On Artificial Intelligence and Machine Men : Part Five

[ellyssian]

On Artificial Intelligence and Machine Men
By Everett A Warren
March 14, 2004

Presented as part five of sixteen

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Part One
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"In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone."

Ah, a beautiful sentiment, but it also shows a bit of age... sixty-four years ago there did seem that there was plenty of land, plenty of resources. Judging by the number of fictional works that have mankind ranging off into the vasty reaches of space to save our race and increase the available space for a mushrooming population, this has been a growing concern over the years. Several of those, coincidentally, involve the apocalyptic assistance of robotic constructs.

That the environment is so endangered is a reflection of the state of the world today, and is of import to this work, however, further depth on the issues themselves is beyond the scope of this discussion. Whole volumes of essays can be – and have been – written on the concerns of overpopulation and the abuse of environmental resources. Best to stay on target, as it were...

"The way of life can be free and beautiful."

Another optimistic sentiment? Perhaps, but a Truth nonetheless.

"But we have lost the way."

Ah, the pessimist will smile. The difference between all the "should"s and "could"s, into the hard, fast, cold realm of "is"s. The usage of "the way" could be taken, by those of Taoist leanings, to imply the Tao itself – The Way – and they wouldn't be too far off the mark of the intent I read in the statements.

We also seem to have strayed somewhat afield of discussions on robotics, binary systems, and AI. In truth, we are just beginning to get to the heart of the matter, the core of our discussion.

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~ Questions and discussion welcome! ~

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