This week at the
expense of Professor Curtis, the class indulged into an eerie tale of not
supernatural, but machine doings, which surfaced questions about what's to come
with an AI future. The themes in mind were presented by an episode of Netflix
series "Black Mirror" Season 2 pilot episode. In this viewing a
woman, Martha, becomes involved with reanimating her deceased husband, Ash. To
make matters worse, she discovers that she is pregnant with his child. Through
an anonymous service, she orders a prototype android that takes his form and
surface personality. But problems arise as Martha takes him, or more properly,
it, too intimately. Aside from the hard-to-watch "horrors" of modern
life, this series opens with a grotesque poke at thought, I'll give it that
much. Aside from the obvious illegitimacy of such circumstances, the
forces at play here are very real.
Just take one look at a science and technology news website
like IEEE Spectrum, or MIT's Technology Review. It is easy to see how wrapped
up we are with making what was once a fantasy, a reality. The principles of
morality and humanity must work hand in hand with those of scientific method
and technological innovation if we are to create a newer, better world.
I'm thinking about at what point can a computer become life?
The earth itself, can be thought of as a computer. I think soon the
philosophical questions of what makes something sentient, rational, and
human will be revisited.
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Inspire and
educate oneself
AI: the FAQs
Cyborgs ethical?