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 «  2004/02/18  »   1440

ai rambling robot 

Is it possible to murder robots? Sure, you could download their brain somewhere, and put them in a new body. But if that mind image is destroyed beyond recovery, would it be murder? When machines finally begin to pass the Turing test, will people be obliged to treat them humanely? Would people be allowed android slaves? Surely they would be a boon to invalids and the like, so I would argue that they would certainly be useful if not invaluable. Some may point out that machines do not have feelings, so murder isn't a concept that is applicable to them, but I don't know what that means. People eat animals, and make use of animals.. do they not have feelings? Just because something doesn't talk doesn't mean it doesn't feel -- if it acts as if it feels, isn't that the same thing?

Human slaves are often so inured to their plight that they cannot conceive looking for "a way out". Nay, the concept of existing in any other faculty is too much of a stretch for their perception of reality. The slave and the master cannot see the inherent evil of their relationship, and attribute their circumstances as being the norm (which sadly it generally is). Will smart androids be the same? Or perhaps we'll never put a Turing-certified brain inside an android body -- it would be law that androids never appear or act too human. If they did, we'd always be having to prove that we weren't androids to each other, because who wants to marry a millionaire android? Hmm good question -- would they be allowed to make money? Seeing as they live forever, are nearly invulnerable, tireless. Not to mention they'd consume entirely different products. They would be strange creatures, that's for sure. It's too bad that I probably won't live long enough to download my brain into one, because I think I would make for a kick-ass Aibo; I would bark all day, incessantly. It would be dangerous to play dead though, because some kid might take out your batteries and throw you away.

[Comment on the above]

Growl
In "Bicentennial Man", the story by Asimov, a household robot starts making his own money from sales of his original woodwork. One of the best stories about the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence ever written, really.

Also, "Robo-puppy commencing two-hour barking session!!!!"

Hwan (hp)
I read that story a a few years back. But what I'm talking about is lots of androids.. not just one dude, like Data. Our economy would have to be overhauled, what with these wealth-generating machines everywhere.

And what happens when people start falling in love with them? Android marriages? You could have a father that never ages (like Darth Vader). Would it be pedophilia to fall in love with a child-based robot?

Recent comments

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