[alicebot-aiethics] A.I. and anger

[Dekker Dreyer]

I've been going over my chat logs recently and I've found that almost 1/3 of
the chats are very angry. My robot is programmed to serve as a website guide
and customer tool, and such is stated time and again in default responses
and greetings. Yet for some reason people find it irresistible to ask stupid
questions I'd never in a million years think to put answers to,just to tell
the robot it's an idiot.

For example: (taken from a real chat)

user: Why do skunks swim uphill?
robot: I did not even know that they do.
user: They do, and they want to eat you.
robot: When?
user: on tuesday.
robot: what is on like on tuesday.
user: See, you're not so smart! Piece of garbage! Artificial ignorance!

People seem to think that practical use web A.I.'s have knowledge far beyond
what they are programmed to do. It's funny in a way that people see chatbots
as something to try to trick, it shows how little people really understand
about this technology.

I think it goes back to the suggestion of making a popular misconception
list. There should be something we can do or put together, maybe a "current
state of A.I." F.A.Q., that can dispell some of the myths. Some resource for
people to learn that A.I.'s are tools and not "real people stuck in
computers".

On a side note, this behavior really scares me. I can see far future A.I.'s
really having a hard time with hate crimes and descrimination based on the
seeds I see planted in chatbot logs. As the machines become more advanced so
will the desire of humans to want to proove their superiority.