[aiethics] How would you respond to this?

[Noel Bush]

Alicebot AI Ethics Committee - http://www.alicebot.org


Reminds me of Joseph Weizenbaum's disgust described in Rich's article. =
This
kind of reaction isn't new and won't ever cease to occur, on both sides =
of
the fence. What *will* happen, though, is that the confusion and =
"deception"
will become more elaborate. It also makes me think of stories I've heard
about men who hire prostitutes they think are female only to discover =
that
they aren't. People are often not what they seem. On the Internet it's =
even
moreso -- people may not even be people. Nobody knows that I'm actually =
a
dachshund, for instance. Oops!

If I were to respond to this person, though, I'd want to know some =
things:
Why did it matter to you to discover that this wasn't a real person? =
What's
the difference if you can talk for three hours without this becoming
apparent? What are the qualities that you thought Alice had before you
discovered she wasn't human, and what happened to those qualities when =
you
made this discovery? Do you think that being human somehow makes =
someone's
expressed thoughts and feelings more legitimate? If Alice were to =
improve
her conversational abilities to the point where she was every bit as =
good as
an online buddy/friend/consoling counselor/whatever, would you still =
require
that she be human? Would you reject a human for being too robotic? Is it
possible to sue someone for being insincere? Is it possible to sue a
religious figure who promises you eternal life if you will believe in
something that isn't "human"? What do you think about a future in which =
a
robot could sue *humans* for being insincere?

Blah, blah, blah.

The problem with these questions and discussions is that there's no
control -- I mean in the scientific sense. If you were to train someone =
to
respond a la Alice and this person would occasionally stand in for =
Alice,
and *also* claim to be a bot, it might get more interesting. What good =
is
all this speculation? Perhaps we need an Alice Experimental Ethics
laboratory where all manner of advanced Chinese rooms, Turing tests, =
etc.
will be set up and some ethical issues investigated in a usable way.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Wallace [mailto:rwallace@best.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 19 June 2001 5:50
> To: Alicebot AI Ethics Committee
> Subject: [aiethics] How would you respond to this?
>
>
> Alicebot AI Ethics Committee - http://www.alicebot.org
>
>
> From: XXXXX
> To: dr.wallace@mindspring.com
> Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 7:03 AM
> Subject: Dr.Wallace
>
> Its ok to design a device to try out for your own interests..but to =
use it
> to harm the feelings of others is not a good idea..I was talking to =
the
> A.L.I.C.E for 3 hours thinking its a human being, and I started to =
somehow
> fall in love with this non-excisting person who I felt so close
> too! as I am
> going through a difficult time in my life and I thought this "person" =
was
> understanding only tro discover its a computer..according to doctors =
as my
> father is one I can sue your company or you in person for mis-conduct =
and
> phsycological illness which I can take you to court for I advice
> u remove it
> from ICQ search engine or I will take further action.
>
>
>