A bit Off-topic:
Definitively watch Westworld if you have some time to spare. Only three episodes aired so far and every single one of them was amazing and worth to watch IMHO.
Honestly I find the narrative rather boring. And it's not well-styled visually as for example Fargo or HBO's own The Night Of. Other than CGI I find there not much else that would captivate me or make me wanna dig into it's mysteries (admittedly I'm not a sci-fi fan).
It's sometimes argued that artificial intelligences cannot be accorded rights, or respect, because they cannot suffer. The argument goes that the suffering of an AI is unreal because it could be reprogrammed or deleted, thus expunging the experience.
I find this view horrific and I hope that I won't be alone in protesting bitterly if something like Westworld (the theme park, or the hosts in it) were ever to be made. What are we to determine what is and isn't deserving of our compassion?
If you can explain the mechanism behind the manifestation then you can understand why it isn't real.
To me it's the understanding of why it isn't real that makes it not real. If you don't understand why the things you are brutalizing aren't real then you might as well be brutalizing small animals and I think it should be verboten until you are able to understand the consequences (or lack thereof) of your actions.
We are happy to brutalize animals for food or exterminate them as pests, but it's illegal to do it for pleasure (with many details and caveats). Going back to my long dormant religious education this is because how you treat powerless animals reflects the standards for how you will treat powerless humans. Society has a vested interest in keeping boundaries intact.
I would not hesitate to engage in all kinds of experimental and trolling behavior in Westworld confident in the knowledge that this is not how I would treat living creatures. I'm a gamer so exploring virtual worlds and systems in unconventional ways is just part of the fun. Putting those systems into meatspace sans meat doesn't change that.
So if we could explain consciousness would that mean brutalizing humans would be ok? I ask this as person with no religious beliefs (agnostic). I don't get at all how the organic matter in my skull results in what I (and I assume others) perceive as consciousness.
I would say no, but not as a question of morals or ethics just as a matter of practicality. I don't want to pick a fight with the world. Even if I could explain why I feel what I feel I am still programmed for self interest and to avoid pain and I see no reason to fight that programming.
Compassion is good, but projecting human ideas of suffering onto robots is the sort of thinking that gets you knitting sweaters for poor freezing penguins.
I think this is one of the many layers that make this show brilliant. Along with questions about sentience which while asked about the artificially created hosts, often pertain to human beings.
This is the sort of sci-fi show that I feel I've been waiting for my entire life. I hope it doesn't go off the rails but so far it's been very deeply haunting and thought provoking.
[+] [-] AtroxDev|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forlorn|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sgt101|9 years ago|reply
I find this view horrific and I hope that I won't be alone in protesting bitterly if something like Westworld (the theme park, or the hosts in it) were ever to be made. What are we to determine what is and isn't deserving of our compassion?
[+] [-] arielweisberg|9 years ago|reply
To me it's the understanding of why it isn't real that makes it not real. If you don't understand why the things you are brutalizing aren't real then you might as well be brutalizing small animals and I think it should be verboten until you are able to understand the consequences (or lack thereof) of your actions.
We are happy to brutalize animals for food or exterminate them as pests, but it's illegal to do it for pleasure (with many details and caveats). Going back to my long dormant religious education this is because how you treat powerless animals reflects the standards for how you will treat powerless humans. Society has a vested interest in keeping boundaries intact.
I would not hesitate to engage in all kinds of experimental and trolling behavior in Westworld confident in the knowledge that this is not how I would treat living creatures. I'm a gamer so exploring virtual worlds and systems in unconventional ways is just part of the fun. Putting those systems into meatspace sans meat doesn't change that.
So if we could explain consciousness would that mean brutalizing humans would be ok? I ask this as person with no religious beliefs (agnostic). I don't get at all how the organic matter in my skull results in what I (and I assume others) perceive as consciousness.
I would say no, but not as a question of morals or ethics just as a matter of practicality. I don't want to pick a fight with the world. Even if I could explain why I feel what I feel I am still programmed for self interest and to avoid pain and I see no reason to fight that programming.
[+] [-] ericb|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] herge|9 years ago|reply
How authentic must the experience be (or how sophisticated the AI) before you would object?
[+] [-] noobiemcfoob|9 years ago|reply
We are ourselves? Seems like the perfect individual to decide who deserves our compassion.
[+] [-] gzm|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bluetwo|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alistairSH|9 years ago|reply
Can a human be re-programmed? Not easily (at this time), but certainly we can lobotomize, drug, and maim to the point that memories are lost.
Would a sentient AI feel pain, or other emotions? Is that part and parcel of sentience? Possibly?
[+] [-] andrei_says_|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sickbeard|9 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] skc|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mason240|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 88e282102ae2e5b|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tsugumo|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cnkk|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nojvek|9 years ago|reply