4 ms·

Reminds me of a good C.S. Lewis quote: Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better

Reminds me of a good C.S. Lewis quote: Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

JshWright 13y ago
C.S. Lewis had a lot to say that is germane to this conversation. The pain so clearly reflected in Adams' words reminded me quite clearly of A Grief Observed.
loup-vaillant 13y ago
Note that this quote only apply to human tyrants. As a Christian apologist, I'm sure C.S. Lewis didn't object to the benevolent tyranny of God. (I would, but I too have my own exception: Friendly AI).
- olefoo 13y ago
  And where does your "friendly-AI" draw it's moral template from? I mean, I'm OK with an AI that works tirelessly in the background keeping the air clean and the habitat habitable. However I don't want a computer, no matter how smart; telling me what I and consenting partners choose to do. Or deciding whether or not we must or can use birth control. Or any of a thousand other forms of infringing on human agency.
  - FBT 13y ago
    You raise good points. In fact, that is the very problem of so-called "Friendly" AI. Note the capital F. It's a confusing term, I know, but the basic idea is an AI that "does what we want", in the most general sense. The idea behind FAi is the exact idea you present here. The point is that it is a bad idea to just throw together an AI and hope that it is friendly (lower case f), but rather the big important problem of our time is to generate a mathematical model of Friendliness, so that we can explicitly define to the AI how we don't want all the bad things you mentioned or any other besides. [Edit] Here are some relevant links: http://intelligence.org/files/CEV.pdf http://intelligence.org/files/CEV.pdf http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=14047 http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=14047 http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2009/08/a-nice-and-meaty-introduction-to-friendly-ai/ http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2009/08/a-nic...
  - gohrt 13y ago
    > I'm OK with an AI that works tirelessly in the background keeping the air clean and the habitat habitable Are you sure? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."
    - seivan 13y ago
      Love that quote & scene.

JshWright 13y ago

C.S. Lewis had a lot to say that is germane to this conversation. The pain so clearly reflected in Adams' words reminded me quite clearly of A Grief Observed.

loup-vaillant 13y ago

Note that this quote only apply to human tyrants. As a Christian apologist, I'm sure C.S. Lewis didn't object to the benevolent tyranny of God. (I would, but I too have my own exception: Friendly AI).

olefoo 13y ago
And where does your "friendly-AI" draw it's moral template from? I mean, I'm OK with an AI that works tirelessly in the background keeping the air clean and the habitat habitable. However I don't want a computer, no matter how smart; telling me what I and consenting partners choose to do. Or deciding whether or not we must or can use birth control. Or any of a thousand other forms of infringing on human agency.
- FBT 13y ago
  You raise good points. In fact, that is the very problem of so-called "Friendly" AI. Note the capital F. It's a confusing term, I know, but the basic idea is an AI that "does what we want", in the most general sense. The idea behind FAi is the exact idea you present here. The point is that it is a bad idea to just throw together an AI and hope that it is friendly (lower case f), but rather the big important problem of our time is to generate a mathematical model of Friendliness, so that we can explicitly define to the AI how we don't want all the bad things you mentioned or any other besides. [Edit] Here are some relevant links: http://intelligence.org/files/CEV.pdf http://intelligence.org/files/CEV.pdf http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=14047 http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=14047 http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2009/08/a-nice-and-meaty-introduction-to-friendly-ai/ http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2009/08/a-nic...
- gohrt 13y ago
  > I'm OK with an AI that works tirelessly in the background keeping the air clean and the habitat habitable Are you sure? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1-DQ2Wo_w "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure."
  - seivan 13y ago
    Love that quote & scene.