Promotion of Human Values (142)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
- Kinolab
- 2018
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
The Digitization of Memory and its Consequences
Wade Watts lives in an imagined future in which the OASIS, a limitless virtual reality world, acts as a constant distraction from the real world for the majority of citizens. In this scene, his virtual avatar Parzival visits the Halliday Journals, a complete archive of the memories of James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS. These memories are digitized in their complete abstract form, and seem freely accessible to anyone.
How can tech like the “cloud” be used for the storage of abstract data like consciousness and memories? What would be potential impact on human memory if memories were easily able to become fully digital? What are the dangers of intimate memories being potentially accessible to anyone in the digital world?
Ready Player One: Halliday Journals-
- 7 min
- Vice
- 2021
In New Orleans, a city known for its history of racist policing, grassroots activists turned to precedent from other states to ban police use of surveillance and facial recognition technology through both public and private cameras.
- Vice
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Vice
- 2021
How Musicians and Sex Workers Beat Facial Recognition in New Orleans
In New Orleans, a city known for its history of racist policing, grassroots activists turned to precedent from other states to ban police use of surveillance and facial recognition technology through both public and private cameras.
What responsibility do firms like Palantir have to make sure that their technology is used for undeniable good? Can cities like Oakland or New Orleans become the norm in terms of privacy from facial recognition while such firms exist?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2015
Often, gender bias is consciously or subconsciously embedded into the performance of virtual voice assistants, without considering some science surrounding linguistics or gender.
- Wired
- 2015
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2015
Siri and Cortana Sound Like Ladies Because of Sexism
Often, gender bias is consciously or subconsciously embedded into the performance of virtual voice assistants, without considering some science surrounding linguistics or gender.
What are the consequences of not addressing such gender bias as virtual voice assistants become more and more “human”? How has the profit motive played a role in this type of gender bias?
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- 5 min
- Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
- 1916
A brief excerpt on Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden,” which could be compared to the human creation of robots for companionship use.
- Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
- 1916
Pygmalion and his Ivory Maid: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book X, lines 243-297.
A brief excerpt on Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden,” which could be compared to the human creation of robots for companionship use.
How does Pygmalion’s love for his “marble maiden” resemble the relationship some people have with advanced AI dolls or sex dolls? Can advanced AI dolls replace human companionship completely, or is there something inherently unique to our interactions? Venus gives life to Pygmalion’s maiden, so she could be argued to have a soul, but when humans give ‘life’ to advanced AI, is that similar or different to Pygmalion’s maiden? What does it mean to have consciousness if you can act and perform like a human in all capacities?
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
Main Control Program, an Artificial Intelligence presence, has self-developed beyond the imagination of its creators and sets its sights on hacking global governments, including the pentagon. It believes that with its growing intelligence, it can rule better than any human can, and forces the hand of Dillinger, a human, to help move its hacking beyond corporations. Meanwhile, a team of hackers attempt to break into the mainframe of this system. When the rebel hacker Flynn attempts to hack into the mainframe of the MCP, he is drawn into the digital world of the computer which is under the dominion of the MCP. Sark, one of the digital beings who serves the MCP, is tasked with killing Flynn.
- Kinolab
- 1982
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1982
Digital Hegemony in the Real and Virtual Worlds
Main Control Program, an Artificial Intelligence presence, has self-developed beyond the imagination of its creators and sets its sights on hacking global governments, including the pentagon. It believes that with its growing intelligence, it can rule better than any human can, and forces the hand of Dillinger, a human, to help move its hacking beyond corporations. Meanwhile, a team of hackers attempt to break into the mainframe of this system. When the rebel hacker Flynn attempts to hack into the mainframe of the MCP, he is drawn into the digital world of the computer which is under the dominion of the MCP. Sark, one of the digital beings who serves the MCP, is tasked with killing Flynn.
Is human anxiety over the potential for super-powered AI justified? Would things truly be better if machines and artificial intelligence made authoritative decisions as global actors and rulers?
What could be the implications of ‘teleporting’ into digital space in terms of alienation from the real world? For now, it seems that humans are in charge of computers in the “real” world; if humans were to enter a digital world, who would be in charge? Do AI beings owe subservience to humans for their creation, given their increasing intelligence?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Caleb, a programmer in a large company, is invited by his boss Nathan to test a robot named Ava. During one session of the Turing Test, Ava fearfully interrogates Caleb on what her fate will be if she is deemed not capable or human enough by the results of the test. Caleb struggles to deliver the honest answer, especially given that Ava displays attachment toward him, a sentiment which he returns. After Caleb discovers that Nathan wants to essentially kill Ava, he loops her in to his escape plan, offering her freedom and a chance to live a human life. Once Nathan is killed, Ava goes to his robotics repository and bestows a new physical, humanlike appearance upon herself. She then permanently traps Caleb, the only remaining person who knows she is an android, in Nathan’s compound before escaping to live a human life in the real world.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Liberty, Autonomy, and Desires of Humanoid Robots
Caleb, a programmer in a large company, is invited by his boss Nathan to test a robot named Ava. During one session of the Turing Test, Ava fearfully interrogates Caleb on what her fate will be if she is deemed not capable or human enough by the results of the test. Caleb struggles to deliver the honest answer, especially given that Ava displays attachment toward him, a sentiment which he returns. After Caleb discovers that Nathan wants to essentially kill Ava, he loops her in to his escape plan, offering her freedom and a chance to live a human life. Once Nathan is killed, Ava goes to his robotics repository and bestows a new physical, humanlike appearance upon herself. She then permanently traps Caleb, the only remaining person who knows she is an android, in Nathan’s compound before escaping to live a human life in the real world.
What rights to freedom do AI have? Do sentient AI beings deserve to be at the mercy of their creators? What are the consequences of machines being able to detect and expose lies? Is emotional attachment to AI a valid form of love? What threat could well-disguised, hyper-intelligent AI pose for humanity? If no one knows or can tell the difference, does that matter?