The prospect of machines capable of following moral principles, let alone understanding them, seems as remote today as the word “robot” is old, Colin Allen, co-author of the book Moral Machines, suggests in New York Times Opinionator.
Microsoft have unveiled their vision of the future in a slick tube imaginatively titled Productivity Future Vision (2011). While the video showcases Microsoft “innovations” [rather than an actual vision of the future] some of the the comments are timeless, ensuring this glitzy promo will be talked about for all the wrong reasons…
“I never asked for this.”
“Fake! The World will ends in 2012.”
“OMG, you left your porn on the fridge again.”
“I was expecting more than a better touch screen.”
“Cannot retrieve user data. Data Plan may be exceeded.”
“How about Microsoft stop daydreaming and create some damn jobs for the working class.”
“That mom is having affair with that Japanese administrator, while father is forced to stay home with daughter, cooking like a woman.”
“Where are the fucking robots and flying cars already?”
I was surprised that the news created quite a stir in me until I reflected on my own simple being. After all, I am primitive psycho-neuro-physical mechanism given to emotional outbursts and flights of fancy, not the stuff that tomorrows IBMers will be made of, or personal computers for that matter.