Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!pprg.unm.edu!hc!ames!amdahl!pyramid!prls!philabs!linus!mbunix!bwk
From: bwk@mbunix.mitre.org (Barry W. Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Robots & free will (was Re: The limitations of logic)
Summary: Gonadic chemistry and thoughtful decision making.
Keywords: Choosing thoughts.
Message-ID: <43308@linus.UUCP>
Date: 31 Dec 88 15:42:14 GMT
References: <3328@sdsu.UUCP> <43228@linus.UUCP> <539@uceng.UC.EDU>
Sender: news@linus.UUCP
Reply-To: bwk@mbunix (Barry Kort)
Organization: Electronic Peaceware Project
Lines: 36

In article <539@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@uceng.UC.EDU (Daniel Mocsny) writes:

 > Seriously, do we have any reasonable hope of creating intelligent
 > machines that will not duplicate our militarism?

I resonated with Dan Mocsny's comments on the potential rise of
militarism among a race of sentient robots.  But intra-species
self-destruction does not strike me as a shining example of
intelligent behavior.  That is, Dan's nightmare could come true
if we merely manage to build semi-intelligent robots.  Or more
precisely, robots lacking in wisdom.

Dan continues:

 > That is, as a species becomes more "intelligent," does
 > its capacity and predilection for mayhem increase?

Clearly its capacity for mayhem increases with its powers of
agency.  But it's predilection for the regrettable application
of those powers depends upon its value system.  Thus, a wise
robot knows which edge of the two-edged sword can be used for
life-affirming applications of its technological prowess.

Dan concludes:

 > My personal, absurdly oversimplified hunch is that warfare is a
 > societal manifestation of the aggression that results from the
 > action of male sex hormones on the steroid receptors in the brain.

There is evidence that business and governmental decisions are
sometimes made on the basis of biochemical reactions in the male
gonads.  Perhaps sentient robots will be immune to such interference
in their rational decision making processes.  Perhaps such robots
will teach us how to behave with similar restraint.

--Barry Kort