Should We Build Machines That Are Smarter Than Us?

so essentially, machines that will do our working for us, and machines that will do our thinking for us. am i correct? i see from a scientific standpoint, all the possibilities that would lay before us should we go down this path. you're correct in saying that technollogically it would illuminate the 21st century. however my concern lies in the imperfect nature of the humans that create them. these machines that we would create, once they have been mass produced, would be our slaves. don't you think that machines that we have created in our own image, to think, and to reason as we do, would see the injustice of the situation that they are thrust into from the moment of creation? if that point is ever reached, a retaliation is inevitable.

the blame lies mostly with the imperfections of the human nature. we would so easily give in to laziness and gluttony. how are we to create these machines to be perfectly good in every way, when as a species, are inherently flawed with the capacity for evil? we cannot.

Originally posted by warfare There is a very good chance that if this sort of technology ever becomes reality, it may well be the U.S. military that creates it....  The  American military is working right now to go beyond the human controlled machines of war to create technology that can think for itself and make decisions based on a predetermined code.

Originally posted by HanFei Originally posted by warfare ...U.S. military that creates it.  They certainly have the funding to do this sort of research in a way that many private corporations and research universities do not.   16% of our National Gov budget is on our military, which is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much, compared to our peers.

Yes I agree with what you guys have said, there's an inevitability about technology to enhance our lives, whether this be medical or military, which means ultimately we might lose the ability to control the future of the human race. Scientists make discoveries then look for the benefits to humans even if these benefits make us less human or more destructive. We can say were living longer or protecting ourselves, discouraging conflict. Essentially we are not perfect and our penchant for violence is one of our biggest flaws. It is silly to think that countries like USA will spend billions annually on DEFENCE and not actually test them out in times of conflict but just because we can do these things it doesn't mean that we should. 

if you define intelligence as the ability to learn then i believe a machine surpasses us mainly because of artificial intelligence. The "machine" will find a way to maximize its chances to succeed in whatever the task is in only a matter of seconds vs humans who would have to slowly think it out.

The definition of intelligence cannot be simply a calculation that considers only logic in order to estimate the chances of a successful outcome. If you were to use Gardener's definition of intelligence where he groups 8 subsets of intelligent values that contribute to "intelligence" then you would have to factor in emotional intelligences (intra and inter personal values). It is the areas in which a computer cannot accurately predict as were far too random for a forecast to be absolute. Machines employ artificial intelligence and when they develop the ability to learn it will be through analysis of human data (behaviour), thats cold logic.

I must admit i cant seem to make up my mind if nuclear power is good or not. I guess i'm more in favour of it as current renewable fuels don't seem to offer a viable long term solution. They might however buy us the time we need but these fuels come at a high cost for consumers in UK and bio crops dont offer the yield predicted unless they are grown on prime farmland which makes them less attractive and causes food shortages in areas of the 3rd world where food is already scarce. 

Originally posted by HanFei Originally posted by Heavenly_tRiNiTy Humans may build machines that are superior to them in many ways but they will never be more intelligent imo.  How do you define intelligence?

There is so much that i have not read in this thread but, my definition of intelligence is...
Essentially a brain and or "machine code" that can learn from its mistakes and then creates its own code from those mistakes and what it had learned. Essentially self changing algorithms. or a DNA type of algorithm if you will. It can duplicate itself and change it for the better. Your sword friend is neat and all but does not have intelligence. it is ran off of code that is predetermined by a human. Now lets say that sword could know the exact geographic layout of the land that it is being shipped to, gets their decides where the enemy is based on gps and satilites, changes its programming on the fly to compensate for the terrain and where the enemy is located and then also changes its programmed attack stratagy to cope with the current situation. But more importaintly after it has eleminated all of the enemies, it takes the time to review what it had done and then reprogram its own situations to determined what worked and what didnt. The machine itself will have to do this on its own and that kinda programming is somewhat in our reach. I garrinte though that thier will be seperate programs that work together but can only be activated by an outside source or so that all of the data is not synced together and stored and maintained.

That was kinda a rant but what do you think about intelligence?

Originally posted by SP61gTSupra Originally posted by HanFei ^    I'm under the impression we can perform more mathematical manipulations than the human brain can with electrochemical signals.  I knew it, your a Machine........RUNNNN....

HAHA that's what i thought to when i read that.

I did read the most of the first post but not all of the others. But what you are saying is that intelligence revolves around ones imagination? and not the ability to manipulate ones "identity" (or your own code). actually this is somewhat contradictory, to find that one string of notes that sounds perfect you would have to do a trial and error kinda of thing till you get it right. so then the real answer to intelligence is knowing what is right in an imaginative sense. like knowing when you have something that sounds "good" or is "good" just determined by what everyone else thinks (like when people sync their thoughts with others). so i think computers will develop intelligence if they are constantly syncing with each other and creating their own version of imagination.

god this is kinda of intense thinking. i should probably stop. 

Originally posted by COKKENBALLS Before I dive into this, even phylosophically, I need to know if we currently have the technology to create such a machine? Yes, we have supercomputers that are able to perform computations at rates the human brain can only dream about. But, is that intelligence? If man's brain is a "meat machine" a computer is nothing more than an idiot-savant made of polymers and microchips. Back to my original question. Can we create a computer that can create unprompted? Humans will always have the ability to create ideas. Can computers do this? If so, are they merely mimicking the the mode of its creater/programmer?

A creation cannot surpass the potential of its Creator.

Originally posted by surfacing8671 I dont think that there is any algorithms in any programs that simply create stuff out of mid air. supercomputers just do a TON of mathematical computations like forecasting models for weather systems and such. computers are dumb as f u c k. simply put we have to hold their hands through everything.

An artificial neural network (ANN) is a mathematical construct that can be applied in code to change it's self by adding, removing, and augmenting goals to achieve some optimization of a function or data set.  ANNs, like people, learn by example. An ANN is configured for a specific application, such as pattern recognition or data classification, through a learning process. Learning in biological systems involves adjustments to the synaptic connections that exist between the neurons.

From Conciousness: Science's biggest mystery by Rich Heffern, "our ideas, sensations, joys, aches arise entirely out of the meaty folds of the physical brain, nothing more."  Ergo, our consciousness is the creation of a meat machine, a collection of 100 billion neurons.  Yet, despite all of this complexity, there is some mathematical construct, albeit vastly intricate, that can run on our fastest machines (already having over 2 orders of magnitude more transistors than neurons in the human brain) to create an intelligent machine, one that can outperform a human consciousness.

I dont think the human race is going to halt technological progress because artists/writers explore the possibilities technological advancement. As of this moment we understand that nothing is set in stone = future uncertain.