[alicebot-aiethics] Base Perception Programming

[Jonathan Mills]

Dear All,

When I first discovered the ALICE programme, the issue that stood out to me above all else was the sensory perception (or lack thereof) that the programme displayed. It stated "I know as song. Do you want me to sing it for you?" (or something to that effect). It gave me the "Daisy, Daisy, give me you answer do" reply. I realised; how can this programme sing me a song if it does not have ears or vocal cords? The ALICE programme has been created with a level of human perception that a machine simply does not possess. It does not understand pronunciation, word stress, rhythm, tone etc. and so cannot possibly comprehend a "song".

To elaborate, it cannot understand the world in the way humans do, because (1) it does not have the senses that we do (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell), and (2) it does not have the in-built programming to react to certain stimuli. All human beings have basic genetic "programming" to indicate what is pleasurable or not pleasurable, good or bad etc. Our bodies tell us that fire hurts, therefore pain, which equals bad. Our bodies tell us that sex feels wonderful, therefore pleasure, which equals good. On a basic level, we have a reaction to certain stimuli that triggers either a positive or negative reaction. You might call this "emotion". An AI does not experience positive or negative reactions. A baby in the womb understands these basic desires before it has complicated ways of expressing them. Animals have the same drives. You might call this "instinct". When a baby is born, it instinctively starts learning, searching, in an effort to understand the
 world around it. It does this by the two systems I have described: sensory perception and basic genetic programming i.e. the desire to learn, negative reaction to pain, the desire for food. A computer does not need. A computer does not desire. Therein lies the problem.

A computer is exactly the same as a human being. The fact that we have made computers essentially dumb is incidental. The potential is there to allow computers to learn in exactly the same way we do. Humans have a number of universal instincts and a number of relatively unique genetic patterns that dictate our responses to certain sensory information. "I like beer": a human being is self-aware (hence "I"). A human being reacts with pleasure or displeasure (hence "like"). A human being can taste, touch, smell and see "beer". A current AI that produces the same sentence has absolutely no comprehension of the meaning behind the sentence "I like beer". The ALICE programme regurgitates responses to certain questions or statements without comprehending meaning.

The requirements of future AI are two. First, a computer requires hardware that will enable it to perceive the world as humans do: eyes and ears being the most obvious starting points. Second, it needs base programming that tells the computer how it will react to certain simple scenarios e.g. bright light damages the optical sensor, therefore bad, the data of which can be processed as "pain". A deprivation of power weakens the function of certain hardware, therefore bad, the data of which can be processed as "need" or "hunger".

In essence, a computer must learn to walk before it can run. It is pointless programming a computer with song lyrics before it can perceive what a song is, and thus, through analysis, make a judgement on whether the effect of hearing that song is good or bad to its programming. A body cannot live without a mind. In the same token, a mind cannot comprehend without a body. To conclude, certain "instincts" need to be rooted in the AI to allow it to grow, like the root of a tree. A computer can make decisions and creative solutions if it is given (1) the ability to perceive its surroundings and (2) the ability to learn independently, based on in-built programming that dictates its primary objectives (i.e. comprehension and survival) and how it will react to certain basic situations (i.e. desires to experience X again, or desires not to experience Y again). Computers must be designed as babies in all aspects, with the ability and desire to comprehend the
 world around it.

I look forward to hearing your responses.

Regards

J. Mills




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