Is There a Point To Living a Moral Life?

[max-greece]

Just to touch on the computer intelligence thing a bit I notice that the conversation is all kinda traditional IT. We're talking about PC's/minis/maintdrames as if we are still in the 1980's. That is not where its at. One the one hand we have neural networks and robot mice that are navigating mazes - and learning whilst on the other hand we are shoving really totally different devices into our pockets - namely phones and tablets.

The difference between the phone/tablet and the computer is one of senses that we have given them.

My phone knows its orientation, knows where it is (GPS), has vision, hearing, a magnetic sense I lack, touch sensitivity (less than mine) and no sense of smell (thankfully - its in my back jeans pocket afterall).

Now the combination of those sense makes these devices capable of some quite remarkable things - things that largely, on the face of it, mimic intelligence. This is really scary when you first see it.

I will give you an example, which is real and happened to me whilst using my Nexus 7. The Nexus comes with Google Now. There was a lot of kinda vague hype about Google Now - the more you use it the more useful it becomes but without being exactly clear how.

Anyway I had had the Nexus for about 2 months - using Google Now on and off. At first it gave me the weather conditions and bits of news. Then, somehow, it figured out I support Manchester United and it started giving me related news on them.

Now that was slightly disconcerting - as I hadn't told it I support MU.

Then one day about 7 in the evening I flicked up Google Now and it said:

"You are 11 minutes away from Despina's Ballet lesson, which is in half and hour."

It also showed a map, showing my current location (home) and the location of the Ballet school with a suggested route.

I have to say I absolutely froze. I re-read the message several times. I think I even said aloud "How the fuck do you know that?"

I hadn't even told it I had a daughter never mind her name, that she did ballet, when or where the lessons were.

This gave every appearance - to me in that moment - of intelligence.

Now once I had calmed down I figured it out:

"Despina's Ballet lesson" is a repeated entry in my diary. Once, and just once, whilst waiting for her I logged onto the net (via my phone's wifi hotspot function) on my Nexus.

The Nexus obviously took a GPS reading at that point and related the diary entry to the GPS location.

Plain sailing from then on, clever, but not intelligent.....yet.


What this story tells me is that whether or not devices actually gain understanding its going to get very difficult to know. They will certainly get ever better at mimicking it. This, of course, means on the flipside that they may gain real understanding without us realizing it. Now that is a scary thought....