[ExI] Watson on NOVA

[Kelly Anderson]

On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 12:58 AM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 12:43:18AM -0700, Kelly Anderson wrote:
>> On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 9:58 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>> > Ja, but when you say "research" in reference to AI, keep in mind the actual
>> > goal isn't the creation of AGI, but rather the creation of AGI that doesn't
>> > kill us.
>>
>> Why is that the goal? As extropians isn't the idea to reduce entropy?
>
> Right, that would be a great friendliness metric.

Not so much.

>> Humans may be more prone to entropy than some higher life form. In
>
> Right, let's do away with lower life forms. Minimize entropy.

In all seriousness, we are in the middle of a mass extinction that is
driven by just that. Cows are taking over the world, and buffalo are
suffering. If we get caught up in the same mass extinction event, I
don't think we should be too terribly surprised. PERSONALLY, this is a
bad thing. I rather like being me. But I've learned that what I want
is only weakly connected with what actually ends up happening.

>> that case, shouldn't we strive to evolve to that higher form and let
>
> Why evolve? Exterminate lower life forms. Minimize entropy. Much more
> efficient.

Not sure if you are joking here... hard to respond because there are
so many ways parse this... :-)

>> go of our physical natures? If our cognitive patterns are preserved,
>
> Cognitive patterns irrelevant. Maximize extropy. Exterminate humans.
>
>> and enhanced, we have achieved a level of immortality, and perhaps
>> become AGIs ourselves. That MIGHT be a good thing. Then again, it
>> might not be a good thing. I just don't see your above statement as
>> being self-evident upon further reflection.
>
> Reflection irrelevant. You will be exterminated.

It is at least as likely as not. The thing is, I'm actually somewhat
OK with that if it leads to significantly better things. I'm sure most
homo erectus would be pretty ticked with how things worked out for
their species.

-Kelly