From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!psych.toronto.edu!michael Tue May 12 15:50:28 EDT 1992
Article 5565 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!psych.toronto.edu!michael
>From: michael@psych.toronto.edu (Michael Gemar)
Subject: Re: AI failures
Organization: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
References: <1992May11.160456.15469@math.okstate.edu> <1992May11.183017.14806@psych.toronto.edu> <1992May11.210524.30977@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Message-ID: <1992May12.002440.5501@psych.toronto.edu>
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 00:24:40 GMT

In article <1992May11.210524.30977@mp.cs.niu.edu> rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
>In article <1992May11.183017.14806@psych.toronto.edu> michael@psych.toronto.edu (Michael Gemar) writes:
>>
>>So is this newsgroup only for the ethically-impaired?  I am quite
>>appalled at the cavalier notions of morality (or lack thereof) being
>>spouted on this topic.  
>
> I think you are jumping to conclusions far too soon here.
>
> Ethical judgements are often much more complex than at first seems apparent.

[various moral dilemmas deleted]

> So, given the complexity of the making ethical judgements, and the fact that
>we have little experience with the type of situation under discussion,
>I believe it is premature to judge the ethics of pulling the plug on AI.

My comment above was not regarding the notions put forth regarding the
treatment of AI's, but the treatment of *humans*.  Both Hans and Eric have
essentially proposed abolishing ethics, not only in the realm of
computers, but in the realm of people.  Yes, I agree that AI ethics is 
a tricky question, but I will assert that it is at least a *question*.
Hans thinks the whole notion is ridiculous because *ethics itself* is
a meaningless social construct, and Eric (the poster who I was responding
to in the posting quoted above) states fatalistically that *lots* of
thinking things die everyday, so what's another more or less, human or
computer.  It is this denial of ethics in the *human* realm that has
me worried.  I sure don't want to be on a desert island with these
guys...

- michael
 



