X-Message-Number: 12529
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: A major defect in Kurzweil's book and ideas
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 22:39:08 +1000 (EST)

Hi everyone:

I was not impressed by Kurzweil, even though he may have contributed lots
of good ideas to programming.

His book completely omitted discussion of something quite fundamental:
values and feelings. Intelligence alone, no matter how extensive, has
no chance at all of taking us over, for the simple reason that so long
as WE are the only creatures providing values, purposes, and feelings,
then these artificial intelligences will follow US, not we them.

Not only that, but Kurzweil does not even argue that such a discussion 
of values etc isn't needed ie. that intelligence alone (whatever that may
be) will eventually dominate.
 
I have no doubt that someday we'll be able to make an entirely artificial
creature which can also value and feel (if we choose to do so, though
that's not obvious). I'm not arguing about the possibility of artificial
intelligence, either. I'm simply pointing out that intelligence,
artificial or not, simply isn't enough. If we made intelligent devices
with no independent ability to value or feel or have any particular 
purposes, then they will basically react to us as present computers do:
we ask them to do something, they try to do it and tell us the results.

For that matter, it's irrelevant here just what special connections
we may have with such computers. We may have worked out some way so
that their results feed directly into our brains, and our questions go
directly to them, just as if they were a part of us. Or we have some
other interface. The fundamental relation between us and them will remain
the same.

An analogy, to end this note: in Roman times, the Romans had Greek
intellectuals as slaves. So far as I know, such intellectuals never
even participated in any slave revolts (of which Roman history had
several). A highly intelligent computer with no separate values or
feelings would outslave the Greek intellectual slaves (who must have
wondered about how to escape their condition, sometimes).
 
			Best and long long life to all,

				Thomas Donaldson

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