Artificial Intelligence - Research Paper Example

?Artificial Intelligence Background and Thesis ment The absence of moral reasoning in artificial intelligence products depicts a foreseeable disastrous future for humanity rather than a beneficial one. Aspects of human history that pays homage to religion; particularly Christian and Islamic religions give the indication that after creation, God gave humans the power to continue creation (Tweneboah, 2009). This was because God created humankind in His own image and God’s image (character) entails the power to create. The power to create was however limited to what is commonly referred to as invention. Through this power, humankind has been able to provide for most of his needs that were not created directly by God. Perhaps other schools of thought surrounding the origin of the human race would not have much to argue about the ability of humankind to create because the records are clear to show that humankind has been able to cater for himself to a very large extent through the invention of machines and other minor items that he needs to live a better life. Generally, the things that are invented or created by men are called artificial things. Careful consideration of the trend of human creation (invention) shows clearly that the ability for humans to create keep getting complicated by the day. The threat and big question therefore remains if humans would not keep getting complicated with their inventions till a stage when the situation would just get out of hand? This research paper shall there delve more into what the risk stands for this world if out of the curiosity to make artificial intelligence products better, there comes a time when the activities of these machines cannot be regulated because of the absence of moral reasoning. Overview of Artificial Intelligence In the 1940s, the world witnessed the ability of humans to create computers to make basic human manipulations such as calculations, sorting and writing very simple. Along the way, the process became even more complex as humans continued to invent machinery to aid him undertaking certain activities that would have rather involve human intelligence (Chaize, 2008). Because these sought of ‘intelligence’ where made by humans (artificial) and not by nature (natural), they were assigned the name artificial intelligence. The commonest form of artificial intelligence that comes to mind when mention is made of the phenomenon is the making of robots. The fundamental idea behind artificial intelligence therefore has to do with the infusion of machines with the ability to think. A mentally sound machine could therefore be said to be the product of artificial intelligence. It is not surprising therefore that there are now robots that play intelligent games like chess. There are also robots and other forms of machines that have been induced with the intelligence to perform brain related functions such as planning, deduction, knowledge representation, reasoning, problem solving and natural language processing. The question that researchers have always asked has been about what the future of artificial intelligence would be. This is because scientists have always wanted a way of making their inventions better. They have also sought ways of making their inventions more and more complicated and useful for solving immediate problems. Artificial Intelligence and Moral Reasoning Artificial intelligence, though directly concerns computer science have had a lot of controversy and debate even in other fields of studies. One of these fields is philosophy. Philosophy generally concerns the human mind and how it functions. It is also closely related to intelligence since intelligence deals with the human brain and its function. For artificial intelligence to deal with ‘intelligence’ as a phenomenon therefore, it is expected that philosophers would be concerned about the subject. One major debate that philosophers have always been caught in is the question as to whether or not machines could really be intelligent. In the present research paper, the researcher is looking at the philosophical aspect of artificial intelligence from a perspective where machines manufactured under artificial intelligence could be said to have moral reasoning. Moral reasoning has to do with the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and make decisive decision between either the right or wrong (Nordin and, Zaghloul, 2007). This indeed is totally different from a machine’s ability to distinguish between 5 and 7 as the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers for 2 + 3 and thus select 5 over 7 as the answer for the question. Rather, by moral reasoning, the researcher is referring to the ability for the machines to for example know that it is ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ to harm a person. It is on the basis of this assertion that the thesis for this research paper is stated as “absence of moral reasoning in artificial intelligence products depicts a foreseeable disastrous future for humanity rather than a beneficial one.” This stand is taken because the researcher holds the view that machines are without moral reasoning. Justification for claim of absence of Moral Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence There are a number of justifications that can be given to the effect that artificial intelligence products lack moral reasoning. In the first place, there is evidence that all artificial intelligence machinery are made with the simple concept of functioning under the manipulation of human dictates (Tweneboah, 2009). The implication of this assertion is that machinery that is made under the discipline of artificial intelligence act on the command of human beings. In practice, it is because the machines are made to act on the basis of the moral reasoning of their owners and not on their own reasoning that it is possible to deactivate certain functions of the machines after some time. Clearly if the machines could morally reason on their own, it would not take another person deactivating the worse forms of their functions. In the year 1999, Chaize (2008) reports for instance of a robot that was made by a security company for the purpose of detecting intruders. There was a function of the robot that allowed it to spray out pepper spray when it detected intruders who broke bounds. One day, one of the owners was caught up in a police case and so had to come home late. He had lost his mobile phone and so could not call anyone in the house and so he had to jump the fence. Just upon entry, the robot started blowing an alarm and spraying paper spray into the eyes of the owner. The following morning, the paper spraying ability of the robot was suspended. If such a machine had moral reasoning, it would clearly have been able to distinguish between an owner and a thief. The second point that justifies the claim that products of artificial intelligence are not subject to moral reasoning is the fact that once these machines start operating or acting, they are not able to retract their actions until their set time or they are ordered to stop or they perhaps meet an impediment. These machines never stop acting on humanitarian or on moral groups. For instance if a robot is set to walk a distance of 100 meters and the robot is fueled to do this for the distance prescribed the robot will never stop walking till the distance is covered or perhaps an impediment such as a blockade is put in its way. In the absence of such as blockade, the robot will not stop because it came across a white cloth on the floor, which when the robot steps on it would render it dirty. The moral reasoning to stop acting because a continuation of the action would be morally wrong is not present in artificial intelligence products. In normal human beings, there is the power to stop whatever action a person starts if the person discovers that a continuation of the action would infringe on moral rights. It is part of such abilities of humans that it is said of them that they have moral reasoning. If the same cannot be reported of robots and other artificial intelligence induced machines, then clearly it is right to say that moral reasoning is absent in computer assisted machines. Finally on the justification that computer assisted machines lack moral reasoning is the fact that these machines lack of personal decision. Simply out, the machines do not have the right or power to decide whether or not to execute a given instruction. Already, it has been said that the machines are manipulated by humans. This is even true among colleague human beings because parents at times manipulate their children by sending them on errands. But these children also have the right to decide not to go on certain errands. This is what makes the children rational and morally reasoning beings. Should a mother send her son to go and shoot another person, there is the likelihood that the son would take a personal decision not to undertake the order. But this power to take personal decisions not to act is absent in computer assisted machines. Records are indeed yet to show a robot that refused to undertake a command not because of a dysfunction but because the robot felt that the command given was morally not justified. Once a robot is coded to undertake cutting in a factory to be cutting pieces of soaps, this robot would certainly not refuse to perform the act of cutting because a human hand has been placed where the soaps are normally placed. Rather, the robot would go ahead and perform the act. This is of course a major indication of the fact that moral justification and moral reasoning is generally lacking in computer assisted machines. Risks associated with absence of Moral Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence should never be sufficient if there cannot be a means of instituting artificial morals for these machines. One of the most outstanding implications to the absence of moral reasoning in artificial intelligence is the fact that there stands the possibility that in the nearest future, scientists and other unscrupulous people would take advantage of artificial intelligence to promote the invention of computer aided weapons of mass destruction. Just as robots perform functions in factories, it would not be surprising that these robots would be made to attack victims on the battlefield. Due to the absence of moral reasoning, these robots will not be in a position to judge their actions or the consequences of it and thus continue engaging in mass destructions as long as their operators ask them to do so. As regulations of global institutions for peace become more and more strengthened against the production of nuclear weapons, it is not very surprising that the next area for war-minded scientists and leaders to do is to start investing in the manufacturing of artificial intelligence based machines like robots that would take charge of wicked warfare actions against enemy countries. Summary and Conclusion This research paper has to a very large extent been dedicated to explaining what artificial intelligence is and how the discipline applies to philosophy. More closely, the researcher looked into the discussion of whether or not artificial intelligence products have any moral reasoning. Based on the series of justifications given by the researcher that computer aided machines do not have moral reasoning, the researcher then looked into what the implications of the situation and how that confirms the thesis statement. To conclude, the researcher would reiterate the thesis statement that “the absence of moral reasoning in artificial intelligence products depicts a foreseeable disastrous future for humanity rather than a beneficial one.” This is because as the aspirations of scientists continue to advance to make computer assisted intelligent machines more complex without realizing the ability or need (or perhaps the inability and impossibility) to equip the machines with moral reasoning, chances are that the inventions of these robots and other machines would eventually be turned into agents of mass destruction and because the machines cannot start actions on their own; or stop actions started; or take decisions not to start commanded actions all together. Once evil hands get behind these machines, there would be no moral reasoning by the machines to have mercy on human lives not to act evilly. The future of the machines is therefore disastrous until the machines can be claimed to possess artificial morals rather than ordinary artificial intelligence. CITED WORKS Chaize, Albert. SAW micro-sensor design for biosynthetic info-chemical communication. MSc thesis (Advisor Cole, M.). University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, University of Warwick, UK. ., 2008. Unpublished Nordin, Abban N. and, Zaghloul, Michael E., Modeling and Fabrication of CMOS. Chicago: Alpha Publications Limited. 2007. Print. Tweneboah, Abraham. Artificial Intelligence: The Scary of years to come. New York: Phantom Printing House. 2009. Print. Read More