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Is Ethical A.I. Even Possible?
When a news article revealed that Clarifai was working with the Pentagon and some employees questioned the ethics of building artificial intelligence that analyzed video captured by drones, the company said the project would save the lives of civilians and soldiers.
"Clarifai's mission is to accelerate the progress of humanity with continually improving A.I.," read a blog post from Matt Zeiler, the company's founder and chief executive, and a prominent A.I. researcher. Later, in a news media interview, Mr. Zeiler announced a new management position that would ensure all company projects were ethically sound.
As activists, researchers, and journalists voice concerns over the rise of artificial intelligence, warning against biased, deceptive and malicious applications, the companies building this technology are responding. From tech giants like Google and Microsoft to scrappy A.I. start-ups, many are creating corporate principles meant to ensure their systems are designed and deployed in an ethical way. Some set up ethics officers or review boards to oversee these principles.
But tensions continue to rise as some question whether these promises will ultimately be kept. Companies can change course. Idealism can bow to financial pressure. Some activists — and even some companies — are beginning to argue that the only way to ensure ethical practices is through government regulation.
"We don't want to see a commercial race to the bottom," Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and chief legal officer, said at the New Work Summit in Half Moon Bay, Calif., hosted last week by The New York Times. "Law is needed."
Possible != Probable. And the "needed law" could come in the form of a ban and/or surveillance of coding and hardware-building activities.
Related:
U.N. Starts Discussion on Lethal Autonomous Robots
UK Opposes "Killer Robot" Ban
Robot Weapons: What's the Harm?
The UK Government Urged to Establish an Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board
Google Employees on Pentagon AI Algorithms: "Google Should Not be in the Business of War"
South Korea's KAIST University Boycotted Over Alleged "Killer Robot" Partnership
About a Dozen Google Employees Have Resigned Over Project Maven
Google Drafting Ethics Policy for its Involvement in Military Projects
Google Will Not Continue Project Maven After Contract Expires in 2019
Uproar at Google after News of Censored China Search App Breaks
"Senior Google Scientist" Resigns over Chinese Search Engine Censorship Project
Google Suppresses Internal Memo About China Censorship; Eric Schmidt Predicts Internet Split
Leaked Transcript Contradicts Google's Denials About Censored Chinese Search Engine
Senators Demand Answers About Google+ Breach; Project Dragonfly Undermines Google's Neutrality
Google's Secret China Project "Effectively Ended" After Internal Confrontation
Microsoft Misrepresented HoloLens 2 Field of View, Faces Backlash for Military Contract
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday March 05 2019, @12:33PM (8 children)
At least, they aren't going to be human ethics, and instead will look like:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday March 05 2019, @01:18PM (7 children)
Well, considering the damage mankind has done to the planet in our geographically short existence, wouldn't benders quote actually be the epitome of ethical thought? Human or otherwise?
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 05 2019, @01:28PM (6 children)
Depends on who's looking and what they're taking into consideration. From an evolutionary standpoint, it's entirely irrelevant. All species either adapt to their environment, changing or otherwise, or are unfit and get to die out and make way for another species to take their niche. Passenger pigeons or Humans makes no difference. From this viewpoint man made change in the environment isn't bad, it's just change.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday March 05 2019, @01:38PM (5 children)
Ah, but humans, rather than adapting to the environment, learned to alter that environment artificially to exist in areas inhospitable to them naturally.
In altering that environment, making it inhospitable to the life that did adapt to that environment, then ethically, man is the interloper.
And Bender becomes the epitome of ethics.
According to spellcheck, I am entirely too stoned to be having this conversation.
G'night Buzzy!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 05 2019, @02:53PM (4 children)
Meh, that's just hubris. Every living thing alters its environment in some way by its very existence. Consciously or instinctively is irrelevant except to us shaved apes. From an evolutionary standpoint, our only concern should be are we increasing or decreasing our long-term prospects of survival as a species. But that's our concern not an objective third party's.
These aren't my views, by the way. I'm just using them to demonstrate that your views are silly from an objective perspective and make no sense on a subjective level either.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday March 05 2019, @03:45PM (3 children)
My views? You took this way too seriously.
I was merely being a foil to legitimize "kill all humans."
It has always been one of my favorite plot devices, from Colossus, the Forbin Project to Singularity.
Anyway, AlexCorRi is more likely......*grin*
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 3, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday March 06 2019, @12:34PM (2 children)
You're still making the wrong argument. You don't kill all humans for ethical or moral reasons, you do it because it's fun.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Wednesday March 06 2019, @04:42PM (1 child)
But then it would be fun and justified! Everyone could join in!
And I grant thee a touche'!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday March 07 2019, @05:00AM
True but illicit pleasure is always more pleasant.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.