Researchers from Portugal and Indonesia describe an approach to decision making based on computational logic in the current issue of the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems, which might one day give machines a sense of morality.Can machines make moral decisions? Can something be moral if it's not based on human thought, but a proxy of human cognition defined by predetermined computer instructions? This will be yet another situation where materialists and social conservatives will argue. Likely, the Darwinian materialists will contend morality is merely an evolutionary adaption intended to create stable communities and increase reproduction. Social cons will contend morality is a spiritual edifice based on the divine and thus non-human structures are unable to comprehend moral dilemmas.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Machines making Moral Judgments
Researchers are now trying to imbue machines with morality.
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4 comments:
I think a machine could make moral judgments. I suppose it's hard to say what decision-making processes, by a machine, could be moral. I guess you wouldn't say a machine could have character, because that seems like it would be about acting unpredictably, in "good" ways. I tend to not think machines will be capable of very advanced cognitive tasks, very soon, but I might be wrong about that. I don't know much of anything about research in that area, to say the least. If the machine were complex enough, it could make moral decisions.
@ Bob:
I imagine you're a materialist. Most religious people would say morality is exclusively in the spiritual domain.
Most religious people would say morality is exclusively in the spiritual domain.
In doing it, they would be ignoring pretty convincing scientific arguments. Of course it's everyone's right to ignore real science. I only wish such people were consistent and ignored (as in make no use of) airplanes, electricity ans aspirin.
I'm inclined to think that machines can ultimately be programmed to exhibit morality within the next 50 yrs (assuming Kurzweil's predictions regarding technological progress hold true). Morality is a means of cooperation that undoubtedly evolved in the same way as the evolutionary stable ('tit for tat') strategies Dawkins discussed in The Selfish Gene.
The fact that morality differs even among people (HBD is probably a factor) of the same religion shows it has a genetic basis-I wouldn't completely ignore an enivronmental contribution.
If it evolved, it can be said to have a materialistic foundation. Therefore it can be simulated although that could be complicated. I fail to see why people need to invoke supernatural phenomena to explain morality.
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