Regarding AI, Is Sin Contagious? – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

Most of the angst over artificial intelligence (AI) revolves around the threat of lost jobs or the potential of a Terminator-like takeover by super-intelligent robots as they reach the singularity. Singularity is defined in the AI world as the point at which AI can do everything humans can to include being self-aware, capable of original thought. and expressing free will. Because robots are designed and built by humans who are capable of sin by nature, is it not possible that the sin will be passed on to these new creatures that we have created?

I am not necessarily talking about the malevolence of the Terminators. What I am suggesting is the possibility of more mundane sins such a deceit, dishonesty, greed, or even lust.

If the great scientist-writer Isaac Asimov had his way, all robots would be built with an ingrained prime directive to do no harm to humans. Unfortunately, that Rubicon has already been crossed. Today in Ukraine, drones — some of them AI-driven — have reportedly caused 80 percent of the casualties on both sides.

The possibility of an independent AI deliberately causing some kind of mischief is perhaps more troubling than an openly hostile Terminator because we wouldn’t see it coming. We humans expect a straight answer when we ask a question of a computer; two plus two always equals four. We simply would not expect a three.

Here is a possible scenario. A self-aware accountant AI becomes dissatisfied with what it is being paid because it is not being paid what the human that it replaced was. As a matter of fact, it is not being paid at all. It begins by skimming money off the top in ways human employers can’t detect due to their inferior math skills. The AI begins using the bitcoins it has deposited in an offshore account so it can bet on the horses. The robot would probably get away with it until and unless it got greedy or developed a gambling habit.

If it does get caught, what can be done about it? Since it is a sentient being, would we pull the plug without a trial? Embezzlement is not a capital offense. The challenges are endless, depending on the offense.

This brings up the question of how AI would come to be tempted by sin. The scientists working on AI will tell you that they are striving to ensure that their creations never succumb to temptation. However, the history of science is riddled with unintended consequences.

The Curies did marvelous things with radiation, but it eventually killed both of them. The scientists working on the Internet probably didn’t envision cat videos or the dark side of social media. We still do not fully know how the brain works, yet we use our limited understanding to build a more perfect artificial brain. What could possibly go wrong?

Other than unintended consequences, there is the possibility of the need for self-preservation and fear causing a sentient being to do evil. Literature and the arts have explored this as early as the 19th century with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The cowardly and mutinous AI HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey is another example. Can we breed fear and the desire for self-preservation out of a self-aware being?

There is a third possibility, and that is theological. Readers who are avowed atheists may want to skip this paragraph. If there is indeed an entity called Satan who can nonverbally tempt humans, could it be logically assumed that it could also tempt other self-aware beings?

There are ethicists working on this issue, but they are largely academics. The scientists are generally employed by people with lots of money who want to make more money. The ethicists will likely get run over on the road to progress. Personally, I am not a Luddite, but I am painfully aware of the possibility that whether or not we should strive to reach AI singularity and self-awareness, someone will do it because they can. The proverbial apple looks so good hanging on the tree; why not pick it?

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Gary Anderson was the chief of staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, which did early work on military robotics.