YLIKOSKI@FINFUN.BITNET (Antti Ylikoski tel +358 0 457 2704) (08/05/88)
X-Delivery-Notice: SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender. Date: Wed, 27 Jul 88 09:55 EDT From: Antti Ylikoski tel +358 0 457 2704 <YLIKOSKI%FINFUN.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU> Subject: AI and the future of the society To: AIList@AI.AI.MIT.EDU X-VMS-To: @AILIST1,YLIKOSKI I once heard an (excellent) talk by a person working with Symbolics. (His name is Jim Spoerl.) One line by him especially remained in my mind: "What we can do, and animals cannot, is to process symbols. (Efficiently.)" In the human brain, there is a very complicated real-time symbol processing activity going on, and the science of Artificial Intelligence is in the process of getting to know and to model this activity. A very typical example of the human real-time symbol processing is what happens when a person drives a car. Sensory input is analyzed and symbols are formed of it: a traffic sign; a car driving in the same direction and passing; the speed being 50 mph. There is some theory building going on: that black car is in the fast lane and drives, I guess, some 10 mph faster than me, therefore I think it's going to pass me after about half a minute. To a certain extent, the driver's behaviour is rule-based: there is for example a rule saying that whenever you see a red traffic light in front of you you have to stop the car. (I remember someone said in AIList some time ago that rule-based systems are "synthetic", not similar to human information processing. I disagree.) How about a very wild 1984-like fantasy: if there were people who knew the actual functioning of the human mind as a real-time symbol processor very well then they would have unbelieveable power upon the souls of the poor, ignorant people, whose feelings and thoughts could be manipulated without them being aware of it. (Is this kind of thing being done in the modern world or is this mere wild imagination? Listen to of the Californian band Death Angel and their piece Mind Rape, on the LP Frolic through the Park!) And, of course, anyone possessing this kind of knowledge certainly would do everything in his power to prevent others from inventing it ... and someone might make it public to prevent minds from being manipulated ... oh, isn't this farfetched. Whether that fantasy of mine is interesting or just plan ridiculous, it is a fact that AI opens frightening possibilities for those who want to use the knowledge involving the human symbol processor as a tool to manipulate minds. Perhaps we will have to take care that AI will lead the future of the human race to a democratic, not to a 1984-like society. --- Andy Ylikoski Disclaimer: just don't take me too seriously.