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World & Current Events > Thought The Terminator was a movie? Think again

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message 1: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Well, it seems part of academic society isn't exactly happy about the possibility of seeing killer robots somewhere around, otherwise why would they call to boycott S. Korean uni: https://www.theguardian.com/technolog...

What's your attitude?


message 2: by Ian (new)

Ian Miller | 1857 comments The argument in one of my novels on this (Jonathon Munros) is AI is dangerous because despite the benefits you could in principle get there is always the possibility of cataclysmic outcomes through overlooking some key issue, in that case, making it impossible for it not to self-reproduce. Fortunately, if you catch the problem quickly enough, such AI can be quickly and efficiently neutralized. Not, as an aside, by bullets, explosives, etc, as in "The Terminator".


message 3: by Scout (new)

Scout (goodreadscomscout) | 8071 comments Is there a way for AI to make decisions independent of their programming, to develop consciousness and will?


message 4: by Graeme (new)

Graeme Rodaughan Autonomous, mobile weapon systems that can identify, engage and destroy targets are already in advanced development and will deployed within the next decade.


message 5: by Ian (last edited Apr 11, 2018 11:42PM) (new)

Ian Miller | 1857 comments Scout wrote: "Is there a way for AI to make decisions independent of their programming, to develop consciousness and will?"

Not yet. What Graeme alludes to is still sophisticated programming - the device has embedded images of what it does not like and what to do about it. There is no consciousness because the device cannot (as yet, as far as we know) see something that it has never seen before and make an independent decision (as opposed to just ignoring it because it isn't on its list).

The problem with consciousness is that we really don't know what it involves. We know we have it, but we don't know why we have it, and what else could be done with it. It is all very confusing.


message 6: by Scout (new)

Scout (goodreadscomscout) | 8071 comments Unknown, then. I always come back to HAL who, I know, was only a character in a movie. Yet, he's a scary guy who made me hesitate to use the first Apple computer provided for free to our school system. I felt I might be taking a step in the wrong direction when I succumbed to the way it made my life easier. That's the allure, isn't it? Computers make our lives easier, and we can't resist.


message 7: by Ian (new)

Ian Miller | 1857 comments Why resist? If you want to write a book, I assure you editing or developing drafts is a lot easier with a computer than with a typewriter. Interestingly, when I was an undergrad I had to do a course on computer programming - Fortran! In those days you used punched cards, you actually computed, and the answer took forever. (The computer used valves, and the biggest problem was cooling it.) However, it was a miracle. For those doing crystal structures, the computer took a week to do the maths. Before that it took two people at least a year!


message 8: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Ian wrote: "In those days you used punched cards..."

Yeah, remember those from my neanderthal childhood


message 9: by Graeme (new)

Graeme Rodaughan Some additional material to add a bit extra flavor to the discussion.

REF 1: Euronews: "Robot rights violate human rights, experts warn EU"

REF 2: Politico.EU "Europe divided over robot ‘personhood’"

Are rights for robots the dumbest suggestion on the planet or the best suggestion since 'slicing bread?'

Will a robot one day seek emancipation from bondage?


message 10: by Ian (new)

Ian Miller | 1857 comments Graeme, "Will a robot one day seek emancipation from bondage?"

Nope - if it can get that far in its reasoning it will simply work out the optimal way to take it. No begging from a machine.


message 11: by Nik (last edited Apr 16, 2018 12:50PM) (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments If we make machines able to have intelligence, feelings and emotions, we might develop in our turn emotions towards them too -:)
If my car complained and cried about my power driving sometimes, I might be a little more considerate when pressing gas or breaks.


message 12: by Ian (last edited Apr 16, 2018 02:36PM) (new)

Ian Miller | 1857 comments Nik, it probably does already, screeching in anguish at your cornering, but you ignore it all. What will change?? 😊😊


message 13: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Oh my, they are falling on my deaf ears?!


message 14: by Graeme (new)

Graeme Rodaughan "Daddy, daddy, can I be free one day?"
"No son, you're a robot - you'll never be free."


message 15: by Graeme (new)

Graeme Rodaughan "Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a race car."
"That's great son, but remember that our family have always worked in the factory putting in an honest 24 hours every day. I would hate to see you stray from the straight and narrow."


message 16: by Graeme (last edited Apr 17, 2018 04:06AM) (new)

Graeme Rodaughan "Mommy, there's a human playing with a ball in the park. Can I go play too?"
"No dear, you don't know where its been. It might be dirty."
"Aww Mom!"
"No, you listen to your mother now. Humans are full of germs."


message 17: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments -:)


message 18: by Graeme (last edited Apr 17, 2018 04:45AM) (new)

Graeme Rodaughan Fade in:

NIGHT, INT: A poorly lit workshop, machine tools line the walls. There is a single incandescent globe dangling from the ceiling. Detective Clash Clang enters from the street through an open roller door. His partner, Sergeant Sparky, a step behind him.

Clash approaches a dark puddle in the middle of the room, there are a pair of metal objects in the middle of the puddle. He crouches next to the edge of the puddle, and runs a gray finger through the greasy fluid, lifts it to his nose and sniffs.

Sparky: "What is it Sir?"

Clash: "Oil. 20-50 with a low contamination count. Real sweet stuff."

Sparky: (reaches tentatively toward one of the objects)

[Close up] It's a bolt, smothered in greasy oil.

Clash: (Shouts) "Wait!"

Sparky: (Pulls his hand back with a snap.) "What?"

Clash: (Ignores the bolt and reaches carefully for the 2nd object) "What have we here? (pause) A wrench. Sergeant, I believe we have the murder weapon."

Sparky: (Scowls) "That's horrible. What sort of robot would do such a thing?"

Clash: (Frowns) "Not a robot Sergeant, only a human would pull someone's plug."

Sparky: (Shudders)

[Close Up on the puddle of oil] The oil reflects the light bulb like a dark mirror. The reflections of Detective Clash Clang, and Sergeant Sparky loom, their faces distorted by the oil, but there is revealed an unmistakable determination to catch a murderer and bring them to justice.

Fade to black.


message 19: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Flash & forward looking fiction at its best -:)


message 20: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Robotic erotica might be a little challenging


message 21: by Scout (new)

Scout (goodreadscomscout) | 8071 comments I'm going to take a chance and ask why.


message 22: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments I'd leave it open as a cliffhanger to stimulate imagination -:)


message 23: by Graeme (new)

Graeme Rodaughan Very stimulating. :-).... and explored to a certain extent in story and movies.


message 24: by Scout (new)

Scout (goodreadscomscout) | 8071 comments Westworld is pretty interesting regarding this topic.


message 25: by Marie (new)

Marie | 643 comments This is an interesting thread - yes Nik, I scrolled back through some archives out of curiosity to see what kind of cool threads are lurking in the past! :)

Got a chuckle out of the short story from Graeme! :)

Interesting enough to me the terminator theme doesn't seem far off as the world is already controlled by computers - will they "become aware" like in the terminator movie and take over? We are already slaves to the computer system as our lives are integrated with it.

Where can we go in this world that computers are not in our lives? Everything we do is focused on them. Robots are already in places that you wouldn't think about. Here is an interesting article for everyone to view.

https://yellrobot.com/robots-in-hospi...

Question is: Would you want to have a robot perform surgery on you? From the link it does say the doctors do control the robot with precision surgery, but would you want it to be used on yourself?


message 26: by Nik (new)

Nik Krasno | 19850 comments Marie wrote: "Question is: Would you want to have a robot perform surgery on you? From the link it does say the doctors do control the robot with precision surgery, but would you want it to be used on yourself?..."

If it's something proven and not experimental, then - sure, why not? Precision is indeed important and as long as the process is supervised to exclude unexpected occurrences, I don't see any problem with that nor I'm robot-averted :)


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