Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
creating intelligent robots, especially those with which we will be able to
have relationships as though they are human, we are adopting a God-
like role. Edmund Furse argued against this claim on the basis that the
creation of an intelligent robot is not necessarily an act that only God
should perform. And Furse noted that
Every time a couple decide to have a child, they are also taking on
this God-like role in bringing forth a new person into the world.
If it is acceptable to bring new humans into the world, why is it
not acceptable to bring a new robot into the world? Of course,
one could argue that the topic of Genesis tells us that God created
the world for humans to live in, and not necessarily for intelligent
robots. The simple reply to this is how do we know that God does
not desire the creation of robots just as much as he does human
beings. [8]
Furse also delves into our moral right to create intelligent robots, coming
down on their side:
We homo sapiens think we have the right to dictate which sapient
life forms should exist on our planet. Clearly, if intelligent robots
already existed, and governments decided to wipe them all out,
then this would amount to a serious crime on a par with crimes
against humanity, or the eradication of nations. If robots were con-
sulted, then surely they would want to live. Besides, we might
benefit from another sapient life form on our planet. [8]
Should We Be Afraid of Robots?
What prompted Norbert Wiener's original thinking on computer ethics
was fear. He was afraid of the consequences of building intelligent ma-
chines. Since then, and especially after the nuclear explosions at Hi-
roshima and Nagasaki, more and more scientists have warned about the
dangers of the unlimited use of technology, among them Nobel Prize
winner and nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat, who was chairman of the
Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs. Rotblat repeatedly
spoke against thinking computers—robots endowed with artificial intel-
ligence and which can also replicate themselves, considering their “un-
controlled self-replication” to be “one of the dangers in the new tech-
nologies”. [9]
In 2004, at the First International Symposium on Roboethics, David
Bruemmer defined what he referred to as “The real danger” in creating
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