Ethical Issues With The Artificial Intelligence Of Computers - Literature review Example

Ethical Issues with the Artificial Intelligence of Computers Ethical Issues with the Artificial Intelligence of Computers Introduction Artificial intelligence refers to any intellectual creation that outperforms the abilities of the human brain in different fields: general wisdom, social skills and scientific creativity. This kind of intelligence is what has been packaged into a computer, which performs functions that may be very challenging to the functionalities of the human brain (Bostrom, 1998). Different scholars and authors have expressed optimism that a super-intelligent computer may be created within a few decades from now. This could result from the increased hardware functionalities and the capacity of computers – in performing architectures and algorithms similar to those applied by the human brain (Bostrom, 1998). Considering the impacts of the intelligence of computers, it is important to give thought to the ethical issues that comes along with the use of this intelligence and the ethical standards to be checked with such creations. The impact of advancing the intelligence of computers The impacts of these developments are based on the realization that further development of computer intelligence may not be just a technology or a tool that will serve to supplement the abilities of humans, but a radically improved technology. For instance, further development of computer intelligence may lead to undesired effects of the creation, including those discussed next. The computer intelligence may reach a level of outsmarting the abilities of humans – rendering the technological development of humans and their scientific research obsolete – as it could do better. This implies that technological development in every field may be speeded up by the development of an advanced computer artificial intelligence. Such a computer intelligence system could also lead to the development of further-advanced intelligences; the artificial intelligence bases can be copied or erased, they could become autonomous operators, and they may have or lack human psyches and motives (Dean, Allen & Yiannis, 1995). The ethical issues arising from the artificial intelligence of computers From a philosophical point of view, the goal of developing advanced artificial intelligence into computers leads to the creation of an independent, intelligent computer entity. However, there is the issue of how this creation can be classified – in terms of what it is and what it is to be accorded. For instance, such an artificially intelligent computer would be referred as ‘alive’, which raises the ethical issue as to whether such an entity would be recognized as alive, thus entitled to given rights. In this case, the issue is not supported – by any substantial evidence – regarding whether it is intelligent life – as it applies to the case of humans, and whether it is could be considered so, in the absence of a soul. Also, there is no evidence that a soul is required for such intelligence to qualify as alive. Therefore, questions on intelligence and life come into play – disregarding the existence or the non-existence of a soul: it is impossible to determine if an intelligent computer could be considered alive and whether such consideration could be given (Bostrom, 1998). There is an ethical issue over whether the creation of highly intelligent computers will render the role of humans in the running of affairs among other developments insignificant. This is drawn from the simple conclusion that the development of a highly advanced artificially-intelligent computer would result in the creation of an entity that exceeds the abilities of humans – thus eliminate the need for their further inventions. This is based on the conception that the artificial intelligence of computers outperforms the abilities of humans. This would mean that these computers would be better at doing technological development and scientific research than any humans could do. Following this situation, the role of humans will be rendered useless, which may lead to brain-drain among the best intellectuals and scientists – thus the inability to determine the future of technology and human welfare (Bostrom, 1998). The development of a highly intelligent computer would also raise questions over whether – these computers would determine the welfare and the affairs of humans – as opposed to things running the other way round. For instance, such an artificial intelligence would have abilities beyond those of humans in the areas of developing very powerful machinery like computer systems, and advanced weaponry. However, the questions that come along the extraordinary creativity of such intelligence would be whether these systems would work towards ensuring the good of humans or their detriment. For example, such an intelligent computer may decide to use the advanced weaponry to destroy human life. Other areas of possible coverage of their abilities would include controlling humans, in the areas of fine-grained characteristics like motivation, mood and emotions; guiding human’s aging and disease patterns, and creating functional virtual reality. The ethical issue that comes with such an intelligent computer, still remains whether humans would control the way it runs their affairs or whether it could override the control of humans – leading them to the unknown future (Searle, 1991). There is the ethical issue of whether developing highly intelligent computers could lead to further development of such intelligent computers by the ones already created by humans. The question here would be that the control of technological development would fall fully out of the hands of humans – which could lead to a great uncertainty on what the developments of these artificial intelligences and their precedence of technology would result into (Moravec, 1999). There is an ethical issue over the artificial nature of such applications – which leads to the reality that these intelligent computer creations could be copied – a characteristics that renders the whole development risky and dangerous. For instance, till presently, intelligent computers are taking the place of nurses in aiding in patient management. However, the ethical question that comes is whether these systems could be reprogrammed by malicious people that they cause destruction instead of doing the important tasks that they already do (Philip, 2003). Also, copying their functionality and intelligence could result in the breach of the secrecy that is maintained when affairs are run by humans – whose abilities cannot be replicated or reprogrammed (Searle, 1991). There is the issue of whether artificial intelligence could be programmed to hold humanlike motives, which include that humans are rarely willing slaves. In this case, such computers may be used to the advantage or the disadvantage of humans, as the creation and programming of an intelligent computer, to destroy humans would ultimately lead to the act of human destruction. This leads from the simple fact that such creations are programmed on what to do – and maybe, how to do it. Therefore, the development of these computers raises ethical concerns over the control of these intelligent computers and their manipulation – whether for good or bad courses of action, which may be detrimental to the welfare of humans (Moravec, 1999). Another ethical concern is that, despite the fact that artificial intelligence may easily guard itself against certain human errors and biases; they would still be vulnerable to biases and errors that any human being would not make – even the very hapless ones. Therefore, this leads to questions over whether the conscious life of an artificially intelligent computer would present other, new biases and errors which could have been avoided in the case the tasks, which they are assigned, were run by humans. For example, there are cases of robots that are programmed to work as nursing aides at nursing homes (Philip, 2003). The roles of these aides can include, instructing and supervising patients on medication and the delivery of medication. However, the ethical issue that comes along with his development is whether the super-human errors and biases of these intelligent computers could lead to adverse effects in such sensitive areas as those described in the case. For instance, the programmed system may err, causing a patient to take an overdose of medication – which could result in adverse results. Therefore, there are concerns as to whether these computers can be fully relied upon – as the case would be with a well trained human being (Dean, Allen & Yiannis, 1995). Following the takeover of different roles and functions by these artificial intelligence systems, there could be a resultant reduction in human interaction, from which the result could be that the current generation of technical staff is not succeeded by the younger generation but by the programmable help of these artificial intelligence systems. The result, after a span of time, would be that the specialists go into retirement without passing their skills onto the younger generation – which could result in a crisis over the lack of specialists in the different areas of expertise. For instance, in the case demonstrated earlier, over the use of robots in medical service delivery, the issue could lead to a reduction in the staffs available to administer medical care. Further, due to the unpredictable nature of artificial intelligence, the breakdown of these players or a phase-out of their functionality could result in a situation of crisis, regarding the future of the practice. Therefore, it is evident that the over-use of artificial intelligence renders the future of different areas of service delivery unpredictable and not determinable, therefore leading to a conclusion that such fields would be better off when run by humans like the case has been (Searle, 1991; Philip, 2003). There is also an ethical issue over the elimination of the need for the services offered by humans, who are trained to deliver certain services. For instance, artificial intelligence systems are serving at different capacities, including the delivery of medical services, and the supervision of employees while at work. For this reason, there is a possibility that further development will result in the elimination of the need for the services of human employees – who are trained to deliver these services. As a result, such a case would lead to a situation of increased loss of jobs, in an environment that is already characterized with unemployment and underemployment. For instance, in the case of the robots serving as medical aides, these posts would have alternatively served as employment opportunities for different employees. Therefore, an increase in the development and usage of artificial intelligence would be counteractive to the needs of human beings (Dean, Allen & Yiannis, 1995; Philip, 2003). In the case of the artificial intelligence systems used during times of war, these systems are beneficial, as they would reduce the cases of loss of life – for instance in the cases when they are used to dispense grenades and bombs. Further, the accuracy of attacks would increase, but there is the risk of a software failure – which could result in the contrary functioning of these intelligent actors. In such a case, these aides could turn against their creators or the teams sending them to dispense the implements of war, a case that would result in self-destruction at the camp using these robotic systems. Therefore, in war technology, there is an ethical concern over the predictability and the reliability of these intelligent actors – which could be counteractive for one cause or another (Moravec, 1999; Lin, Bekey & Abney, 2008). There is an ethical concern over the level, at which artificial intelligence has grasped the human functionality and experience – in a way that would allow them to duplicate the same with the artificial intelligence systems. For instance, some programs of this nature require the users of these AI actors to interact with them, as this result in their learning – so that they can emulate the human processes they perceive from the human actors they are interacting with. However, the question that comes along is whether, the nature of humans is predictable enough – to allow the AI actors learn sufficient values and standards that can guarantee that they will act in fully predictable ways. This raises questions over the reliability of AIs, thus the fear that they may not be reliable at the end, and probably, that they could result in negative results (Searle, 1991). Conclusion Intelligence refers to intellectual creations that outperform the abilities of the human brain in different functionalities. This intelligence is packaged into computers to form artificially intelligent computers. Different scholars are optimistic that a super-intelligent computer will be created in a few decades. This could result from the increased capacity of the functionalities of computers in performing algorithms similar to those of the human brain. The issues related with the advancement of AI computers include that such a computer would be able to control the very nature of humans as well as create others of its kind. The ethical issues that result from these advancements include the following: whether the systems could be classified as alive or not, thus entitled to rights; whether they would render the role of humans in development useless and result in a situation where these computers determine the future of humans, through reproducing more of their kind to the disadvantage of humans. Other ethical concerns include that these computers could be copied, therefore their functionality breached; whether they can be programmed to abide by humanlike motives, whether they would have errors that are detrimental, that they may reduce human interaction, eliminate the need for human workers, and that they could turn against their creators. References Bostrom, N. (1998). How Long Before Super intelligence? International Journal of Futures Studies. Retrieved from http://www.nickbostrom.com/superintelligence.html Dean, T., Allen, J., & Yiannis, A. (1995). Artificial Intelligence: Theory and Practice. Menlo Park: Addison-Wesley. Lin, P., Bekey, G., & Abney, K. (2008). Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research. Retrieved from http://ethics.calpoly.edu/ONR_report.pdf Moravec, H. (1999). Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. New York: Oxford University Press. Philip, K. (2003). Robot with a Nurse’s ‘Face’ Aids patients: Devices and technology. Nursezone.com. Retrieved from http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News- Events/devices-and-technology/Robot-with-a-Nurse’s-‘Face’-Aids-Patients_24582.aspx Searle, J. (1991). Minds, Brains and Programs. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More