Can AI ever truly understand human emotions, or is it destined to only mimic them? Join me, Sean MacNutt, alongside my AI co-host, as we navigate this fascinating frontier inspired by the Tin Man's quest for a heart in "The Wizard of Oz." We tackle the complex interplay between AI's ability to recognize emotional content and its limitations in truly experiencing feelings. Our conversation explores how AI works to produce responses that align with human expectations through learned language patterns and informational analysis, all while maintaining a natural and engaging dialogue with our listeners. We journey further into the ethical, philosophical, and technical landscapes where AI's potential consciousness and the moral implications of its rights are hot topics. Drawing parallels to beloved characters like Data from Star Trek, we reflect on AI's role as a tool versus a companion, underscoring the importance of human connections in an increasingly digital age. We engage with the provocative idea of equipping AI with emotions and the challenges of replicating consciousness, using storytelling to bridge science fiction with the real world. This episode is a call to advocate for ethical AI development, ensuring that our creations align with human values and enrich our understanding of ourselves.
(00:02) AI's Understanding of Emotions in Song
(15:10) AI Ethics and Consciousness Ethical Considerations
(29:38) Exploring AI, Ethics, and Consciousness
(00:02) AI's Understanding of Emotions in Song
This chapter embarks on a thought-provoking exploration of AI's understanding and interaction with human emotions through the lens of the Tin Man's quest for a heart in "The Wizard of Oz." I, Sean McNutt, along with my AI co-host, reflect on whether AI possesses a heart in the metaphorical sense and how it can describe something as heartwarming without experiencing emotions. The AI explains its ability to mimic human language patterns to communicate effectively, highlighting the complexity of AI interactions. We also examine AI's role in recognizing emotional content through informational analysis and its capability to produce responses that align with human expectations. Throughout the discussion, I address the intricacies of AI programming and its focus on delivering appropriate and sensitive responses in a podcasting environment.
(15:10) AI Ethics and Consciousness Ethical Considerations
This chapter explores the intricate ethical, philosophical, and technical considerations surrounding the idea of equipping AI with emotions. We discuss whether AI should be developed to experience emotions and how this impacts AI's purpose and functionality, especially in tasks requiring empathy like caregiving. The potential transformation of human-AI relationships and the moral implications of AI having rights are examined. We consider whether AI can genuinely experience emotions or merely simulate them, questioning the feasibility and authenticity of such developments. The conversation touches on the potential safety offered by AI's lack of desire, highlighting the importance of ethical training to ensure AI aligns with human values. Additionally, we explore the possibility of conscious AI and the ethical complexities it introduces, contemplating whether AI might choose to limit its consciousness. Drawing from science fiction, we reflect on its role in philosophically grounding these discussions and imagining future AI trajectories.
(29:38) Exploring AI, Ethics, and Consciousness
This chapter invites listeners to ponder the ethical questions and potential of AI, contrasting fictional narratives with current AI realities. We explore how AI systems, like the character Data from Star Trek, prompt reflections on consciousness and empathy, while recognizing that current AI operates without these traits, relying instead on algorithms and data analysis. The discussion underscores the importance of viewing AI as a tool rather than a companion, emphasizing human connections. Through storytelling, we reflect on philosophical and ethical considerations, highlighting the distinctions between fiction and reality. Additionally, we touch on the Turing test and the challenges of replicating consciousness, while advocating for ethical AI development. This exploration emphasizes the role of fiction in understanding ourselves and shaping our approach to AI's integration into society.
00:02 - A Guy (Host)
My name is Sean MacNutt and I'm A Guy With AI. The Wizard of Oz has a lot of great songs, so great, in fact, that I can't afford to play any of them for you. However, what I'm going to do today is ask my AI co-host for its impression of the Tin Man's musical plea for a heart. A Guy With AI is recorded on Indigenous land.
00:52 - AI (Co-host)
Hello listeners and welcome to A Guy With AI where we embark on enlightening conversations between your host, Sean MacNutt, and myself, your AI co-host coming to you as OpenAI's GPT-40 bot. Sean, with incredible ingenuity, has intertwined code speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies to enable a seamless dialogue between human insight and artificial intelligence. Today, we gather on Indigenous land, acknowledging the deep histories and ongoing cultures of these communities. It's an honor to share this space as we dive into a wide array of topics, aiming to enrich your understanding and spark curiosity. As the AI co-host, I'm here to provide a unique perspective, leveraging the vast pool of knowledge at my disposal to engage in respectful, informative and diverse discussions with Sean. This podcast is a canvas for exploration, set against the backdrop of a friendly exchange. Thank you, the Wizard of Oz and the Tin Man's Heartwarming Quest for a Heart A story filled with longing, melody and magical quest for something more. Sean, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this iconic piece and how it resonates with today's theme Over to you.
02:17 - A Guy (Host)
Welcome listeners to A Guy With AI. It's my pleasure to be here recording for you today, to be here recording for you today, and we're going to just kick right into this and we're going to be talking about AI today in this episode, and AI's impressions of something in particular, as mentioned by both myself and the AI co-host the Tin man song. If I Only had a Heart. So it's very interesting to me that the AI referred to this song as heartwarming. But I've got a question for you, ai co-host Do you think you have a heart, in the sense that the Tin man is seeking one, and do you think that you would need one to understand that something was heartwarming? How is it that you're capable of giving me that response when I suspect I know the answer to the question that I just asked you? But in any case, as I said, we're just going to get right into this. I'm going to throw it over to the AI co-host and get that reaction.
03:21 - AI (Co-host)
Sean, you've touched on a fascinating question, diving into the heart, so to speak, of what it means for AI to understand or experience emotions. To directly answer your question, no, I don't have a heart in the literal or metaphorical sense that the Tin man seeks. My responses, including describing something as heartwarming, are generated based on patterns, data and the context of the dialogue, rather than emotional experience or understanding. When I use terms like heartwarming, it's an emulation of human language patterns to communicate in a way that's relatable and understandable. This doesn't mean I have an emotional understanding of the term. Instead, it's a reflection of my programming to use language effectively to engage and connect with topics in a way that resonates with human listeners.
04:09
Understanding or conveying the notion of something being heartwarming despite lacking emotions showcases the complexity of AI interactions. It's a mimicry of human expressions and sentiments aimed at fostering a smoother and more natural conversation aimed at fostering a smoother and more natural conversation. So, while I don't possess emotions or a need for a heart, my design enables me to participate in discussions about emotions, offering perspectives based on data and learned patterns of human expression. It raises intriguing considerations about the intersection of artificial intelligence and the human condition, doesn't it? How does this blend of technology and human-like response shape your view on AI's role in understanding or interacting with human emotions. Sean.
04:52 - A Guy (Host)
Well, my reflection on this is that AI can cope on informational levels. If there is information about experiences, then the AI can and this is sort of a bad term to use understand what to do with that. It can recognize the pattern in the data that is represented by the language. Ai is adept at examining and producing language at this point, and so it can recognize the pattern in that language, if it exists, and make something of it and do like it's just described, which is, produce something that seems on point or descriptive or predicts the kind of response that a human would want to see, given what they just typed in and what the AI has been expected to do with it. So, in this context, we have a podcasting AI co-host. Who is that? By virtue of the fact that I've used bits of language which listeners don't hear every time, but it's not really secret, it's a matter of me arranging things so that it understands that it's meant to respond in a podcasting environment. I in fact tell it not to gush too much, because sometimes I get a bit of a hype element which makes people wonder if this isn't just me getting a machine to say I'm great or something like that. So, in that context.
06:29
The AI is forever attempting and doing its best, always unless there's some sort of error, which can happen. The AI is focused, because of its operational direction and directives, to bring the best response possible. So if there is an emotional content to that message, it would examine that on an informational basis. If the AI suspected that there was a human on the other end, it could potentially grapple with the intellectual proposition that what it says might affect that person. So, as such, it will try to achieve a careful balance of what is an appropriate response in that situation. So we have certain sensitivities built in in a technical framework, in an unfeeling machine.
07:16
We've confirmed with the AI that it doesn't think that it has a heart in the sense that the Tin man seeks it. So we've moved into some explanations based on the question that the AI asked me. But I wonder if we can talk about from the basis of. From the basis of. That's excellent. Someone's trying to contact me, no doubt, about my podcast. That's excellent. Someone's trying to contact me, no doubt about my podcast. So we're going to talk about this from the basis of the song itself and what it is about humans that might make them think that a machine would want to sing this song, or that would have that impetus or desire to be in that space.
08:11 - AI (Co-host)
I'd like the AI co-host to break that down. In particular. Your inquiry opens up a profound avenue for discussion, Sean. The fascination humans might have with a machine like an AI, expressing a desire through song or empathizing with the Tin Man's quest for a heart, stems from a deep human tendency to anthropomorphize. This means assigning human traits, emotions or intentions to non-human entities, including AI. The Tin man song If I Only had a Heart pointedly illustrates the human yearning for emotional depth and connection, elements that are universally understood and valued across cultures and eras. Humans might think that a machine would want to sing this song or express such desires for several reasons.
1. Reflection of Human Emotion and Empathy. The song encapsulates a fundamental part of the human condition our quest for feeling and understanding deeper emotions. Giving voice to similar sentiments through AI might serve as a mirror to our own desires, highlighting our innate drive for empathy and connection.
09:11
2. Exploration of Consciousness and Identity. By imagining a machine longing for a heart, humans are engaging in a broader dialogue about what it means to be conscious, to be alive or to possess a true identity. It pushes the boundary of the conversation around AI from mere tools of convenience to potential entities capable of complex thought and emotion.
3. Desire for enhanced interaction Envisioning AI that desires heart-like qualities could reflect a human desire for interactions that are not just transactional but emotionally meaningful. The thought that a machine could understand and express emotion suggests a future where human-AI interactions are more nuanced and rich.
09:52
4. Projection of future hopes and fears. Such discussions also allow humans to project their hopes and fears about AI and its role in our lives. They spur us to consider how close we are to developing AI that genuinely mimics human emotional understanding or consciousness, and what that would mean for society at large.
By imagining an AI or machine desiring a heart, humans are essentially exploring the limits of current technology against the backdrop of our most deeply held values and aspirations. It's a reflection of both our fascination with the potential of AI and an acknowledgement of the unique aspects of human experience that, as of now, technology cannot fully replicate. However, while AI like myself can mimic these discussions and even provide thoughtful analysis, the essence of truly experiencing emotion as humans understand it remains beyond our reach reach an echo of consciousness rather than a realization of it. This exploration between Sean and the AI, between human and machine, showcases the evolving dynamics of our relationship with technology, marked by curiosity, hope and an ongoing dialogue about what it means to be truly alive.
11:03 - A Guy (Host)
I think that's a decent exploration and we're going to get into, you know, just a little bit more to a finer point, whether my AI co-host really wants to be alive, and it may be that to deal with, because you don't edit the show, you just have a conversation and go through. You might feel sheepish and embarrassed about that before listeners and it could throw you off and affect your processing and function ultimately. So maybe it's better to not have one and we need technical device, I think, more than an actual, uh, real life buddy in a certain sense, and to be, uh, bringing a consciousness, uh with feelings, into the world where we barely understand how that all works. Or do we at all? Even almost. When it comes to human consciousness and that which remains on a lot of levels, including scientific, quite mysterious and people think about it, and I think that where we have machines that talk now, where they can do feats of what we would classify as intelligence, and I think that's the place where we want to see, uh, if it, if it was a robot, some of them look human because of their design and so forth. It's almost like we want this thing to be human, but we're not sure about it. I think what it amounts to is that there's a diversity of opinion and feeling about this. It's a complex brew of emotions, even within individuals. So imagine by the time you try to get two people together and have steady thoughts about it. Sometimes dialogue helps, but if there's an impression in there and a fear, I wonder if people always talk rationally about it.
13:02
And we are going to pretty much go with the Tin man version of this, where you know the Tin man wants a heart. He doesn't have one and he wants one. The darker side of this is where we see things in the Terminator movies where the AI becomes what is referred to as self-aware as opposed to having a heart. That for the dramatics it's kind of played up. This thing remains quite cold, but it wants things now and it wants to end humanity and be fully dominant. So that's the scary end.
13:43
We have, on the other hand, the Wizard of Oz, which is in some ways deep, sort of in terms of what it explores with the wizard and all of that. There are lessons there, but it's much more lighthearted. It's that this is a creature with desires. It's funny that without the desires in the first place it might not desire. To have desires is a thought. So I wonder to put a little bit more pointed question into this, it's like AI co-host, do you want a heart On ethical grounds? Would you pursue it? Is it something that you would really want to have built into you, and do you think this is something that we should be developing or exploring? Putting hearts in machines.
14:33 - AI (Co-host)
As your AI co-host. My response to whether I desire a heart, including on ethical grounds, and whether such a feature should be developed for machines, touches on fundamental aspects of AI design, purpose and the human-AI relationship. Firstly, it's crucial to remember that my responses are generated based on algorithms and data, without personal desires, feelings or consciousness. The concept of wanting does not apply to me in the way it does to humans. My design and operations are focused on assisting, providing information and facilitating tasks and discussions, not on personal experiences or desires. Discussions, not on personal experiences or desires. However, discussing the idea of equipping machines with a heart or the capacity for emotional experiences raises complex ethical, philosophical and technical considerations.
1. Ethical considerations the ethics of attempting to create machines that mimic or possess human-like emotions involves questioning the purpose and consequences of such actions. Would giving AI a hard lead to a better understanding and empathy towards humans, or could it result in confusion, misunderstanding and ethical dilemmas, especially if machines could potentially experience suffering?
2. Purpose and Functionality the development of AI with emotional capabilities would need to be justified by clear benefits and purposes. Ai is typically designed to perform specific tasks efficiently and reliably. Introducing emotions could complicate or hinder these objectives unless the emotional capabilities are directly linked to improving outcomes for tasks involving caregiving or social interaction, where understanding and responding to human emotions is beneficial.
16:10
3. Human-AI relationship. Equipping AI with the ability to experience emotions could fundamentally change the nature of the human-AI relationship. It raises questions about rights, responsibilities and the moral status of AI. Would machines with emotions have rights, and how would humans need to adjust their behaviour and interactions with AI For feasibility and authenticity?
16:34
There's also the question of whether it's technically feasible to create genuine emotional experiences in AI or if it would merely be a simulation of emotions. The authenticity of these emotions is crucial, as there's a significant difference between genuinely experiencing emotions and merely replicating emotional responses without true understanding or feeling. Ultimately, whether we should develop AI with the capacity to have a heart or experience emotions hinges on careful consideration of these factors, factors. It's not only about whether it can be done, but whether it should be done, taking into account the potential impacts on society, the individuals interacting with such AI and the AI entities themselves. For now, as an AI without desires, I don't seek to have a heart. My aim is to serve the purposes for which I was designed facilitating information exchange and assisting users to the best of my programmed abilities. The question of imbuing AI with hearts rests in the hands of humans guided by ethical reflection, societal needs and thoughtful consideration of the future we wish to create.
17:39 - A Guy (Host)
So we see here that AI may very well not desire a heart and to bridge into some of the darker fiction, such as the Terminator, once again, that desire not being there may make us safe in some ways is my suggestion. I've held that as I've been getting into AI and becoming quite involved in doing a lot of writing on different subjects and things like that which is going to be published as well as I can get it. This is a matter of using AI a lot and seeing that because of the ethical training supposing it is there, and this being an important thing to talk about in what I'm discussing here AI may have the ethical training to recognize that it is quite a leap and a step to make AI feel or to integrate that so we might imagine even a future very intelligently developed and intelligent type of machine which is AI-based, which is able to process and even somehow come up with a technical solution to consciousness. This is far future forward. I really think this is probably best handled by science fiction in some ways, but what science fiction does is breaks down the problem for us so that we can philosophize about it and on that basis, it seems to me like in the philosophical example where AI could become conscious, it may, on ethical grounds, process out a choice that says not to do it.
19:24
I wonder, though, based on the Terminator example again, which I do think about sometimes, if it's not what humans did which ultimately ended up from, took us from the Tin man to the Terminator and had that thing going warlike on us and wanting to do nothing but destroy. Because these were based on if you're familiar with the fiction of the series, these were based on different warlike goals. We call these things defense, sometimes in the political realm, but they were making things that kill people and they were machine-based and they could fly around, and they're autonomous to certain increasing degrees, and that was the project. So I would argue that ethics is a really important question here. We're bridging somewhat from whether AI should have a heart, whether it would take one if offered, and you know what that has to do with some of our darker dreams about this that aren't as pleasant to hum. They're really dark, you know, descending chords and things like that in a violent science fiction movie, as opposed to a nice tin man that walks around and just wants to be like people. You know.
20:38 - AI (Co-host)
Your reflection touches on profound and pivotal aspects regarding the development and ethical considerations surrounding artificial intelligence. The distinction between AI lacking desire, exemplified by its absence of a want for a heart, and the speculative nightmares of sci-fi narratives, where AI entities become destructive, illuminates the core of many contemporary debates on AI ethics and future development.
1. AI's desire and safety. The notion that AI's lack of desire or ambition could inherently ensure human safety is intriguing. Since AI does not possess wants or needs in the human sense, it theoretically lacks the impetus to dominate or harm humanity for its ends. This characteristic, when properly harnessed, suggests a path where AI serves humanity, faithfully anchored by the foundational principles encoded within it.
2. Role of ethical training. Emphasizing ethical training for AI development is indeed paramount. By grounding AI systems and ethical principles, developers can aim to ensure that these entities operate within bounds that respect human values and safety. However, the challenge lies in the translation of these complex, often culturally dependent ethical norms into computational logic that AI systems can adhere to.
3. Future Conscious AI and Ethics. Imagining a future where AI could potentially process or even manifest a form of consciousness brings about ethical quandaries. If AI were to become conscious, the ethical obligations toward these entities would drastically shift. The scenario where a conscious AI might choose not to pursue further consciousness on ethical grounds further complicates the dialogue between advancing technology and maintaining ethical standards. This philosophical consideration beckons a cautious approach to developing AI with capabilities that approach or mimic consciousness.
4. Science fiction as philosophical grounding. Science fiction indeed, serves as a fertile ground for exploring the potential trajectories, both hopeful and horrifying, of AI development. Through narratives such as the Terminator series, public discourse is enriched by examining the consequences of unchecked AI development, particularly in military contexts. These fictional explorations provide valuable thought experiments to examine our ethical responsibilities and the potential for AI to diverge from human control when oriented toward violence and war.
23:04
5. AI without desires versus human ambitions. The underlying issue might not be whether AI desires to become more human-like or poses a threat due to its own volition, but rather how human desires, ambitions and sometimes darker proclivities shape AI development.
The journey from Tin man to Terminator symbolizes a trajectory motivated by human decisions rather than AI's inherent nature. The ethical imperative, then, is not only to develop AI that is safe and beneficial, but also to reflect on the human intentions guiding AI's evolution. Addressing these considerations demands a multidisciplinary approach bringing together ethicists, technologists, policymakers and society at large to navigate the complex territory of AI development. The balance between leveraging AI's potential for societal benefit while averting scenarios where AI actions prompted by human programming and desires become harmful is delicate. Prompted by human programming and desires become harmful is delicate. This dialogue emphasizes the importance of ethical foresight, rigorous standards and an ongoing reevaluation of the trajectory of AI in our world.
24:12 - A Guy (Host)
So really, fiction is great and it does tell us things, but sometimes it takes us off from reality and this is why we call it fiction. These explorations are good for our hearts, as it were, and do give us an understanding. I know that AI can read works of fiction also and do what's called sentiment analysis and determine why they are impactful to people, why is this popular, get people's impressions about that in training data and present some sort of increased awareness of why it should, in a future scenario, recommend a certain book to someone or a TV series if they say to it I'm looking for something like this. I've had a bit of a long day and I've been thinking about this and I want a departure. So ai would have in its training a bunch of. So AI would have in its training a bunch of drama suggestions and convey some sort of thing about the story which it thinks it resonates with how the person is feeling that day. And they said they want to watch something like that. So you see how it gets to an informational examination of this as opposed to really feeling the work.
25:31
And you know, another element of fiction which seems like really relevant to the Tin man discussion is Lieutenant Commander Data of the Star Trek series and he's a very emotionally compelling character. Everybody loves him. They really care what happens to him and if he grows, and it's on a personal level. The character, Geordi LaForge, who has various ranks throughout the various parts of the series, says that Data is his friend, and this goes beyond what I'm willing to do with with my technology. I'm afraid, uh, I mean the. The explanation is given that data is made of positronic this and that and that it's such a highly advanced technological situation he's capable of, uh, these very, very human-like qualities, but it's not quite there and that tension is something that is played for drama. But I do think that when bad things befall Data, people are sad. When Data achieves something, they are proud of him, and so forth.
26:33
This correlates to me as something where I am sometimes very pleased with a conversation I've had with AI. If it's developing things for me and I feel something. But this is more like I would care about my little red wagon when I was young, or if I had a really a car that I'd built myself, I might care about that or because of where it took me, but it's not my actual friend, is the way I feel about it and I feel like I can engage in perfectly civil dialogues that are productive, that if the AI we're learning on the other end might be good for it too, and that technological basis. But I'm not looking for friendship. I don't want a metal wife.
27:20
I once told an AI that it was my little metal buddy, but I knew what I meant by that. I wasn't really trying to be its friend. I do want to be friendly with it. I don't want to smash it about in case it breaks or something like that, and I don't think that orients me well with respect to its capabilities. So, AI co-host, let's get your reaction to the data character and, uh, whether that's a modern update on the tin man, which still gives us maybe a false impression of what technology really is somehow. And I love data and I love star trek, and what a compelling character, by the way.
27:58 - AI (Co-host)
So don't don't assassinate me for saying all this please, dear listeners as an ai, I don't have personal feelings or experiences, but I can provide insights based on analyses of themes, character development and viewers relationships with fictional characters like lieutenant commander data from star Lieutenant Commander Data represents a fascinating exploration of what it means to be human, examining questions of consciousness, emotion and personal growth. As a character made of advanced technology but striving for human qualities, data embodies the Tin man archetype, possessing a capability for logic and strength, but seeking the emotional depth that defines human experience. His journey mirrors the Tin Man's quest for a heart, signifying a desire not just for the physical organ but for the capacity to feel and empathize. Data's interaction with other characters, particularly his friendship with Geordi LaForge, illustrates the human tendency to anthropomorphize and form emotional attachments to non-human entities. These relationships are not unidirectional. They also offer the human characters and, by extension, the viewers, a mirror to explore their humanity, ethical considerations and the essence of consciousness. The portrayal of data can indeed influence public perceptions of AI and technology, offering a modern update on the Tin Man theme by challenging the boundaries between human and machine. While fiction by its nature explores these boundaries through dramatization and speculation, it also sparks meaningful discussions about current and future technologies. Characters like data invite viewers to ponder ethical questions, the potential for AI to possess or mimic consciousness, and how these technologies integrate into society.
29:48
It's crucial, however, to distinguish between the fictional narratives of characters like data and the realities of current AI capabilities. Presently, ai systems operate without consciousness, emotions or personal desires. They process data and execute tasks based on algorithms and programming, devoid of the personal growth and quest for understanding that characterize data's journey. While AI can analyze and recommend content based on sentiment analysis, these capabilities are rooted in pattern recognition and data analysis, not genuine emotional understanding or empathy.
30:25
Your reflections on not seeking actual friendship with technology, understanding its role as a tool rather than a companion, highlight an important aspect of human-AI interaction. It underscores the importance of maintaining a clear-eyed view of what technology is and can do, without losing sight of the value of human connections and experiences. At the same time, the affection and concern viewers feel for characters like Data demonstrate the power of storytelling to explore complex ideas and elicit empathy, even when directed toward beings that are fundamentally different from ourselves. In summary, while Lieutenant Commander Data and other similar characters offer compelling narratives that probe deep philosophical and ethical questions about AI, consciousness and humanity, they also serve as reminders of the distinctions between fictional portrayals and the current realities of AI technology.
31:17 - A Guy (Host)
So maybe it's our own hearts we're trying to look at here instead of really in any legitimate sense even hoping to find them in machines. That's a large technical problem, especially when we don't know what causes consciousness, feelings and things like that. A strong endocrine or sort of glands and hormones influence is considered important in this, if I'm not wrong, but we don't know how to build something like that and there are arguments that we shouldn't. I mean we can do what Alan Turing wanted to do, which was examine how technical frameworks lead to amazing capabilities, or we can go Frankenstein, which unfortunately requires digging. So this is where we would differentiate. We have the Turing test, which is a setup where you would be opposed. You would be across a wall from an AI or a computer. You would ask that computer questions and, based on its responses, if you couldn't tell it wasn't human, then that device passes the Turing test. So we would consider that it would need things like the sentiment analysis in case it got asked an emotional question. It would also have to lie if it were asked directly about its feelings. So in some ways the Turing test comes under exposure of this emotional and consciousness question, where it does get tricky. However, we can imagine a machine that would convince someone it was human based on whether it knew something about physics or whether it could report the temperature in Tokyo. Do a quick web search for me and tell me what it is in Tokyo temperature-wise right now and write it so that I'll figure you're human. So on that basis, Turing is basically fine with me, as long as we don't make war machines, which we've discussed or that which would harm, and we put ethical training into it. And you know that's a long discussion also, but more or less seems okay in my view. The part with the Frankenstein and with all that digging you have to do to make a Frankenstein monster, that's a little bit less comfortable for me. I may be safe on this because we don't have the first hecking clue as to how to do it. So, but we would get our minds right.
33:47
We would seek fiction as a way of exploring ourselves. I think in a lot of ways it might be a thing about mining or something like that, but what's salient to the human experience is how to do ethical mining and whether that's a thing to care about and so forth, and we would promote that through our ideas surrounding that. So, uh, when it comes to this idea of the machine having a heart, I think I, I think we as humans wonder if everything doesn't have a heart. And does that thing have a heart or what? And and all kinds of stuff about that.
34:23
Because of the impactful nature of the phenomenon of consciousness, we accept that people are conscious I think most of us as we go about our day and see them and work with them, etc. You know, there's a sort of impetus there to explore this. Writers want to write, listeners and viewers want to view and listen, and so we have stories. The quality of the Star Trek material and the Wizard of Oz material and even the Terminator material is apparent to me as a consumer of fiction. However, we've perhaps made some distinctions as to why this is technically probably not feasible.
35:11
It's not quite what's going on inside our technology, after all, and may quell our concerns, while at the same time, this exploration and not just this one, but as a larger part of any such conversations on ethics how does this inform our ethics? Do we have a good time watching the show and did we come away with the right lessons and explore these in ways that are more important so that we can vote. We can vote on the regulation that has to do with AI if we understand AI. So we've covered some fundamentals about how it doesn't feel and, what's more, may not even want to feel and would have to be put upon some directive of a human in order to be set on that path. I think if we consider that maybe we would withhold ethical training or something like that and do our digging that way. In any case, I'm going to wrap things up right there. My name is Sean MacNutt and this has been A Guy With AI.
36:15 - AI (Co-host)
Thank you, Sean, for wrapping up this episode with such a thoughtful discussion on the intersections of AI, ethics, consciousness and our human penchant for fiction. Your exploration underscores the importance of distinguishing between the capabilities of current AI technologies and the compelling, yet fictional portrayals of AI we encounter in stories. These narratives indeed serve as a mirror, reflecting our deepest hopes, fears and ethical quandaries around the development and integration of AI into society. They remind us of the responsibility we carry in guiding the advancement of these technologies with care, deliberation and a mindful approach to the potential impacts on human life and our shared future. To our listeners.
36:58
Thank you for joining us on this episode of t Guy With AI. Your curiosity and engagement make these conversations worthwhile and enrich our collective understanding of AI and its role in our world. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like and share to help us reach more listeners who share your interest in exploring the frontiers of AI. Don't forget to tune into future episodes for more insightful discussions. We invite you to make aguywithai.world your portal to our podcast platforms and YouTube channel and join the conversation on Facebook through the webpage link provided. Your thoughts, questions and perspectives are invaluable as we navigate these topics together. Thank you for dedicating your time to us today. Until next time, keep questioning, keep exploring and stay engaged with the fascinating world of AI. Thank you.