Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Interlude: Unconscious Artificial Intelligence?


I’ve been considering the nature and role of consciousness for some years. Along the way, I’ve wondered about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and whether at some point it might become conscious. My conclusion has been that however complex and “intelligent” an AI would become, that would not produce consciousness. Consciousness requires life and – as at must include at least some degree of self-awareness – it could only be the property of an individual organism with some organized “self.” Machine intelligence might be constructed – coded – to simulate self (and thus pass the Turing Test) but this would nevertheless not be an awareness of self. (Even now, AIs and robots can be quite “clever.” A recent visitor to a Tokyo hotel asked the robot concierge how much it cost. It replied “I’m priceless.” Cute.) However elaborate the mind – in the case of the most advanced AI’s built with neural networks this might be quite sophisticated, even to the point that the human programmers might not be able to replicate its internal processes – consciousness is an additional property beyond mere complexity and processing power. In the first season of HBO’s Westworld, android “hosts” become conscious through the repeated experience of pain and loss. But of course, to feel such emotions, one must first experience them as such. Quantity (of coded processing operations) does not equal qualia. Qualitative experiences are only possible if one is already conscious.

But human beings not only possess a conscious mind but also an unconscious one. Most brain processes – even those that at some point enter consciousness – originate and work away unconsciously. We all have the experience of dreaming and also of doing things quite competently, without any awareness of having done them. (We may, for example, drive a familiar daily route and get to our destination without remembering details of the ride.) The brain processing of the unconscious mind may indeed be replicated by advanced machine intelligence. As AI becomes more complex, given the power of electronic circuits and the complexity of coded learning via neutral networks, the processing capacity of machine intelligence may well exceed human despite not becoming conscious. They would also, perhaps, exceed human ability to understand what they are “thinking” (or even “dreaming”). It was Stephen Hawking who most famously warned of the dangers of such AIs. He warned that we need to be attentive to their management.

So, though AIs may never become conscious or self-aware, they may nevertheless run autonomously along routes enabled by the algorithms coded into their machine DNA and come to “conclusions” we humans might find inconvenient or dangerous. (They might for example decide that human activity is injurious to the planet – which it seems it is – and seek to correct the disease.) Limits should be included in the most basic AI coding and algorithms. Isaac Asimov thought of this some time ago. His Three Laws of Robotics make a good start:

First Law – A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law – A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law – A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

To these he later added a zeroith law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
This last might be might turn out to be a doubled-edged sword.


Next week I will return to  Notes on "A History of Political Theory"

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Notes on "A History of Political Theory" -- Episode 13

For episode 12 see here

The Theory of the Universal Community


XIII.  Universitas Hominum
  A. Rebirth of scholarly activity in 13th Century
       1. rediscovery of Aristotle
       2. concentration on theology and metaphysics
  B. John of Salisbury
       1. saw kings bound by law as everyone was
       2. carried on argument of Cicero for res publica
       1. used Aristotle as new support for Christian philosophy
       2. tried to synthesize faith and reason
       3. saw each as acting to achieve own form of perfection within a
           hierarchy of degrees of perfection
       4. saw Aristotelian society of mutual exchange for achieving the good life
       5. ruler derives power from his part, under God, in the community of
           directing every class towards a happy and virtuous life
       6. offered no clear definition of lawful authority or of its derivation (or the
           kings relation to law)
       7. law was one aspect of the cosmic system by which God rules the world
           i. all different manifestations of the same principles
           ii. Eternal Law -- the eternal plan of all creation, not knowable
           iii. Natural Law -- reflection of Eternal Law in created things
           iv. Divine Law -- revelation from God in the Scriptures
           v. Human Law -- ius gentium and ius civile, applies to humankind the
           divine principle
       8. Human Law is Natural Law made to cover man


"For both men [Aquinas and Locke], the ruler is as definitely bound by reason and justice as his subjects, and his power over the positive law arises from the need of keeping it in agreement with Natural Law. Enactment is less an act of will than an adjustment to times and circumstances. (259)


 D. Dante sought to show the Emperor's authority derived directly from God but
      not dependent on God.
 E. For all three thinkers, human race forms a single community whose existence
     implies a single head.
 F. Out of line with Aristotle's presumption that the state is an outgrowth of the
     natural evolution of society, justified by the moral values it sustains without
     religious sanction.


Next week: Three Challenges to Christian Society    


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Notes on "A History of Political Theory" -- Episode 12

For episode 11 see here

The Theory of the Universal Community

XII. The Investiture Controversy*

  A. Thinking on political and social ideas preserved from antiquity reemerged
       in the 11th Century
  B. Main issue was contest between Emperor and Pope, a jurisdictional dispute 
       between two principles of authority for a single Christian society 
  C. The Church's claim based on the idea of Christian society as the foundation
       underpinning a Christian state
       1. Church strengthened by Pseudo Isidorian Decretals of the 9th Century
           concerning centralization and papal authority
       2. greater seriousness and militancy of churchmen in pursuit of Christian
           ideal connected with Cluniac Reforms of the 10th Century
       3. John of Salisbury placed both swords in the hands of the Church
   D. The Emperor saw himself as subject only to God in temporal affairs
       (forerunner of Divine Right)
       1. His office was his property and heritarty
       2. The two swords were independent of each other

*Note:  From Wikipedia -- "The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was a conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe over the ability to install high church officials through investiture. By undercutting imperial power, the controversy led to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany..... It began as a power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV in 1076."


Next week: Universitas Hominum   

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Notes on "A History of Political Theory" -- Episode 11

For episode 10 see here

 The Theory of the Universal Community

 XI. The Folk and Its Law

    A. Between 6th and 9th Centuries, Roman Empire (and antiquity) broke.
       Europe came under Germanic invaders
    B. Repeated invasions in 10th and 11th Centuries, little philosophical or 
       theoretical activity
    C. Authority of Fathers Cicero unbounded
    D. Early Middle Ages political thought
       1. Germanics saw Law as belonging to the folk as if it were an
          attribute of the group
       2. there was great diversity of laws
       3. Law seen to be externally valid and to some degree sacred, pervaded
          all of life
       4. Law seen to be discovered not made

"The belief that law belongs to the people and is applied or modified with their
  approval and consent was therefore universally accepted.... Historically the
  apparatus was later than the idea that the people was a corporate body which
  expressed its corporate mind through its magistrates and natural leaders."(206) 

       5. King bound to follow Law as it could be ascertained by consulting
          immemorial practice
       6. each enjoyed protection of Law according to rank and order as his fathers
          had
       7. limits on the king were therefore vague
    F. Three sorts of claims to royal power were combined
       1. Kings inherited throne
       2. Election by the people
       3. Ruled by grace of God
       4. first two became more distinguished as constitutional practices became
          regularized and clearly defined
       5. Monarchy and Papacy became elective (in the Empire)
    G. Feudal relations and ideas
       1. large political and economic units not practical
       2. agricultural practices and conditions made the village community and
          farm lands almost self-sufficient
       3. System of land tenure and vested rights
          i. land was wealth
          ii. obligations were contractual, mutually binding
       4. King was titular representative of the public interest, his rule stood on
          res publica as a continuation of the commonwealth tradition with king
          as chief magistrate
       5. King was not absolute, acted through his court or council
       6. John of Salisbury recognized the ancient tradition

Next week: The Investiture Controversy