[ExI] [Bulk] Re: Fwd: Re: AI risks

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf
Of BillK
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2015 3:51 PM
To: ExI chat list
Subject: [Bulk] Re: [ExI] Fwd: Re: AI risks

On 6 September 2015 at 21:33, spike  wrote:
>>... Ja.  Advancing technology gives users increasing power.  Power
corrupts.
> Somehow we need to find ways to compensate, to limit the damage 
> corrupted power can do.
>
>

>...It strikes me as a pretty complex problem.
On one side you have the techs trying to devise some sort of ethical AI that
won't harm humanity in general. On the other you have humans deliberately
(with collateral damage) trying to harm other humans and they see AI as a
powerful weapon.
I doubt that AI will immediately leap to a godlike status with the ability
to make moral decisions and ignore human orders that it disagrees with. As
AI gradually develops, the temptation to misuse the developing power will be
difficult to resist...BillK
_______________________________________________

Well sure, it is a very complex problem.  In the USA, our constitution
guarantees us the right to bear arms, which has usually been interpreted as
rifles and such.  But over time, the capacity to slay people has vastly
increased from the time the constitution was written.  Back in those days,
you had only muzzle loading smooth-bore muskets, similar to the type your
ancestors and mine used to fire upon each other in the 1770s, BillK.  Now we
have military-grade semi-autos which can really shoot up a crowd.  This
represents increasing power in the hands of the masses.  In any mass of
people there will be a few who will decide to use that power in a horrifying
manner, as we have seen.

Now, imagine when self-driving cars become common, and it is easy enough to
pack the trunk full of ammonium nitrate and Diesel, then set it to go drive
over to the local opposing politician's house, park in front and wait for a
call.  The masses are suddenly handed an affordable means of slaying anyone
and a reasonable chance of doing so without suffering adverse consequences.
This is a dramatic increase in power, which is likely to be matched with a
dramatic increase in corruption.  Guns will fade as the weapon of choice,
for that requires the malefactor to be in the same general vicinity as the
victim.

I don't know how we are going to deal with that problem.

spike