{"id":40154,"date":"2025-01-23T16:47:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T00:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40154"},"modified":"2025-01-23T16:47:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T00:47:52","slug":"pondering-the-inevitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/pondering-the-inevitable\/","title":{"rendered":"Pondering the Inevitable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In class Dr. Clark made mention that <em>Robot Souls<\/em> was an easy book that wouldn\u2019t be difficult to read. Those may not have been the exact words but that is how I heard this preamble. My experience of this book was anything but easy. Part computer science and part philosophy <em>Robot Souls<\/em> may read easily but the concepts and \u00a0possible ramifications of AI could have lasting ramifications. In this post I will discuss some of the authors views on how humans are different from a robot. However, space and time constraints of this post will limit the ability to delineate all the valuable nuggets of this author. \u00a0I will also consider why Poole thought it important for robots to be programmed thoughtfully and well, and finally I will share my perspective on the topic including questions that arose from my reading.<\/p>\n<p>I approached this book with a positive bias toward Dr. Poole from having read her previous book, <em>Leadersmithing<\/em>. I also started with the appreciation that innovation has been an important part of the history of the world. Specifically, the advent of the computer has made research, reading, writing, and even leisure and work activities more accessible and easier. I am far from a reactionary yet; I do feel a bit of caution when I think of AI; the lack of privacy that it could create and how it might be regulated.<\/p>\n<p>What makes humans different?<\/p>\n<p>Qualia: the properties of the mental state of a person. They are<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ineffable \u2013 it is only experienced by direct experience<\/li>\n<li>Intrinsic \u2013 something felt independently<\/li>\n<li>Private \u2013 something that only belongs to you, even if others share a similar activity, how you experience it is singular to you.<\/li>\n<li>Immediately apprehensible \u2013 you experience something in real time<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Junk Code: typically, in computer programming, junk code are the redundant things that are left out<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a>. In AI it takes on a somewhat different meaning.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Messy Emotions<\/li>\n<li>Human Mistakes<\/li>\n<li>Free Will<\/li>\n<li>Giving meaning to the world around us<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are things that Poole says make us human. For instance, mistakes can lead to innovation, invention, and discovery<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>. But moral errors are of greater value according to Poole. When recognized, they give the person a sense of regret after realizing the transgression. Ultimately, it pushes a person to improve their behavior<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a>. Poole seemed to say the learning that takes place is important.<\/p>\n<p>One area that Poole mentioned was the possibility of robots gaining rights, such as those of humans. I bulked at this concept<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a>. Yet, Dr. Poole approached the concept of AI in a matter-of-fact way and methodically discussed the value of AI, the pieces that make human different, and the cautions needed. After pondering it for a while, I would agree with Robin Gill, who reviewed the book, that \u201cit is a plea for better knowledge and creative governance\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a> .<\/p>\n<p>When I let my curious mind run amok, I think about how the cigarette companies responded in the 1950s when the negative effects of smoking became known. They flooded the market with manufactured doubt<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a>. I don\u2019t know that AI creators are doing that but wonder if we are only hearing the benefits of Alexa, or whatever device is, currently, used most in homes so that people come to experience AI in their homes as natural.<\/p>\n<p>I think regardless if Eve Poole is right or wrong in her assessment about where AI could be headed and the possible ramifications of having limited involvement and oversight in its creation, she had the temerity to address the subject matter with thoughtful, educated concepts.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Dr. Poole stated that<em> if <\/em>AI will progress, is no longer a question for her. She believes that it will happen, and it is incumbent on humans to do it well before it is too late<a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a>. One of her solutions was for humans to approach AI from a parental point of view. Just as parents must teach their children and care for them. Humans are the parents of AI. One of the ways to parent well in her mind is to figure out how to program the junk code that humans have innately, into AI<a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a>. It would be a valuable step to making AI appear more human and have more coding to make decisions that allow for uncertainty and mistakes. Listening to Dr. Poole speak, I sensed someone who really is trying to work out the conundrum of what AI could mean for the future.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, after reading the book, a review of the book, and then listening to Dr. Poole in a YouTube interview I am left with more questions than strong opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Some of my questions include:<\/p>\n<p>Is the development of AI ultimately a human quest to become God?<\/p>\n<p>Who decides what characteristics are valuable enough to be programmed into AI? What happens to everything else?<\/p>\n<p>What could be some of the unintended consequences of AI?<\/p>\n<p>Will the value in diversity be lost?<\/p>\n<p>Isn\u2019t the purpose of technology to make life easier for humans?<\/p>\n<p>How do we trust that AI will not be programmed for evil?<\/p>\n<p>Can creativity be programmed or will innovation cease?<\/p>\n<p>Will humans brains become mushy messes because we won\u2019t need to think because AI could do it for us?<\/p>\n<p>On final reflection, my questions seem cautionary. Maybe that\u2019s where I am.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Eve Poole, Robot Souls (New York, CRC Press, 2024),44.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Eve Poole, 74.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Even Poole, 74.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Eve Poole, 77.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Eve Poole, 78.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Eve Poole, Robot Souls (New York, CRC Press, 2024),27n38.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Robin Gills, Robot Souls: \u201cProgramming in humanity by Eve Poole\u201d, <em>Church Times<\/em> (New York, CRC Press, September 1, 2023), 2. https:www.churchtimes.co.uk\/articles\/2023\/1-september\/books-arts\/book-review\/book-review-robot-souls-programming-in-humanity-by-eve-poole.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Tim Hartford, How To Make The World Add Up (London, The Bridge Street Press, 2020), 14.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Douglas Giles, interviewer, and Eve Poole, AI and Us: Interview with Dr Eve Poole about Her New Book, \u201cRobot Souls\u201d, July 27, 2023, accessed January 22, 2025, 52.10 minutes. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c61iCcLcRol.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> Eve Poole, 113.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In class Dr. Clark made mention that Robot Souls was an easy book that wouldn\u2019t be difficult to read. Those may not have been the exact words but that is how I heard this preamble. My experience of this book was anything but easy. Part computer science and part philosophy Robot Souls may read easily [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,2090],"class_list":["post-40154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-poole","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40156,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40154\/revisions\/40156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}