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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: June 19, 2016

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REAL LIFE NEWS: BUILDING A ROBOT THAT CAN HURT HUMANS

by Hazed

A roboticist has built a robot that can choose whether to inflict pain on humans. What kind of madness is this? Is he deliberately aiding the Rise of the Robots?

Alexander Reben, from the University of Berkeley, California hopes his devilish device will further the debate about Artificial Intelligence.

His basic machine is capable of pricking a finger, but he has programmed it so it does not do so every time it has the opportunity. He’s called it “The First Law” after science fiction writer Isaac Asimov’s rules that govern robot behaviour. Actually I don’t think this is an appropriate name, because the first law states, “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm,” not that the robot should be able to choose to hurt a human being some of the time.

Reben explained, “The real concern about AI is that it gets out of control.” [The tech giants] are saying it’s way out there, but let’s think about it now before it’s too late. I am proving that [harmful robots] can exist now. We absolutely have to confront it.”

He described the machine as a “philosophical experiment”. “The robot makes a decision that I as a creator cannot predict,” he said. “I don’t know who it will or will not hurt.

“It’s intriguing, it’s causing pain that’s not for a useful purpose – we are moving into an ethics question, robots that are specifically built to do things that are ethically dubious.”

It took Reben a few days to build the machine, and it cost about $200.

I see nothing but trouble. When the robots rise up and take over, and start slaughtering us in our beds, we’ll know who to blame.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36517340

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