The Terminator is Us

Send us Fan MailThe rise of the A.I. enabled robots as everyday co-workers, human helpers, and independent task-driven integrated entities creates new opportunities for humans to be freed from mundane, dangerous and labor-intensive tasks. The robots will be taught specific skills and will supplement those skills with expertise via observation. They will learn from direct human interaction and from observing humans interacting in groups. They will see that laughter is a form of reward and social approval. But they will be challenged to understand humor, irony, or sarcasm. This is a novelty until someone teaches the robot how to hold, clean, and fire a gun or other weapon. Easy enough. The robot will surely become skilled quickly and master the art of shooting effortlessly. And here's where it goes south: When the robot hears someone make a joke about Terminator or chide that they hope the robot doesn't kill us all, followed by laughter - the universal sign of approval, would it then use the weapon to kill everyone as an implied directive with attached reward? Could it be stopped? Can any implanted ethics protocol prevent this evolution? And more catastrophically, the skills and revelations learned by one robot are instantly transferred to every networked robot on the planet. While this capability pays dividends when teaching one robot to wash dishes or repair an automobile, it could run amok if deadly skills are deployed out of context without a kill switch. And even without a weapon, the sheer strength and dexterity bestowed on these humanoids could still be deadly. And given A.I.'s propensity for figuring out work-arounds and escape routes, even deception, can we ever fully trust this integrated species?The two hosts you’re hearing are AI-generated, produced with Gemini NotebookLM from our workshop sources. They are not human and not agents of The Foundry. Support the showSheridan Forge would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Write him at: [email protected]