AW: second hand translation (was: [alicebot-aiethics] Interesting Article)

[Christian Dro?mann]

Chris Fahey wrote:

> Well, it's nice to see that at least Hawking is, in fact, considering
> that we may become symbiotic with our AIs (i.e., cyborgs) rather than
> merely in competition with them. But it's also even more troubling: He's
> saying, essentially, "we must develop the Ubermensch now because our
> current species is going to be incompatible with the AIs we develop in
> the future".

Yes, he sounds like Bill Gates...;->

> Even though the development of various Ubermensch research projects is
> inevitable, I still think it's creepy of Hawking to advocate it. One
> ought not to even mention such things without also mentioning the
> ethical risks involved, and it's weird that he would reply to a question
> using the word "Ubermensch" (or 'super man') without pointing out that
> he realizes the ethical minefield into which he is stepping.

There are two problems in this interview:
1. this issue was off-topic, as the main topic was a completely different
one...Hawking probably would have expressed his opinions more detailed and
more cleary, but the interviewer was eager to get back to the original
topic...
2. Hawking might not have heard the word "Ubermensch" in the interview, as
the interviewer most likely said "super man"...but  this word is too
harmless a translation of what Ubermensch really means (I'm talking about
the meaning created by the Nazis, not the original meaning created by
Friedrich Nietzsche)...it means "above human"....and this could be
interpreted as "godlike"...
(The irony here is that to my knowlede none of the Nazi-leaders, especially
not Hitler, was like that blonde, blue-eyed, 6'5" tall, "clean-raced"
Ubermensch they wanted to create...;-> Hell, Hitler wasn't even a German! )
I don't believe that Hawking would plead for the creation of an
Ubermensch...

> This is the sequence Hawking must imagine:
>
> 1. Everyone is human  --->
>   2. The rich are superhuman, the poor are still human --->
>      3. Everyone is superhuman
>
> From my perspective, the step from getting from 2 to 3 will be
> incredibly difficult to achieve without some horrendous crimes against
> humanity being unleashed in the process. Members of the class/race of
> rich supercyborgs will advocate things like exterminating the human poor
> of the world, or forever limiting admission to the Ubermensch club based
> on morally bankrupt criteria like ethnicity, IQ, or wealth.

I suppose rich people consider themselves at step 2 already...

> I don't mean to psychoanalyze or pre-judge Prof. Hawking, but I wonder
> if a world-reknown genius who has lived a life as a cyborg and as a
> tech-geek celebrity is someone who we should trust as a moral compass
> anyway.

IMHO it is likely that he might have become a little senile already...

Christian