[alicebot-aiethics] A new form of immortality and an ethical dilemma

[Ben McKune]

I’m going to warn you beforehand that this is a pretty long post, so if you don’t like long posts then this one is probably not for you.  Now, onto the post:
   
  If immortality is to be defined as “the concept of living for a potentially infinite, or indeterminate, length of time,” then the Alicebot may potentially help human beings attain a new form of immortality.  Now, before I go on with this claim, let me first attempt to make the case that human beings already experience a number of different forms of immortality.  For example, there is:
   
  -         Genetic immortality- in which human genes are passed from one generation to the next in an unbroken chain.  As Richard Dawkins would argue, “you never really quite die; as long as there is some of your genetic material left behind in this world.”  Even those who don’t have children usually have relatives that have children, so a form of each person persists indefinitely.
   
  -         Societal immortality- every human who has ever lived on the planet has left behind some type of legacy.  This legacy can be one of kindness, brutality, excellence, innovation, or whatever they chose to be and are capable of.  But none of us leaves the world without changing it in some way.
   
  -         Diffuse immortality: although the functioning of the human brain ceases at death, the particles which make up the human body go on to decompose, be absorbed by plants, then be eaten by animals or other people, and the process continues indefinitely.
   
  And of course there are those forms of immortality that not everyone agrees on like spiritual immortality, in which a person’s physical body dies but their soul continues to exist forever.  There is also quantum immortality, a part of the many-world theory which speculates that anything that can happen does happen in another universe.  In this theory, a person may die in most universes, but there is always a universe where their heart beats just one more time and their brain continues to function forever.
   
  However, I would like to propose that the Alicebot can help the average person achieve a new form of immortality known as Interactive Immortality.  This would be a branch of societal immortality, in which the actions of a living person continue to affect others after their deaths.  Examples of people who experience high levels of Societal Immortality would be Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Shakespeare, whose writings continue to affect the actions of living persons today.  However, their writings cannot react and respond to those who read them.
   
  The Alicebot, on the other hand, is capable of interacting with those who use it.  Through modifying the Superbot, an individual can ensure that some part of their personality, however small, can continue to persist after their deaths and interact with living persons.
   
  Now, here comes the ethical dilemma: if the Superbot can easily give anyone the ability to preserve an interactive part of their personality indefinitely, then is it right to charge $999.00 for it?  I would argue that it is.
   
  The Superbot has incredible potential that will probably expand considerably within the lifetimes of most of those who are reading this message.  However, the Superbot will only achieve this potential if the ALICE AI Foundation is funded in some way.  If the ALICE AI Foundation does not continue to receive funding, then people can still achieve the limited form of Interactive Immortality offered by the current version of the Superbot, but this form of immortality will become increasingly irrelevant as it is passed up by other technologies.  On the other hand, if the ALICE AI Foundation does continue to receive funding, then the ability of the Alicebot and the Superbot to preserve the personalities of human beings will expand considerably over the next several years (in my estimation).
   
  However, all is not lost for those who will not live to see the next version of the Superbot (or who cannot afford it).  These persons can still learn AIML and create their own chat robot.
   
  So, what does everyone think?  Is it reasonable to believe that the Alicebot/Superbot can help people achieve some type of immortality?  Is it ethical to charge money for it?  I would like to hear other people’s thoughts.

 
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