AI Thinks LIke a Corporation/Death of Insects

[John Bailey]

I think what the article makes clear is that what "we" want from AI
doesn't matter - as far as I know nobody on the P-list is leading that
charge, but certain people are and we shouldn't talk about the
"progress" or "evolution" of a particular technology as if it's
ahistorical and inevitable.

A practical example: there's a lot of talk about the ethics of
automated cars, and what their algorithms should take into account
when deciding who dies in a crash. From all I've read/heard the
discussion comes down to utilitarian ethics, and what would be the
greater good in such a situation. But utilitarian ethics treats people
as mathematical variables and is far from the only ethical model that
could be applied, but it's the model that makes most sense from a
programming standpoint, and perhaps the standpoint of a legal
corporation trying to cover its posterior.

Maybe the problem in AI thinking like a corporation is that
corporations are very good at a lot of things (perpetuating their own
survival, decentralised functioning, reorganising themselves to adapt
to challenges, reducing individual culpability) but not so good at
others (pretty much everything covered in the history of ethics).
On Wed, Nov 28, 2018 at 4:08 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Does anyone think AI would be better with a chaos quotient?  I don't think so.  So Predictable Intelligence is our real goal. We want *smart* servants, not intelligence.  So, of course predictable AI will support corporate structures.
>
> it seems to me that AI is essentially imitative, not creative, not spontaneous.  It isn't really intelligent. We don't want it to talk back or even question us.  We won't ever tolerate that.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Tue, Nov 27, 2018 at 9:47 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Yep. Chiming in with gratitude, Rick. Thanks.
>> My answer to the concluding question is pending, though I tend toward the
>> latter proposition.
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2018 at 1:58 PM John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Thanks Rich, great read.
>> > On Wed, Nov 28, 2018 at 3:41 AM bulb <bulb at vheissu.net> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Really excellent article, thank you Rich.  Working for a company that is
>> > making massive investments in AI - this puts things in perspective..
>> > >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > From: Pynchon-l <pynchon-l-bounces at waste.org> On Behalf Of rich
>> > > Sent: dinsdag 27 november 2018 15:45
>> > > To: “pynchon-l at waste.org“ <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> > > Subject: AI Thinks LIke a Corporation/Death of Insects
>> > >
>> > > thought you guys would be interested
>> > >
>> > >
>> > https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/11/26/ai-thinks-like-a-corporation-and-thats-worrying
>> > >
>> > > like everything else these days we're dazzled by the science not knowing
>> > or caring about context, origins
>> > >
>> > > and this
>> > >
>> > >
>> > https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l