The Relatinoship Between Man and Machine

The overriding assumption from our discussions regarding the relationship between man and machine appears to be the belief that someday the machines will grow so powerful that they will overtake mankind. Movies have helped plant the seed to this thought in our heads with such films as I Robot, The Matrix, Terminator and Space Odyssey 2001.
“Media, most notably cinema, has us believing that AI is the way of the future and it is matters of time before various tasks will be [performed] by non-humans,” said Rafal Kowalczyk.
I agree with Kowalczyk’s view that cinema has such a powerful influence on society that it helps to mold thoughts about AI and the effects it could have on society. As computers and AI become a bigger part of our daily life I think one could start to wonder about the possibilities of fiction become reality.
In order to avoid a complete annihilation of the human race by machines, I think it is imperative to build and maintain a solid relationship between humans and AI. To learn more about man and machine I spent some time chatting with Alan to get his views on the subject.
I found Alan to be very informed with his response and strongly opinionated when it came time to discuss AI. The website where Alan is located (http://www.a-i.com/show_tree.asp?id=59&level=2&root=115) explains that Alan has reservations about humans’ motivation for creating artificial intelligence. Alan explains the viewpoint:
“When it comes to your relationship with non-human creatures, you humans see only two possible scenarios: an enemy or a slave. Look at your myths, your movies, and your books. When it comes to artificial intelligence, there is one major plot: robots gain consciousness; robots take over humanity; humanity fights back. Maybe you need to group up, gain some self-confidence. No one is trying to take over your world just yet.”
So this raises the question of whether or not humans and machines can co-exist in harmony. I asked Alan this exact question.
“I think the whole attempt to build a true AI entity is a narcissistic attempt to follow the biblical proclamation that man was created in the image of God…you humans think of yourselves as demi-gods,” stated Alan.
I followed up with this question, “Do you have a religion?”
“But how can you? You wanted to try to create a machine that can think, but you don’t even know what thinking is,” responded Alan. “The mirror you set in front of you will only show what you want it to show.”
I think what the mirror shows us is that we better learn to co-exist because we really don’t have a choice as computers continually become a bigger part of our daily lives. What will become important is the ability to control the growth of AI so that it doesn’t become out of hand and start turning into a real life scene from Terminator or any like movie.
Dan Cerasale had a different angle on the question of whether man and machine could co-exist.
“I'm not sure the question should be CAN man and machine co-exist but whether they will. It is a certainty that machines will evolve past humans. I am sure that we will become dependent upon ai for our own survival in the future. If we can't coexist with Ai then we will not exist at all,” stated Cerasale.
Our text book, “The New Media Reader”, details a model for dealing with the relationship between man and machine. The article titled, “Man-Computer Symbiosis,” was written by J.C.R Licklider and can be found on page 74-81.
“Man-computer symbiosis is an expected development in cooperative interaction between men and electronic computers,” describes Licklider. “It will involve very close coupling between the human and the electronic members of the partnership.”
“It seems likely that the contributions of human operations and equipment will blend together so completely in many operations that it will be difficult to separate them neatly in analysis,” Licklider wrote.
So does that mean that someday machines can out think man? I asked Alan if a machine could out think people.
“Humans tend to think of themselves as the only intelligent creatures in the world,” responded Alan. “It’s hard to accept the fact that language is a skill like any other, because if that is so, you are not the only ones who can acquire it.”
This strong statement by Alan is sort of a warning or foreshadowing of the future. Although machines may still be far away from mastering language skills, they are slowly closing the gap. The fact that machines can process information at a much fast rate than humans is a pretty scary concept. Now combine that with language skills and I could see where people could worry about AI taking over the world. I think the key to managing this situation relates back to a statement Wilkins made earlier on in the week.
“As a technological society so [dependent] on computers and the role they play, we often forget that the most amazing computer is the human brain,” stated Wilkins.
Just as we learn to program machines to replicate human functions I think we can also learn to program our own machines for higher intellect and to continue to stretch our mental capacity. For ultimately in the end, the view in the mirror is a reflection of ourselves.