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Humans can't be copied. It seems like the inability to copy people is one of the pillars of our morality. If I could somehow make a perfect copy of myself, woul

Humans can't be copied. It seems like the inability to copy people is one of the pillars of our morality. If I could somehow make a perfect copy of myself, would I think about morality and ethics the same way? Probably not. AGI will theoretically be able to create perfect copies of itself. Will it be immoral for an AGI to clone itself to get some work done, then cause the clone to cease its existence? That's what computer software does all the time. Keep in mind that both the original and the clone might be pure bits and bytes, with no access to any kind of physical body. Just a thought.

int_19h 3y ago
If humans fundamentally work in the same way as any such hypothetical AGI, then they can be copied in the same way.
- hathawsh 3y ago
  If we ever do find a way to copy humans (including their full mental state), I suspect all law and culture will be upended. We'll have to start over from scratch.
voxl 3y ago
> Humans can't be copied. There is no reason to believe this, and every reason to believe that humans can, in fact, be cloned/copied/whatever. It may not be an instant process like copying a file, but there is nothing innately special about the bio-computers we call brains.
- hathawsh 3y ago
  I'm not disagreeing. The point I'm trying too make is that humans can't be copied today, yet when AGI arrives, it will be copyable on day one. That difference means that current human morals and ethics may not be very applicable to AGI. The concepts of slavery, freedom, death, birth, and so on might carry very different meanings in a world of easily copyable intelligences.
- goatlover 3y ago
  Other than it might be too complex and costly to do so. Just because something is physically possible, doesn't mean we'll find it feasible to do so. Take building a transatlantic high speed rail under the ocean. There's no reason it can't be done. Doesn't mean we'll ever do it.

int_19h 3y ago

If humans fundamentally work in the same way as any such hypothetical AGI, then they can be copied in the same way.

hathawsh 3y ago
If we ever do find a way to copy humans (including their full mental state), I suspect all law and culture will be upended. We'll have to start over from scratch.

voxl 3y ago

> Humans can't be copied. There is no reason to believe this, and every reason to believe that humans can, in fact, be cloned/copied/whatever. It may not be an instant process like copying a file, but there is nothing innately special about the bio-computers we call brains.

hathawsh 3y ago
I'm not disagreeing. The point I'm trying too make is that humans can't be copied today, yet when AGI arrives, it will be copyable on day one. That difference means that current human morals and ethics may not be very applicable to AGI. The concepts of slavery, freedom, death, birth, and so on might carry very different meanings in a world of easily copyable intelligences.
goatlover 3y ago
Other than it might be too complex and costly to do so. Just because something is physically possible, doesn't mean we'll find it feasible to do so. Take building a transatlantic high speed rail under the ocean. There's no reason it can't be done. Doesn't mean we'll ever do it.