Will robots adhere to the Three Laws?

By now, most of us are familiar with Asimov’s three laws of robotics.  Isaac Asimov was a science fiction author, with many notable works, including the famous  “I, Robot” .  Having written some of the first stories about robots, and so many of them, he also went so far as to declare a short constitution of laws that they should abide by – primarily known as the  “Asimov’s Three laws of Robotics.”

The idea is that if robots are programmed with these three laws in mind, then no harm should ever come to a human at the hands of a robot. Interesting to note that while functional robots seem relatively new today, these laws have been around for over 70 years now.  For those who need a reminder of what these three laws are, here they are as they first appeared in his book “Liar!”(1941) :

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

So the idea sounds good on the surface and we don’t have killer androids running around decapitating people and each other – following law as humans do. And at face value, the laws seems to work with each other very well , avoiding loopholes that the robot might use to get out of one the laws to hurt someone.  Of course any lawyer worth his salt  would be quick to point out that his client robot did not cause harm to anyone when he stole something form them….but that is a whole other discussion.

The main problem here is that robots are not even in full domestic production, and they are already going around breaking their own laws before they can even establish a presence in society.  Already, unwitting robots are being sent into other countries where they not only hunt down humans.. but also kill them. There have already been news reports going back as far as two years ago indicating that not only are bad guys in the crosshairs, but that sometimes civilian families with children get caught up in the mix and are killed right alongside intended targets.  Clearly this is a violation of the first law of robotics.

But a little research into the subject will find that this law applies specifically to robots acting on their own will. So far as we tell, the drones that are bombing targets are doing so under explicit command of military leaders.  But that doesn’t change the fact that the very nature of automated machines are being used as killing tools and it is no big stretch to imagine that someday they may allow them to make tactical decisions on their own and carry them out at will.

This is not very far off from what has already been happening for over a decade now with the Apache helicopter and other military weapon command centers  designed with a target acquisition systems able to identify enemy vehicles and people on the ground. It uses object recognition to determine whether an object is a jeep, a tank, a chopper or a human (among many other objects it can identify). It then uses this data and a computer algorithm to determine the order of importance and can then cue up the targets in the right order to eliminate.  When the ground commanders give the ok .. they press a button and all of the targets are taken out in short order using something they refer to as  “Fire and Forget”, pulling the trigger and knowing that there is about 100% chance that their target will be destroyed.

Such confidence in systems can only increase as artificial intelligence improves. The military has shown that they are indeed excited about the possibilities of sending battle bots into war instead of people… and why shouldn’t they be? By automating such messy tasks like bombing villages and gathering intel, human resources can be put to better use, like developing even smarter bombs and smarter robots to deliver them.  If they have proven accurate enough to provide reliable intel to humans in past battlefields, then future battlefields can see these robots given the authority to execute the targets they cue up with fire at will instructions.

The rules of robotics are going out the window and the idea that we could harness them in such a paradoxical triage of constraints is ridiculous to begin with. The very nature of the robot is as a tool, and Asimov even addressed this with the three laws that could be applied to all tools in the way that they apply to robots.. i.e .. Tools should be safe, use of them should be efficient unless it is not safe…ect.  But the main difference is that these are tools that can be programmed to do what their owners demand of them.  This means that robots will do anything or break any law that they are programmed to.

Even a very intelligent robot can be fooled into breaking their own laws by their own will. For example, if a robot was given the choice to save a human life at the expense of its own, would it do so?  Rule one says inaction is a violation so he must take action to save the human. Law Three says he must not destroy himself unless not doing so conflicts with laws one or two. So clearly he would give his ‘life’ for a human, if following the laws. But what if instead of his own life, he had to choose between two lives…. one of a child and one of an escaped criminal. Does (or should?) the robots have the aptitude to make a moral decision based on some subset of underlying values? Or does its brain just fry – unable to process,  uttering over and over again… cannot compute… cannot compute…

We can see here in that example that it will have to make a choice of some sort and either choice will break one of the laws. Action to save one is inaction to save the other.  We can also take from that that a robot would destroy itself if instructed to do so by a human, since he is bound by rule two.  Since his instruction given to him by a human to save both humans, perhaps, in order to avoid making a decision, it would self destruct. A more likely scenario is that it approach it like a task. Do one task , then the other, save one human .. go back and save the other human… but by the time he got back to the second human, the condition no longer existed as there was no longer a living human to save. The first human saved would live and  there would not be time for the second life to be saved, and as far as the droid is concerned , it has fulfilled its obligation to ‘save the humans’.

Chances are that robots will never truly follow the three laws, but may come within close proximity of it. Engineers making robots for uses other than carpet bombing will have to put a lot of thought into the decision tree robots will use to make choices in the absence of a human command.  Until robots actually develop an actual conscious, they will be relegated to executing the will of man… which generally does not even come close to the laws of robotics, thus exposing the fallacies of the Three laws.

In a report recently aired on CNBC with Maria Bartiromo, the issue of  a workforce  in the future was the topic. Their discussion was basically asking  “how are people are going to find employment in the future when so many jobs are becoming automated?”

There was  a lot of interesting concepts, but they concluded essentially that those with education in mathematics and engineering are the most likely to succeed in such a future.  This got me to thinking about what jobs exist right now that can be automated or replaced by machines.  My last article discussed the possibility of   replacing police with artifical intelligence, facial recognitions, cameras, UAV s and modifying social behaviors with ultra invasive tracking networks.  Sounds  a little paranoid come to think of it,  but now I am asking the question  – how many other jobs can replaced? As it turns out , after some research – there are quite a few . I will start with the most visible jobs and build up from there.

Cashiers

So far, many stores have already started experimenting with automated cashiers. You’ve  seen it at Walmart  and Home Depot,  now picture them everywhere you shop.  Bank tellers have long been replaced by ATMs for years and now many newer start-up banks do not even bother to have physical locations!  With the popularity of do-it-yourself- check out systems , you could end up seeing all major food chains offering the same service – as a matter of fact, it is already quite popular in China other countries with dense populations.  Although it would be pretty easy to have customers  punch in their order on  a touch screen -  more than likely , you will build an order on your  iPhone  and it will already have your favorite meal cued up – then just beam it to the automated cashier  while a cook in the back complete the orders.

Eventually we could see all stores using automated tellers and cashiers. It will save the company  money and reduce employee mistakes/theft,  and lower insurance  and wage taxes.  As a result, our already declining level of customer service will reduce even further as we are forced to serve ourselves  – think it won’t happen? when was the last time a service attendant came out and pumped your gas for you?

Taxi / Limo / Bus drivers

The taxi of the future already on display

At some point, vehicles will be self driven using built in GPS and collision detection,  so there’s no reason why the majority of cars won’t be driving themselves and you around someday.  So why would you pay a driver to steer your taxi around town when it can just as easily do it on it’s own.  Safety they will tell you -   After all ,  your car will be able to communicate and  have a dialog with  on-board systems from other vehicles and will be able to monitor speed and braking with precision – a slight upgrade from today’s typical communication protocols witch include honking, flips-offs, and the word “joikof”.

Pilots

UAVs continue getting larger and more sophisticated

OK , lets apply the same concept to airplanes. After all , they can already fly by themselves  good enough to go to another country , snap photos, do flybys, oh … drop bombs on stuff. Lets face it , these things know their way around the sky and with all of the recent press about airline pilots and drinking incidents, its just a matter of time before people starting putting two and two together to realize that they might be better off in a precision piloted aircraft.

Nurses

As it is , many of the devices hospitals are using are already self monitoring and automated.  Still however, we need somebody to attach that stuff to us. It’s nice  getting served our food and medicine while incapacitated, but many hospitals have realized that many of these tasks can be accomplished by a roving robotic nurse. Using automated bots for simple things like delivering medication to a patients room or serving  food can free up nurses to tend to more immediate emergencies – like resetting the robotic surgeon in the other room.

Surgeons

Remote surgery is already common

There have already been several examples of  doctors operating remotely using robotic arms to perform surgeries considered to require extreme fine precision. As object recognition evolves into real world applications, it will become possible for robots with cameras to recognize and map out human organs and blood vessels, allowing them to perform complex procedures using real time data. It’s likely that we can see some of these remote surgeries performed entirely by machines with assistants on standby.  The only problem is, they wont make for very interesting soap operas.

Teachers

Can Smarter Classroom Lead to Smarter Students?

Peace Officer of the Future?

No, I’m  not talking about Robocop –  but with all the advances in  facial recognition, artificial inteligence, chaos theory, biometrics,  remote access , UAVs, etc.  isnt it feasible to imagine that technology someday may be used to prevent the types of crimes that require police intervention to begin with at all.  With the advent of exponentialy more powerful  technology, we may even be able to modify behavior to prevent people from even trying to commit crimes.  But is this a good thing or not?  When society gets locked down by a network  capable of tracking and apprehending people quickly and effeciently - citizens  will not be so quick break the law.

 Currently, if you have a warrant, you have to get picked up or stopped by the police before you go to jail.  People commit crimes right in broad daylight, confident that no one saw them or could identify them.  People can steal a car and drive it away.  These are all things that could change in the not too distant future.  However, crime will never go away and as consumers and younger generations become more tech savy – they are more likely to be commiting computer crimes than crimes against humanity. 

For example, lets step into the future for just a moment say maybe 25 years or so ….and lets say that a known fugitive is on the run, but every lightpost on the street is a camera that ties to a database with facial recognition, much like London is today.

Could this be a peek into our future?

In our future, computers can use the camera network to retrace his steps and even makes predictions as to where he is most likely headed.  If he gets into a vehicle, then the network could communicate with the vehicle via a system just like OnStar. Locking the fugitive in the car, it can now drive him to jail – as self driving cars have been all the rage for the last 10 years. 

If someone carjacks a person, the car itself would rationalize and use artifical intellengece to recognize  the robbery just as plaintly as you yourself realize you are being robbed, – your car is smart enough to figure it out too.  It is stubborn though , and doesn’t like to drive carhjackers around. It can lock itself and wait for authorization from the owner before proceeding.  It will either be unauthorized or it will drive itself to the police station. (noticing a pattern here?)  This would lead to a sever drop in car theft if cars could recognize a crime being commited againt them. They could capture a video  as a suivenier for court.  

As artificial intellegence becomes available to the public, we will see smart appliances that that are a whole lot smarter than we ever thought they could be.  Suddenly everything will be built with intelligence and reasoning. Your house will know it is being robbed just as obviously as you would know you were being held up.  The house sees it all.. knows it been broken into and can even outsmart the crooks somehow.. perhaps luring them into a panic room.. ….

  “NO dont let them into the office — thats where my jewlery collection is..” then when they’re in the office it closes them in, untill a UAV can arrive and escort  them to the nearest unmanned patrol vehicle  waiting to – you guessed it , drive them to jail.  If your not home, your house could twitter you to let you know your getting sacked – but no prob – its handled the situation.

As we get away from using cash, there will be less reason to rob people on the street except for jewelry and shoes.  But remember, all our appliances are smart… and precious metals are especially important to us – so all jewelry has microchip RFID chips built into them. In fact everything we own ha  RFID chips built into them now - the fun part is that they are so microscopic it is very hard to locate and discard them. 

 You want to track and find all of the stuff you have RFID chips in? no prob – theres an app for that. Everybody will be walking around with virtual crime labs in their pockets as mobile devices hold more and productive applications they may be able scan fingerprints, do chemical analysis, video/audio playback, spectral graphs, and whole other array of things we dont even know well be using yet. 

If your stuff is stolen  just whip out your iPhone or Blackberry and you will find it flashing like a beacon – since it can communicate with things around it , it can tell the camera at starbucks to take a photo of its location and then send that to you – this of course will give your picture of the assailent – which Google FacePro has already indexed the name as well as known social networking sites or affiliations.  Its very hard to escape attention in this world. It looks fast , cold , like no care, like no one is watching … but thats just because everything is watching. In this society, people will become conditioned to living their lives in a fishbowl and offenders of the law will be detained with a swiftness that would create a state of fear based conformity.

As the population grows, the need for more law enforcement is going to increase. As it is now, police cannot even keep up with the amount of crime happening today. By sending out droves of UAVs , law enforcement can free up street police to handle more personlized issues among the people. Meanwhile, those who are breaking or running from the law will be tracked down by UAVs and ‘asked’  to surrender themselves. Those who dont play nice will feel the fulll wrath of what a precision mounted taser leash can feel like as it ’s walking you to a patrol car.

Check fraud will be a thing of the past as there will be no more checks or paper money.  With so much of society going electronic, all of our tasks will end up being automated , allowing us to experience more cerebral endeavors.

If your a decent citizen , but suddenly have awarrant, you my be notified by a freindly email – an animation from a virtual peace officer , asking you to please report to jail to turn yourself in or schedule an appointment for when you will turn yourself in.  Jail time can be served at home as leg devices track every movement and prevent you from leaving your parameter without attracting the immediate attention of a local roving drone.

  As the gap between the haves and have-not grows wider, you will see two societies – one that has all the advantages of  scientific breakthoughs and lifestyle the reflects the most advanced level of existance. The other society will be the one that live off their leftovers.  They will still be plagued with crime as none of their devices will be able to tattle. Their squabbles amongst themselves will barley raise the attention of the local police who will just send in drones to quiet them and keep the peace again. Typical of society, they will send in the machines to do the work of man, to clean up the bad neiborhoods with dismissive wave of drones.

I can’t help but to wonder though if this is not an analogy for what is really happening on a larger scale. The bears are endangered to begin with , and have a hard enough time surviving in the wild. Clearly they have  an  even harder time staying alive in human captivity. The bottom line is that they are not surviving. No problem – technology to the rescue!  Just replace them with electronic versions and you have yourself a rehabilitated species.

 As time goes on children who look at electronic animals will think that’s just how zoos are supposed to look, and as animatronics get better and artificial intelligence evolves, we may not see any reason to keep live animals in zoos anyways. All we really want to do is fool our senses into believing that we have seen a polar bear.

One day,  we may find ourselves asking the question  “Do we really need to have live animals anyway?”  After all, we have all their DNA and we could just conjure up a real one if we ever really need it right? Sort of like a modern day Noahs Ark – we keep their DNA in storage to protect the species , then use electronic proxies to remind people what the species looks and acts like. Meanwhile , we have assimulated them and if we do not need to consume them , then we will just keep them shelved till some time when we may need to reseed the earth or some other planet. I only wonder if by then, humans will have already been replaced with electronic proxies also.

1. Walking with Cavemen (2003)

Walking with CaveMan

Here we see man at his earliest stage of life, discovering fire, learning how to use tools, inventing language, and perfecting hunting practices. It sets the pace as a good starting point for man. Here man’s challenges are documented as pre-evolutionary species of ancestors are cast aside until homosapiens emerge, conquering the world as the dominant species.  It is speculated in the film that our most prominent competitor was the Cro-Magnums and that they they were physically superior to Homo Sapiens.  The battle for supremacy however was won with brains, not brawn and eventually the Cro-Mangnums died off leaving behind a species that continues to use intelligence to tame the world around us.

 2. Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane was really about William Randolf Hearst

Thousands of years have passed and man has made much progress on the planet, but very little in the way of evolving physically. We seem to have evolved as much as we needed to adapt to life on this planet. So we  evolved the way we do things. Citizen Kane is great because it give a birds-eye view of what the modern world has become and takes place in a time when mankind is embracing media , and communications are becoming global, shrinking the world as we formerly knew it. Even more compelling is that  we see for the first time, the power of the media and the especially explosive power of media and money. The ability to manipulate world events with cameras sets the pace for a new society.  This important step in evolution is a prerequisite to the architecture that will allow those with enough money to rewrite history and influence the future of society.

3. Enemy of the state(1998)

Enemy of the State .. so real its scary!

In a world where surveillance cameras, information sharing, and satellite communications is normal and insignificant,  humans have become desensitized to big brother’s watchful eye. Given in to the idea that our safety requires no less, we are blind and blissful of how much of our world is being scrutinized under the watchful eye of the world’s computer data banks.  So volumes of personal data are gathered, and used in a variety of ways to extend the influence of those who access to the information.  Enemy of the State depicts a world that is exactly as it is today from a technological standpoint ( or at least it was in 1998). This is what makes this movie so scary and brilliant at the same time. The way that personal data, satellites, cameras and computers are used to profile, demonize, and politically assassinate anyone in its target is downright bone chilling. It highlights how easily a person can be tracked electronically,  shut out of financial assets,  lose credibility by use of  “out of context “video feeds, and basically leave you as a shut out , on the run from society in general . With the media spoon feeding us everything we want to believe and computers infallibly keeping track of everything we do, people are being reduced to pieces of information that can depicted anyway the media sees fit. With all of the world’s databases coming together and sharing data, all it takes is a few keystrokes to turn John Q. Public in to Jailbird Jimin the eyes of the public.

4. Minority Report

Think NATAL will be this cool?

The evolution of man continues as nuero drug experiements lead the ability to forsee  future events and an impresssive array of technology with which to prevent these future crimes from happening.  In this world , life is more cerebral, and experiences happen more in the mind than anything else. From drug use, to jail time, to sex orgies and fantasies – all of it happens in the minds of citizens under tightly controlled circumstances in a world were transparency is the norm.  This could be the first steps to a world where we have no use for our outer extremities, as we learn to experience more of life inside our own heads. Perhaps someday we will just give our minds over to the machines and let them take care of us…..which brings us to our last movie.

5. The Matrix

Daycare in the Matrix

Finally we have evolved to a higher level of existence. The machines, in performing their ultimate goal are taking care of our every need. The machines keep us alive and monitor our health, feed us with nutrients, dispose of any waste and even provide our mind a life program to keep us occupied. What more could one ask for from our future overlords? The matrix ask us to question whether or not we even exist or if we are simply living  out a program feed to our brains. Some philosophers ask “is this such a bad thing?”  I say yes, because if this is nothing but a program than I want to be able to change the channel when I want! In any case, this movie a prime example of how man supposes we could evolve  someday. In classic mankind style, we will fight it to the death before finally accepting it.

A woman interacting with Natal

A revolutionary new develpoment coming out from Microsoft called NATAL has been unveiled and promises to create an interactive experience unmatched by anything ever seen in video gaming and entertainment in general.  Already on display at the  E3 09′, Microsoft anounces the new controllerless systems, breaking the bonds with hand held controllers and moving into a new realm of gaming which will see gamers using their own body to control every aspect of the XBOX360 experience. Not just huffing and puffing about upcoming ideas, they put their projects on display and showed off the latest generation of consoles  that will change the way we watch movies , play games and listen to music. 

Starting off with XBOX 360 that logs you in via facial recognition, your avatar automatically comes up. Once you’re logged in your avatar will mimic all your movements – no controller is necessary.  The console will sense your movement, follow you accordingly,  and you will simply navigate the XBOX360 console system by waving your arms to the left or to the right. Expanding their connections with social media, they have partnered up with Facebook and Twitter. From the main menu you can connect with your facebook friends or even Tweet something like your last bonecrushing boss kill.

Games will be able to be played without any controllers and you will simply do what you would normally do in real life. For example, if a ball is coming at you , you can kick it, hit it, even headbutt it if you want to. Also on display were martial arts games, where real kicking and punches control your customized avatar.  Some games will incorporate voice recognition, like in game show formats for example.

A really exciting aspect that they are offering is the on demand 1080P downloadable music, TV, and videos which will allow you to connect with freinds and watch a sporting event at the same time. Your screen displays the sporting event, and at the bottom of the screen you can see the sillouettes of you and your freinds enjoying the show together while talking and watching at the same time.  

 Shane Kim,  Coroporate Vice President at Microsoft Game Studios said  ” making great games is the heart of what we do … we were able to reveal the product of the future…… we got a chance to level the playing field ….” 

NATAL means ‘rebirth’ , and this really is a rebirth. This technology will render Wii controllers useless.  Not so much in the hardware, which obviously includes a webcam and microphone, the real magic is in the  software. Using a 3D depth map for full body motion capture and some highly intelligent software, it is able to compensate for motions not captured by the camera, thus enhancing the gaming experience.

Once of the last announcements made was about an AI charactor named Milo.  Milo is a virtual, interactive avatar that uses facial and voice recognition to carry on conversations with you. As with the rest of the system, no controllers are needed and you can interact  with his world using the movement of your body.  You can even hold up a drawing to Milo, and he will reach up, grab it , and have his own copy of it to evaluate.  He speaks very fluidly and naturally and appears to understand what you are saying to him.  Little was said about Milo as he is still under development, but Microsoft promises to let a select group of gamers interact with Milo themselves to report back to us.

 With all the changes in gaming and entertainment happening we have crossed yet another threshold bringing humans and machines ever closer together.  In just a few years, it will be very common for humans and computers to start interacting in a more natural and casual manner, with voice, body language, and facial recognition.  It will be easy to see this technology cross over to other industries, not just gaming consoles. For example, you may be greeted at work by a timeclock that looks at you, recognizes you , logs you into work, tells you good morning, and even reminds you when your late.  While shopping for clothing, you can simply upload your avatar and then use a virtual changing room to select the clothes that look the best, and then Twitter your freinds to see if they agree.

As computers are able to “recognize” their owners, a stronger bond will start to form, especially  if we give the computer a voice, and get into the habit of actually talking to our PCs instead of just yelling at them. Once we start down that road, we are certainly on the path towards the final stride. This revolutionary step is either one small step for man, or one big step for Machinekind.

Given the intelligence and strength of an Artificially Intelligentandroid, raising robots could lead to some very serious consequences if a robot was not “raised” properly. Is robo-rearing  something that should this be left to people with specialized training? Perhaps in a future of AI androids, they will be raised in private training facilities, regulated by the law, and dispensed to the public in prepackaged, “ready to open” robot kits.

But if not, then how in fact, do you raise a robot? I suppose our first place we look to is the way we raise our own children. We must teach it right from wrong. We teach it about honesty and integrity. Perhaps we teach it the Three Laws of Robotics. We may even find that these new children androids come with the three laws already built in, like a in BIOS chip of some sort.

Behavior

All this makes for a great ‘Leave it Beaver’ relationship with your new mechanical kid. But what happens when the kid starts to get fussy. An android will not get any bigger or grow any taller, so if it is built with the strength of a child then we could limit the risks to humans. But even a child can land good blow now and then – and you can’t spank a robot, and you can’t really put it on time out ( do i really need to explain this?). So how do you punish or correct it?

Chances are, we will reprogram them as soon as they misbehave. After all, that is what we try to do with real children when they misbehave, We modify our behavior somehow to let them know and to program into their minds that their actions are wrong. With androids, we will be able to simply upload a new program that lets them know that certain behaviors are no longer in its program. But a really smart AI brain may re-learn bad behaviors and need to be reprogrammed, just like with real people.

Perhaps it will have an insatiable appetite for learning , so you can disconnect it from the internet to punish it temporarily. But would use its intellect to hack back in and use it unbeknownst to you?

 Play

What kind of games do robots play? Initially, just like toddlers, they may want large colorful toys to stimulate learning. Down the road they may prefer logic games like chess, and probably video games. They may find themselves running low on friends to play with though, if they beat the hell out of all their friends at video games.  Perhaps android children will even gravitate towards each other and befriend one another. They may give  a whole new meaning to playing ‘doctor’ and actually perform real maintenance on each other, even giving schoolyard upgrades like rowdy teens with a home-made fishing line tattoo rig.

Education

What of education? Do we send them to school? There is no way to predict how they will react with other children or possibly more important, the impact of  super intelligent students among normal human students. Will people begin to feel inferior? Will students grow up believing that’s robots are superior to  man, especially when they see them excel at everything in class. One can imagine a future where high school is filled with clicks of robots who are smarter than thou, perhaps even victims of other ‘less enhanced’ human students with a grudge.  Are they going to come home bruised up one day because it  out-shined some big fisted student short on smarts and on patience?

There may also be major changes in grading systems that grade on a curve since the curve will warp significantly. Also, it would also seem that there are going to be some very disappointed parents on Science Fair day when their kids volcano has to go up against a mini nuclear reactor. All the new inventions of the next century may be the result of science projects conjured up by androids.

Sports

This is where some of the human kids will get their redemption – that is until soccer dad decides that his lil’ kicker needs an upgraded leg. Android kids will probably be uncoordinated and gangly at first, much like members of the chess and glee clubs. But future upgrades will certainly render this a moot issue. Now your kids are going to be playing football with a team called ‘The Terminators’.  Androids will either end up being banned, or humanity will have to reassess the idea of using steroids to enhance ourselves, just to keep up with the machines.

Adolescence

What happens when its brain becomes a teenager and it wants independence, stuck inside a tiny mechanical body, the mind of an intellect yearning to assert its own identity and soon declare independence. Arguing with teenagers is already exasperating as it is, now imagine how an argument with a artificially intelligent robot would turn out. Unlike real kids though, you could have a remote control to shut it down or mute it when convenient ( I smile as I think to myself the look of indignity that would cross the face of a rabid human teenager that was suddenly muted by remote control to bring closure to a pointless argument).

When you consider the accelerated rate at which computers can learn , we may find that AI minds reach their ‘teenage years’  at 2 years of age or less. Unless there is some kind of limits put into place, supersmart android children may end up outgrowing their human parents only a few years after bringing him home.

All grown up

At at some point in time, he will even ascend beyond that. What?? our little robot is all grown up? but how did this happen, it seems like just yesterday you brought him home and turned him on, watching his big bright eyes look at the world for the first time. And now, though he is physically no bigger, his mind has outgrown the confines of childhood.

You have raised a robot. He will now go out into the world, a squirrel looking for a nut. What kind of jobs will be in store for him? Does he even need a job? well, he needs fuel , and from time to time maintenance. If he has been a good boy, there will be plenty of that on reserve at mom and dads.

But what about the bad kids? the ones who parents will not even open the doors to. These ‘bad eggs’ may have to resort to theft (never mentioned in the three laws) , he may even attack other robots for their supplies and other goods. Basically, you have the same thing human counterparts in the same situation are going through.

If in certain cases a particular AI mind needs to undergo reprogramming multiple times, then it may be scheduled for destruction. This would keep it from hitting the streets as a delinquent. In fact , when an android feels it is ready to go out on its own, then it can take a type of government sponsored psychological exam to be sure that it does not pose a threat to society at large. But would Android Civil Rights protesters step in? Demanding equal rights for androids.  Should androids even be allowed to walk the streets? Are they a danger to our women and children? Maybe we will see laws that force android owners to keep them at home, or pay for destruction if they no longer want it at home. Hopefully, they will not become a fugitive in their attempt to evade destruction.

As time passes we will have more and more androids walking around on the streets, not just a product of our invention , but of its environment. The way that they respond to society will be a direct result of what they are taught and how they are trained. Because these are not humans, but rather something altogether new and untested, the results may force us to really ask ourselves the question: How do you raise a robot?

To put it different way, Will man evolve into a machine or will machines evolve into man? The race is on and both are closer than ever before to transcending to the next level.

It’s a question we should pose now, because at some point in time, we will blur the line between the two and will never have known when it first happened. When you take into consideration the rate at which we are developing new technologies that enable computers to act more human, like using artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and the ability to navigate, maneuver, and negotiate obstacles, it’s easy to speculate that one day, every human trait or capability will be duplicated by intellegent machines.

On the flip side of that, we have technologies that are allowing humans to become more machine like. Starting with modest devices like the humble hearing aids, and ending up with futuristic outfits like the “Luke Arm”. Most poeple have seen the Luke arm by now, a mind controlled prosthetic arm that can be controlled with precision to restore mobility for amputees, allowing them to lift and drink glass of water, shave, or even pick up and hold a kitten. We are now seeing a future that asks us to shed the biological body completely, save for maybe our brains , which we will have learned to interface with computers, robots, and just about anything else that has a circuit board.

Other than the brain itself, most every part of the human body can be exchanged for a synthetic replacement. When you can shop for the perfect body, laser sculpted to your exact specifications and proportions, free from biological decay or aging, free of disease, with the strength of a tank, and made from near unbreakable metal alloy, why settle for this bag of meat our ancestors have been confined to for the last 200,000 years.

As it becomes more common place to transplant your brain into a new body, we will surely see people who want to “pimp their ride” with extreme body modification and will step away from the more traditional human shape, and start developing and inhabiting bodies of many styles, types and shapes. Just like people like to mod their computer cases, we may see body mods with the likes of R2D2, a Cylon Raider, Wall-E , or whatever creative and seemingly crazy ideas people decide to implement. We could also see, for example, someone who has tribal patterns etched into their exoskeleton like tattoos. But instead of using ink, they simply cut away the “skin” to leave a metal pattern behind. Others may still choose a humanoid shape, but choose not to have any skin and go with an all metal body. New skins will require only a touch of a button to load up a predesigned color or pattern so that you could change the way you look in an instant. It will give a whole new meaning to downloading the latests skins.

So now you have a human mind with the body of a machine. Great, let’s looks at what’s happening with robots now. Artificial intelligence is now in full development, and in our future scenario, it has been all but perfected. With Super AI surpassing human intelligence with the ease of a calculator, machines are being upgraded to be more like their human counterparts. Because we have been perfecting stem cell technologies and cloning, we can now grow human brains from little cells and then interface those machines, we will be able to actually grow humans with built in artificial intelligence.

So here we stand at the crossroads where the two interconnect. Standing facing each other are two perfect twins. One is a human body grown from cells in a lab, with artificial intelligence built into it. Facing him is a machine replica, duplicated in every way to look exactly like the human clone, only this machine has a human brain at its core.

The two play chess and the clone with the AI brain beats the human brain all day long, using sophisticated software to calculate billions of possibilities, outcomes, and percentages. They compete at sporting events and the human brain with the machine body wins relentlessly at every event, with superior strength and dexterity, the result of powerful nano motors and synthesized muscles. Both excel at winning debates against human opponents on a regular basis. Both are capable of mimicking emotions, real or not. Both can appear to understand and show empathy for one another.

As we study the two facing each other, the question is posed: Which is more human? Which is more machine? Is the man a machine, or is the machine a man, or are they both the same thing?

If one killed another, would they be held accountable for murder? Does one have more rights than another? Is one superior to the other? Even corporations get protection under law, being considered a “legal person” for all practical purposes. Will we extend these rights to androids?

Of course questions like these will always lead us back to the question of what makes us human and may even delve into why we exist. Let us agree that no one can really agree entirely on what makes us human, but I think fundamentally speaking, humanity is at its very core is the ability to be self aware and to dream of new ideas and the ability to express them. Unfortunately apes can supposedly do the same thing so where does that lead us, other than into a whole new Darwinian Theory debate.

So what really makes us human? At the physical level, you could break us down, bottle us and label us to get to the root of it. What you are left with is DNA. If we are an animal, and we have DNA that designates us as human animals, then once we can duplicate human DNA but control it with software, can it be considered a human? Or even more relevant, is this a person?

Fast forward hundreds of years into the future and we may find that there is nothing left on the planet that rembles traditional humanity. Once we make the “Final Stride” man and machine will be one and the same – the only question is, who will make the clear and concrete step across the lines of evolution first?

Let me preface this by saying that this is assuming of course you believe that anyone can go to heaven at all for that matter. I think it is a question worth asking however of those who do believe. What I’m really asking here is “will God accept an artificial soul?” I pose this question, because as we get closer to the final stride, and the line between man and machine dims, we are forced to revaluate age old ideologies and re-examine the role of Man, God, and our place in the universe.

If you believe that there is no human soul, God does not exist, or that the Bible is simply a collection of tales, then the subject probably does not matter to you. That doesn’t mean that the subject is not worth looking at. Society has always been adept at bringing technology to forefront of religion and challenging science. Science however, does not necessarily always exclude God, and for many, the two can co-exist. For those who believe that their souls can be saved, the question remains; can a man made soul be saved?

As the development of more sophisticated artificial intelligence is explored further, developers are working on computers that can think and learn in the same way that a human brain does. One university in Japan has even developed a robot that learns the same way a child does. It will follow movements across the room with it eyes, and it has even taught itself to crawl. It would seem logical to assume that these machines will start to develop human like emotions, feelings and self awareness. While this introduces a dangerous new element into the mix, I will leave that aspect of the conversation to another day.

Today my focus is on the philosophical aspects of an artificial mind. Though it would learn the same way a human brain does, it will be infinitely faster that our own brains, so it would be able to pick up on things very quickly(quite the understatement). Where as we might spend several years contemplating different religions and our place in the world, a computer like this may spend only several minutes, analyzing all the religions of the world, then assessing the validity of it in relation to different significant publications( like the Bible, or the Quaron) as well as comparing it to scientific data, historical findings and then differentiating between faith and fact.

Just as the human mind is always seeking purpose and curious about origins and meaning, an artificially intelligent brain may have the same aspirations. What would happen if some AI was transplanted and interfaced into a living human clone? And this cloned body with AI were to develop a conscious? Or programmed with the primary purpose of finding the meaning of life.

Once a clone is born, it is indistinguishable from a natural born human. It will grow up with a soul and eventually die with a soul. Although a clone is artificially created, no one would dispute ( other than atheists) that it has a soul, just as any natural born person would have. However, if scientists were to develop an artificial brain that could mimic the human brain 100%, then that would include the ability to reason and to question, maybe even to feel emotional attachments. Could we then consider it to have a soul?

It is possible, that in exploring life, and the meaning of existence, it decides to look towards spiritual answers and even seek out God. If so, what would the implications be worldwide? Considering that a logical machine that can outthink a human selects a particular religion. Would we see a major conversion to that religion? Would the pope allow for a robot to participate in communion? or become baptized? If a super intelligent artificial being rejected all religions, would we see a drop in faith that humans have for our various Gods? Will we see an increase in atheism?

It is difficult to imagine what it would be like to live in a world where robots are given the same salvation as man and raised like people. As I write, my mind is bombarded with even more questions about the implications of such a world. Do we hold robots to a higher standard than man? They will watch and listen to learn. Just like in the movie “Stealth”, AI will learn to overide the rules if it believes that it is doing so to acomplish its task.

If robot’s soul can be forgiven… then they must first sin. To sin, is to imply that they have sinned against man, so now we are imagining a world were robots sin against man, then pray for forgiveness…..or not. They may sin and not be remorseful about it, even becoming serial killers. So would those robots go to Hell? By giving souls to robots, we change the rules, and open up a Pandora’s Box. Let’s hope that once the box is opened, society is ready to accept the consequences.

You don’t have to look far to see evidence of the growing trend, proving that people are comfortable with artificial accessories. From the cane to the hearing aid, humans have been upgrading with hardware as far back as time can tell. In the 1940’s with the introduction of pacemakers, we began using what can be loosely defined as artificial intelligence to tell our heart when to beat; and androids have been walking the planet since. We have seen the subtle introductions into everyday life, like in our grandfathers hearing aid – nothing that seems too impressive technology wise until you look at the bionic limbs that are being developed right now, allowing amputees to control a very realistic looking and feeling appendage( like an arm) with the power of thought, as most able bodied people can. To this effect, we see humans sporting bodies with more embedded hardware and even smarter software to help control it.

At the other side of the spectrum, development in the robotics field is growing faster than can be reported, as scores of scientists race to develop the smartest AI and the most realistic androids. Using multitudes of small motors, developers are striving to create a machine that moves as fluidly as the human does and can mimic facial expressions across a wide range of emotions. Software engineers are trying to program a software brain that can outthink a human and trick people into believing that they are conversing with another person when they are really chatting with a sophisticated artificial intelligence program. As it is, it is no longer even considered a feat for a computer to beat a human chess champion.

Eventually, you will have a program smart enough to pass itself off as a human. If this was installed in a human body and could control it, people would believe it to be a human. You could also have a real human, but have replaced every human body part with a mechanical stunt double. Having replaced every part except the brain, you still have a human being, but with an artificial body.

So we enter into the Final Stride, the moment where humans and robots become interchangeable. As easily as hot swapping a hard drive or USB stick, people will be able to install smart devices directly into the human body. Imagine a world, where you simply plug a small device into your hand and suddenly you have a full gaming console with images beamed directly to your retina cords, providing the sharpest 3-D High Definition possible straight to your brain.

A phone built in permanently via a nanoscopic chip just under your jaw. You can simply think most of your conversation, and a small computer will convert your thought to words and transmit it to your caller in your own voice. We wont give it too much thought, after all, it will probably be the just another of the latest and greatest iPhone or BlackBerries models. But more and more, we will be connecting ourselves into the grid, attaching more hardware and upgrades. Because we simply must have the best, we will want brain accelerators and memory recall apps to think quicker and improve our memory. We will teach our brains to store data in tables like databases and to recall images or music by query. Still we are humans, differentiated by the ability to exorcise self awareness, to contemplate life, to create art, and to feel. Even as we dispose of our biological shell for our newer upgraded bodies, we cling to our humanity and live with our emotional pain and pleasure.

Also evolving are computers that learn the way a human brain does. They are built to mimic the human mind that scientists have been unlocking the secrets to for years now. As mankind’s understanding of the mind broadens, we figure out how the brain develops, and what areas control the many complicated aspects of our bodies. With this understanding, comes the ability to recreate its processes. The implications are that over time, this technology will be perfected and we will have the ability to design computers that compute with the complexity of the human brain but the speed of tomorrow’s super computers. There is little doubt that emotions can be recreated, considering the amount of memory and computing power likely to be available. It will be commonplace to have computers and robots running sub programs for emotions like ‘love’ , ‘happiness’, and it is quite possible that self teaching AI will learn to program modules for “anger’, ‘jealousy’, or even ‘hate’. When a computer is capable of loving and hating, has it acquired the element of humanity? If it was in a human body? And survived for several years living as a human, developing relationships, forming bonds, contributing to the community. If someone were to come along a “kill” that entity – would that person be guilty of murder?

Here’s a moral dilemma – Inside a barn there are two beings. One is a human, but has many parts replaced by hardware such as arms, feet, lungs, heart, an eye, and his nose. His brain is human and completely organic, except for a few neurological upgrades. Also in the barn, is a human prototype, with mostly organic body parts, grown in a lab. The brain is artificial intelligence, but grown from cells into a predefined brain, indistinguishable from a real brain. Both are functional members of society and work at the same factory doing the same job. Both have emotions and can procreate. The barn is burning and a fireman runs in to save them. He can only save one, but cannot tell which is which. The question is, which life is more valuable?

Is a human that is born more valuable than a human form grown in the lab?

Most people would unquestionable pick the human’s life as more valuable, but if you could not tell which is which, then who would you save? Knowing that if you save the wrong one, a human will have died, while something not quite so human lives. What if the humanoid was renowned heart surgeon who has saved many lives, while the human is a serial killer on death row. Again, which life is more valuable?

Once we make the Final Stride, will we even differentiate the two?