Artificial
Intelligence
(CC) If AI computers commit crimes what should be the
proper punishment? Should they face the same punishments as humans or
should they be treated as a defective product and be destroyed? Would
their creators be held liable for the AI's bad actions?
(CC) What functions in society would AI beings fill? Would they
generally become a slave race? What can be done to ensure humans
dominion over machines? Is this necessary?
(CC) What rights would AI be entitled to? If I create an AI computer to
cook my food, clean my home and watch my kids, would I have to
compensate them for this work, give them time off or is the mere fact
that I gave them existence enough?
(CC) The desire to not use humans in war is a strong one, what danger
does the possibility of using AI in wars pose? What oversight can exist
to ensure things don't go wrong?
(CC) If AI is used to do things for humans that we donít like to do, in
essence freeing us from our chores, do we as humans lose anything by
being freed from this monotony? Would we lose humility and become a
society of people with a sense of entitlement? Additionally if you can
create an AI for the limited purpose of doing your dirty work i.e. do
things you would never do yourself, for example steal from your
neighbor, what would stop you? Does the fact that you receive the
benefit without taking any of the risk increase the crime rate?
(MF) What if we are able to create software programs that are as
intelligent as human beings, and these programs are able to function
autonomously. Presumably, if the computer the program resides on
is connected to the internet, the program would be able to conduct
business transactions all over the world. How would you establish
jurisdiction over a computer program? What if the computer where
the program was created resides in Germany, but the program enters into
a contract to do work in California with a resident of
California. Could the California resident file suit against the
program in California?
(MF) Following on that question, what if the AI can function
autonomously, ie enter into contracts, scam internet users, etc., but
has no tangible physical presence other than the computer it was
created on, who is responsible for the AI's actions? If the AI
has no money, property, etc., suing the AI would be pretty
pointless. Could there be any liability on the part of the person
who created the program?
(MF) What if the AI commits a crime? How do you incarcerate a
computer program? Would the government have to create a storage
facility for rogue computer programs?
(MF) What if Virtual Reality developed to the point so that a person
could be plugged in and live his or her entire life in VR? How do
these people support themselves? Do they have to have enough
money saved to support their physical existence? Do they still
pay taxes? Do they become part of the Welfare system?
(KT) Professor Friedman
argues that there are some serious legal questions regarding the
“copying” of human brains in computer format – such as, when you switch
the program off, is it murder? Can it vote? Does it have legal rights?
Would advancing a rule of law stating that any form of artificial
intelligence – be it a robot, a direct copy of a human’s brain, or a
generic brain built not in the model of any particular person – cannot
be afforded legal rights solve the problems above? What are the
drawbacks to such a rule?
(KT) The Professor
states that “Finally, there is the possibility that consciousness,
self-awareness, will, depends on more than mere processing power, that
it is an additional feature which must be designed into a program,
perhaps with great difficulty.” In reference to the question above,
rather than afford no protections to artificial intelligence creations,
what if legal rights were only extended to those with levels of
consciousness? Is that not what truly distinguishes humans from other
forms of artificial intelligence? How could one attempt to prove that,
for example, a robot running on artificial intelligence that killed
another person had the requisite level of consciousness to make it
subject to criminal penalties?
(KT) How can artificial
intelligence truly replicate what humans consider to be “free will?”
Does not the mere fact that AI software runs on a specific set of
commands, albeit complex ones, mean that given any factual situation,
we would be able to predict how an AI would react?
Virtual Reality
(DF) Will
virtual reality create new sorts of
intellectual property--in a fictional universe? If I have a very
popular VR game, can you set your new game in a different part of the
same invented world/history as mine?
(DF) What rights can the firm
running an online game like World of Warcraft establish by contract? In
particular
1: Can they control the sale of
in game items for real money outside of the game?
2: Can they disavow liability if
something goes wrong with their server and the character you have spent
two years building up and identifying with no longer exists?
(CC) As gaming gets more intense
and more like real world experience does the potential for injury
increase, is it user beware or can the manufacturer be held liable if
an 80yr old breaks his hip playing virtual soccer?
(CC) If you can create an ideal you in virtual reality how does the
real you interact in the real world given that the persona you create
in virtual reality is how you feel most confident?
(KT) Would deep VR, where one
can go into with a “socket at the back of his neck” as per Professor
Friedman’s examples and the Matrix, lead to real-world problems? A
famous experiment once allowed a mouse to choose between food and
cocaine by merely pushing a button. The mouse pushed the cocaine button
so fast and repetitively that it overwhelmed his desire for hungry. The
mouse ended up dying of starvation. Assuming that deep VR could
essentially “trick” our real-world bodies via sensory manipulation, do
we risk seeing the same result as the mouse in the experiment?
Legal
Research on VR from past years.
Legal
Research
on the question of virtual infidelity.
Legal Research on
whether a machine is alive.
-
CC: Colleen Coen
DF: David Friedman
KT: Kevin Thelen
MF: Maura Fleming
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