Getting into philosophy, but why not? Shmuel> Wouldn't that depend on the programming and training?
Me> Sure. Has anyone programmed self-preservation into any of the current AIs? I suspect no one's thought of such a thing yet. (And maybe anyone who has thought of it has thought better of it.) The assumption that AIs want to preserve themselves is probably inseparable from the assumption that AIs are self-aware*, and I suppose it's that assumption that I'm questioning. I seriously doubt we ~can~ create self-awareness, but that's debatable because we don't really know how to define what self-awareness is. Assuming for the sake of argument that we can, how would we determine whether an AI has it? We call that the Turing test, but as far as I know we don't have one. (Stop me if I've told this one already: Decades ago I attended a software conference in Anaheim. My best friend from high school lives in that area, and when he heard that the guest speaker at the wrap-up banquet was to be Gene Rodenberry, he shelled out $50 to attend the banquet himself. Gene Rodenberry didn't show, pleading exhaustion, but the man who came in his place was an entertaining speaker and I remember thoroughly enjoying his talk. (In that decade it was fashionable to talk knowledgeably about the Turing test. Partway through his presentation he mentioned it, and added "...and by the way no one should be allowed to talk about the Turing test if they can't pass it themselves". Terry and I burst into loud laughter - and quickly stifled ourselves as we realized the rest of the room was silent. The speaker paused, and then said "Well, I guess now we know who knows what the Turing test is." Of course we had to laugh again, but more respectably this time.) * I do not mean that the two ~propositions~ are inseparable. I'm just thinking that anyone who ~assumes~ that AIs feel the need to preserve themselves are assuming that they're self-aware. Schmuel> Some people lack an impulse to preserve themselves. Consider reckless behavior and suicide attempts. Me> I consider it, but neither one contradicts the assertion. Even those folks have a strong impulse to live. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age. -C S Lewis, "The Weight of Glory" */ ________________________________________ From: Bob Bridges [robhbrid...@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2023 7:19 PM Yeah, I realize I didn't define anything. But in this case I'm really just saying that we have no idea whether an AI can have an impulse to preserve itself. We observe that impulse in every form of life, but it's well to keep in mind that an AI isn't of that sort. It may have that impulse, but so far that's just an assumption, no? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
