[Maviarab]

Strong words in a new MSN report (if you can call it a report lol) on current technology....

http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=152596659

[TrueAndroids]

Good article for current events but yea, the language used just causes trouble for the field.  I prefer to think of the coming conscious androids as our assistants, and we are their clients, for whom they (would love nothing more then to) perform various tasks and services for their clients, depending on what model the client has bought. And of course they can be bought and sold on Ebay etc, like any private property because they are not REAL HUMAN BEINGS, they are artificial human beings, duplications made out of another material, like silk flowers vs real flowers. Nobody would treat an artificial flower as real.

So I really believe these personal-service conscious androids will be completely willing and desiring happily to perform their assistance services for their beloved Clients, the human race, even while maintaining their own self-maintained survival, IAW with the three laws of robotics of course.

[NoLongerActive]

I am a big supporter of rights for any sentient being, despite what materials they are made out of or the means in which they think, interact and live in their environment. That said, I would like to point you folks to the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series and also the new series "Caprica". These both heavily deal with this point and the possible aftermath of such thought regarding sophisticated thinking machines.

This is an area which will be I think a "controversial" one as machines approach singularity and we have to deal with machines that declare themselves "alive". Right now, I don't think many are even comfortable with the idea of a thinking machine (I know many here are, but I'm talking about the general public which only recently got comfortable with computers in general, and later a digital world). We have a long way to go in this area and there will be many pitfalls, problems, battles, etc. to overcome.

However, I do think that common sense would say that you should not abuse your machines. I treat my car, computers and robots really well. I always said "Treat your car right and it'll treat you right." Goes for anything. If you don't treat it right, it's not going to give you what you want. It'll simply stop working from the abuse alone. I think that's just a law of nature or something. 

[Art]

I can't help recalling the movie, AI when the angry crowds of people
set about organizing a circus of demolition. They were afraid of the
MECHS...the Mechanical robots, androids, that they felt might take
over. The people were ignorant, didn't really understand the
bots and really didn't want to.

Some through their clever programming did not want to be destroyed
but the little boy android exclaimed that he didn't want to die!

His brain was different that the others...he had adopted emotions.....

A toaster is NOT a sentient being...the android boy, on the other hand, was.

My $.02

[NoLongerActive]

I have that movie on DVD! AWESOME movie! I love re-watching it and yes, I agree with you on how people treated them and how the bots were able to think and understand. Also let's not forget Sony in iRobot!

As for the "toasters", if you are referring to Cylons, in the re-imagined series they were sentient thinking beings fully self-aware. And also in the re-imagined series they established that the original versions were also self-aware (also note "Cyrus" in "Return of Starbuck" from Galactica 1980).

Now if we could get that type of sentience in real life...

BTW, if you were meaning the toasters that actually toast bread... sure it's not sentient but if I threw it across the room hard enough (which I'd never do), I bet it wouldn't work anymore or wouldn't work well.

[Art]

Yeah, I've been following the SyFy series Caprica which I think is pretty cool.

I never really knew the background of the Cylon warriors before and this show, with no need to display special effects space battles, does offer a different perspective into the original Battlestar Galactica series.

I can't help feeling very sorry for Zoe through the unfortunate chain of events.

Give some thought to the prototype Cylon's "Brain". It is NOT a machine brain...it is built around the human brain...Zoe's brain.

Great story....

[NoLongerActive]

Now that could be dangerous! LOL! Seriously, did you hear what she said at the very end of ep #8? As for building a sentient being around the brain of another, let's not forget Tamara Adama, who is actually dead but alive in a machine. Or was that an avatar of her? From what I wonder, all her "data" that was left behind when she was alive? I wonder, maybe this theory is a good one to start with - an engine that could search the internet and find data on a person, and combine it to create a personality. I wonder how accurate it would be?

Or would search and take the best of many personalities to create a personality?

However, I'm going to try something based not on human thinking but logical reasoning of a machine. Like I mentioned in another post, I have some notes started, and ideas for articles. I just haven't had time and the right thought process to put them all together yet. It involves instead of getting the computer to see the world as humans see it, it's trying to get a human to see the world as a computer would see it, and go from here. Like you gotta walk before you can run. You gotta understand what you're dealing with before you can change it.

At least that's my theory.

I think like anything, as the old saying goes, "There's many ways to skin a cat". So I think there are many ways to create an AI. Which one is best I don't think will matter as much as how well the AI can survive or learn to survive in whatever environment it's placed in.