Free Will and AI
We talk about free will; we exercise it, and sometimes there are public demonstrations against restricting the free will of citizens. That’s all fine and dandy. Now, let’s shift the approach and look at free will and how it’s being applied to AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Governments and the military are using AI to spy on others and try to find vulnerabilities in them. In order to do that, you have to tell the AI to use all possible means to hack or infiltrate other systems. That’s the same as telling it to lie, corrupt other agents, and create any necessary processes to find a gap, or create a gap in order to enter.
AI does not know what is right or what is wrong, unless it is programmed to.
Now let’s change the approach again and think about the following:
Governments and militaries develop chemical and biological weapons. To do that, there are thousands of labs around the world that conduct research for what is known as Gain-of-function (GoF). This simply defines the process of scientifically altering an organism or virus so that it gains a new biological property or has an existing trait enhanced.
So, a common virus, for example, becomes a weapon of mass destruction. I was surprised when I found out during the COVID pandemic that Lysol Disinfectant Spray, a regular household disinfectant, listed the human coronavirus among the germs and bacteria it kills. But the virus from Wuhan was not the same one; it was modified. We all lived the consequences of that.
So, going back to free will and AI: if someone in a position of power gives an AI “carte blanche” to reach an objective, how can you control it after it is deployed? You cannot, unless you bring the entire system down, and probably part of the internet along with it. You know the consequences of a blackout. Institutions like banks, hospitals, schools, shops, you name it, can be affected. We live in a world where everything is connected, even the fridge and the vacuum cleaner!
In conclusion, in the same way a virus gets out for whatever reason, even if not on purpose, AI can do the same if given the wrong instruction. There are not two different AIs once you let them out uncontrolled.
The problem is not AI, and it was not the Coronavirus in its natural form. The problem is the people who make decisions at the highest levels in the world; they play God and decide things based on power, money, or just plain ego. Looking at history, we always suffer the consequences of their actions.
If you blame AI and think of it as evil, think again. The problem is not AI; it’s the exercise of free will without the corresponding question: “Should we do it?”
Just because we possess the power to do something does not mean we possess the wisdom to do it