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Article 2982 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: lehman_ds@lrc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Ethics and AI ( AI, software-pit-bulls, OR ...? )
Message-ID: <1992Jan21.154933.127@lrc.edu>
Date: 21 Jan 92 20:49:32 GMT
References: <knmip5INNob2@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
Organization: Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, NC
Lines: 25

In article <knmip5INNob2@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, silber@orfeo.Eng.Sun.COM (Eric Silber) writes:
> 
>  Another philosophical dimension impinging upon the AI debate
>  is the question of ethics.  While the debate about the possibility
>  of Ai goes on, practitioners of AI-systems-construction are out 
>  there building things whose funding is often dominated by
>  military sources.  Hence, in academic reports re: AI systems work,
>  it has been quite common to see human-computer dialogs in which the
>  computer's focus is on recognizing enemy subs and upon advising as
>  to which of a number of lethal weapons would be optimal to use in
>  dispatching the foe.  If more consideration is not given to ethical
>  questions in the construction of Ai systems, then 
>  ( regardless of their onto-episto-logical competence or lack 
>  thereof ) Ai systems will turn out to be the pit-bulls of
>  software technology!
   This is a good point.  One of the reasons that the whole idea of
"understanding" is brought up is, ultimately, we will have to decide if
the machine is a tool for man to do what he wishes with, or if the machine
now becomes an entity unto itself, making the human rights activist do
a double-take...  To say that the machine passes the Turing test and
never understands, we have now said that the machine is a smart tool.
To say that it has understanding, we now have a beign that deserves
"human" rights.
   Drew Lehman
   Lehman_ds@mike.lrc.edu


