what we do, in the way that we do it with greater
strength and stamina.
Then there is the I
Robot scenario. There is free will
and self determination to consider. As
fallen beings incapable outside of Christ of true selflessness, we either have
to give sentient robots total freedom as living creations or we must enslave them
to something akin to Asimov’s laws of robotics:
2 - A robot must obey orders given 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.
Whilst these are not flawless, they are good. The difficulty is that if robots are
programmed with these laws then they do not have true self-determination. We have free will and determine how we treat
others. Our creation must either have
that same choice or it is merely a very good imitation of life.
What further disturbs me, however, is that we will create
this type of “life” and we will enslave it.
We already wrestle with the crusty shell of control both exerting it and
struggling against it. We have blurred
the difference between accountability and control to the place where we reject
the former seeing it as the latter. We
keenly desire something that is so like us that we get the ultimate pleasure of
it serving our whims without question.
If you doubt me, look at all the ways we currently still enslave each
other.
Technology is amoral.
It cannot do right or wrong. It
can only do what humans tell it to do and think as it is programmed to
think. We cannot even agree that a gun
sitting in a gun case is not a threat to anyone. That gun only becomes a problem or a benefit when
controlled by humans. What makes us
think that we are ready to create life that is so like us the line is
blurred?
I am not against this development because I love the
possible benefits. I am concerned about
my obligation as a sub-creator to consider what I create and its impact on the
world. To paraphrase Ian Malcolm in
Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, ‘We are spending so much time wondering how
to do something that we are not addressing if we should do something.”
I am in favor of developing the most sophisticated technology
possible to aid us in navigating life, our world, and the cosmos. What worries me is that we are developing
things that advance our dullness to the sacred value of humans and enhance our disregard
for respect regarding every living soul.
I am anxious to hear your thoughts on this Dear Reader.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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