We’ve received most of our knowledge about Artificial Intelligence from many type media content like Terminator, I, Robot, and Bicentennial Man in the last century. What we have witnessed is that the AI has been represented in either a negative or positive character in the stories, but now AI has become our reality in our everyday life. People will take what they have learned about AI and most likely lean to the negative idea of either AI “Going to take over the world” or “This is the end of humanity.” Fortunately, AI is in its infancy stage of development and the closest thing to AI we carry around every day is Apple Siri that we accept freely. Currently, AI that’s in development at the moment Narrow AI or Weak AI which control facial recognition or even driving an automobile. With the continued advancement into Artificial Intelligence, the concerns and fears the people are having are how this advancement will affect my way of life for me and rest of humanity? While these advancements are being developed, will their ethical guideline be set in place? Will AI programming goals align with humanities?

While watching Westworld, the character by the name of Dr. Ford stated a comment that resonated with me, “Evolution forged the entirety of sentient life on this planet using only one tool The mistake. I flattered myself we were taking a more disciplined approach here. I suppose self-delusion is a gift of natural selection as well. Indeed it is. But, of course, we’ve managed to slip evolution’s leash now, haven’t we? We can cure any disease, keep even the weakest of us alive, and, you know, one fine day perhaps we shall even resurrect the dead. Call forth Lazarus from his cave. Do you know what that means? It means that we’re done. That this is as good as we’re going to get” (41:50). It seems that we are on the verge of heading down this road, but we are still unaware of what outcome we will end up with once we reach our goal. Currently, they are talks from Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft about setting Ethical guidelines when creating AI, so it will not completely disturb our environment or way of life.

Good: “Will AI programming goals align with humanities?” When AI comes to full bloom in our reality, there a high possibility that we would have created a sentient being that surpasses our intelligence. Which can be a tool to help deal with the other issue like world hunger or even advancement in the medical science like in the movie Bicentennial Man.

Bad: “While these advancements are being developed, will their ethical guideline be set in place?” Creating AI to control weapons system can have an adverse effect on the world and the survival of the human race. With a lack of ethical guideline can lead to this possibility.

Ugly: “With the continued advancement into Artificial Intelligence, the concerns and fears the people are having is how will this advancement affect my way of life for me and rest of humanity?” Creating sentient beings that can replace the human race on many levels such as longevity and intelligence.

Top 9 ethical issues in artificial intelligence

Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence

9 Key AI Ethical Issues & How to Handle Them

Why Asimov’s Three Laws Of Robotics Can’t Protect Us

After 75 years, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics need updating

MEPs in ‘urgent’ call for new laws on artificial intelligence and robotics

Proposal:

Throughout the course, a lot of the readings have had a relevance to individuality and identity and the likes, and it really interested me. I was fascinated by how people became simple copy and pastes of the same, mindless being made to follow an agenda of the leading person or group, whether it was to keep some sort of peace, or to make everyone happy.  The lack of actual free will was something that kept showing itself. Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four are just a couple of examples where the masses are made to think alike, or suffer the consequences.

Because of the lack of individuality and freedom in these situations, I came across “hive minds,” which in terms of Science Fiction, is defined as “a unified consciousness or intelligence formed by a number of alien individuals, the resulting consciousness typically exerting control over its constituent members.”  From what I have seen, hive mind scenarios in Science Fiction are closely related to dystopian societies and are depicted as totalitarian. It is generally not a good thing, but in reality, it can also be seen as efficient. An example being an eusocial insect colony. The queen orders around the workers and soldiers to do specific tasks. They live to serve the ruling power and get the job done. The topic of hive minds isn’t exactly new to me, but I never really found too much of an interest until now. After reading all those novels and short stories, I can’t help but to take interest in it.

While hive minds aren’t all bad, they typically are. The cordycep fungus infects the host, typically an insect, and removes it of its free will. It takes over the brain seizes control of the basic motor functions. They become zombie-like, and are even given the nickname “zombie insects.”  An extreme case of cordycep fungus are the “Clickers” from the game The Last Of Us. They do not serve a superior intelligence like a normal hive mind, but they recognize others of the same “situation.” It’s like a bunch of headless chickens.

Bad hive minds can still be very efficient though. The “flood” from the Halo series is an example of that. The flood are controlled by “Graveminds,” the ultimate intelligence of the species and control the lesser bodies infected. Being converted to the flood is seen as a honor by the Graveminds. Knowledge is also shared across every host body and can be compared to a network, where every host body is like a node.  As long as there are lesser bodies, a Gravemind can never truly die.

I believe that a true hive mind will always be an example of efficiency. While I would never want to be apart of the types of hive minds I discussed, I cannot deny that they are efficient. Even though the lesser beings in a hive mind give up their freedom and sense of self, they enter a network of vast intelligence shared with all. Luckily, not every hive mind goes to the extents that the flood does. Hive minds accomplish a specific goal with the help of others, consensual or not. Everyone will know everything. Knowledge literally becomes power.

Research:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hive_mind

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hive_minds

http://thelastofus.wikia.com/wiki/The_Infected

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Gravemind

The True Hive Mind – How Honeybee Colonies Think

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7603196/#full-text-section

Reflection:

When I first started, I dug into social norms and individuality. Things like how social norms define and effect societies and their inhabitants. But it was a bit too broad. A lot of things could be covered and I want to focus on one thing. When I was looking through new topics through individuality, I cam across hive minds. I immediately thought that it would be a good topic to choose. I read through articles and saw examples of hive minds and was reminded of some I saw in the past as well. I was really getting into it. It also helped that there was still an aspect of individuality in the topic of hive minds.

The more I looked into hive minds, the more I wanted it as my topic. The idea of doing everything for a “higher power” is kind of similar to our world.  In the past, people did things in the name of their god, morals be damned. A typical hive mind accomplishes it goal, and an extreme case will do it at any and all costs. The idea of efficiency came soon after. There is a clear goal, and it can be achieved, but through a length of time.

For my final project, I’d like to research the concept of parallel universes. the connection of parallel universes, the proof, and our everyday lives, showing how parallel universe might be a possibility, and the proof might be right before our eyes.

A parallel universe is a hypothetical self-contained reality co-existing with one’s own (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_universe_(fiction)). I would like to explore the science behind parallel universes. in other words, proof that is out there showing its possible existence. I’ve seen multiple movies about parallel universes and inter-dimensional travel, Sliders and Doctor who for example. And this always interested me, we are surrounded by a vast number of universes and galaxies so many that we can’t even count. there’s a theory that it’s possible to travel between these universes to parallel realities without even realizing. Worlds that are just like our own but with slight changes. Perhaps there are other Universes with different versions of ourselves, different histories and alternate outcomes, than our own. In other worlds, would it be possible that there’s a Universe out there where everything happened exactly as it did in this one, except you did one tiny thing different, and hence had your life turn out incredibly different as a result?(https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/11/18/is-there-another-you-out-there-in-a-parallel-universe/#1740e0d9634f) 

ill list a few examples

DEJA VU

 where you enter a situation, or do an action or see something, and get the feeling that it’s happened before. Even more strange is Deja vecu, which is the feeling that you know what’s going to happen next, too. Then there’s alter vu, which is when someone remembers their history differently. Even freakier in this case is that they realize the world around them is unfamiliar, because they recognize both the history they recall, and the one that’s unfolding around them at the same time. It’s like a more extreme version of Deja vu, with the implication that these feelings are perhaps actually €œmemories€ from other versions of ourselves, in other universes. (http://whatculture.com/science/10-most-compelling-pieces-of-evidence-that-prove-alternate-realities-are-real?page=5)

DREAMS

The craziest part of our everyday lives nobody can explain, though are dreams. What the heck are dreams? Nobody knows. They could be the brain, as it rests, sorting through thoughts, memories and anxieties; they could just be the random firings of synapses; they could be some sort of mix of the two, the sleeping brain trying to put an assortment of images into a working narrative. The fourth option, meanwhile, is that entering REM sleep is the closest we can get to viewing the alternate worlds that are usually beyond our comprehension, like windows into other worlds. (http://whatculture.com/science/10-most-compelling-pieces-of-evidence-that-prove-alternate-realities-are-real?page=6)

SPIRITS

One of the more scientific explanations for the appearance of spectral, ghostly figures is that they’re something beyond the usual realm of human understanding, beings that we’re not usually attuned to, or who don’t usually make their presence known. In which case, they could be some bleed through from an alternate world or reality, a bunch of misfiring electrons that have landed on the wrong plane of existence. Or there could be an alternate universe populated by the deceased(http://whatculture.com/science/10-most-compelling-pieces-of-evidence-that-prove-alternate-realities-are-real?page=8)

MANDELA EFFECT

The Mandela Effect is one of the internet’s recently popular conspiracy theories that has been messing with all of our brains. This phenomenon is when thousands of people with no relation to each other have the exact same collective misremembering of the same event. Some think it may be due to the shifting of parallel universes. Perhaps we all once lived in a universe where things were slightly different and we still remember it that original way but are now in a reality where things are different. for example a popular household air freshener, “Febreeze” is seen by a lot of people every single day, but Since when was it spelled “febreze” with only one “e”? According to the Mandela effect if you remember it as “Febreeze” opposed to “Febreze” you might just be from different realities. (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/14-mandela-effect-examples-that-will-mess-with-your-brain)

REFLECTION:

for my updated proposal, I tried my best to make it clearer what my vision was. I listed examples of some of the things I could possibly present and tried to tie in back into the parallel universe theory. I’ve learned through research that there is a lot of hard core scientific research and lighter easier to comprehend examples out there. I’m very interested in both but in not sure what I should go deeper into, I don’t want my presentation to be boring, I want it to be exciting, interesting, an eye opener and a moment of realization for some. so I need the classes opinion on this one.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_universe_(fiction)

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/14-mandela-effect-examples-that-will-mess-with-your-brain

http://whatculture.com/science/10-most-compelling-pieces-of-evidence-that-prove-alternate-realities-are-real?page

So for this project I think I am going to go with artificial intelligence. I am thinking of choosing this topic because it is something we are surrounded by everyday, especially at this time and age where it is more advanced. Also as the years keep on passing it will get more advanced as well. Throughout the years when we first had cell phones we could only use it for basic stuff like calling or texting or even internet and we had to do all of those by ourselves. Nowadays if we say “Siri” or “google search” or some other thing on our smart phones it can perform functions like that and also other functions like calling, etc. It is because the phones have their own intelligence and we are using it for our needs. AI is also used in many other various uses like the military uses it or scientists uses it or others as well. Some aircrafts or weapons can function through artificial intelligence. It is interesting because AI can be both beneficial to humans or even have negative effects on humans. It can be beneficial because we use it for many uses and as we develop it and it gets to be more advanced it can be focused on bigger things like trying to prevent wars or help out with world hunger or even be used to develop new other things like better technology. The negatives about AI would be that it can overpower us if we are not too careful because since it is a concept or a being that is in the realm of intelligence than it can use that to do something that can be harmful or bad.

Since we have smart phones that contain artificial intelligence, that concept or idea can be used to create something a little similar like smart homes or smart factories which can than make countries who would be able to have that sort of technology in their possessions much more advanced and better as well. Not only does AI be able to operate in terms of data being used but it can also be able to learn by it’s ownself so that it can improve. It can even be possible that it would surpass human capabilities despite the fact that this was created by humans itself. Various countries like Singapore applies the concept of using AI which helped influenced the way they deal with the economics, schooling and other aspects of their society by use of data.

1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-democracy-survive-big-data-and-artificial-intelligence/

2.https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-inteligence/

3.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.technologyreview.com/s/534871/our-fear-of-artificial-intelligence/amp/

4.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/01/10/10-powerful-examples-of-artificial-intelligence-in-use-today/amp/

Reflection- So far I found this topic to be interesting because this is something that we deal with everyday. As I was doing research for this project I got to learn more about it and also was able to expand my knowledge on this topic as well. I was able to learn what positives and what negatives that artificial intelligence has to offer. Also it is interesting because of the way it has developed throughout the years. I remember growing up and it was not nearly as advanced but as I got older, it got to be really advanced and sophisticated. I am hoping in this project that I can learn more and there are still things I need to improve on also.

(Proposal)

As technology continue to evolve and in a few centuries there is no doubt that we will be able to build sentient robots. Sentient robots are intriguing since they will also be able reason and feel like a human being. Some of the science fiction theme when it comes to sentient robot is that they either come out as evil or humans imposing restriction on them. Sentient robot might or might not have the same mentality as a human being. The question is do we treat the robot the same as we treat other animals or species that are not related to us,? such as hunting them, making them pets, and even enslaving them.

Sentient robots might even take on human form and become an android. It is only when sentient robots has taken the form of a human being that we begin to question the ethics of sentience in robots. Questions is it morally right to create a whole race of sentient robot without any consent at all? Just like human being, sentient robot might also be unpredictable. Through all these drawbacks why create sentient robot at all and not just robots? It is because one day human creativity, intellligence, and uniqueness will become obsolete and who will fulfill that role, sentient robots. That comes back to the question of “do we have the right to control sentient robots, even when they feel ?” One thing is for certain, if sentient robots are self aware of their situation they will always obey their creators similarly to a child that must obey their parent.

In the emotion department, sentient robots will be able to feel what normal human would feel in certain situations. Emotion could be consider as a flaw for the sentient robots. Is it right to be able to tell the robot what to feel and how to react. This come to the moral dilemma of nature versus nurture. Do we implement our own ideas into the robots or do we let them think for themselves and learn for themselves? We can also think of the sentient robots as a child being shown a world that can be wonderful or a disaster and it mainly depend on how we treat the sentient robots. Questioning the moral status of the sentient robots, one direction human can go is treating the sentient robots just like livestock. The situation is very similar to the race with the human species. Encountering foreign things no matter if they only slightly different, human always tend to stray on a dark path and exploit the weakness of other beings. No doubt if sentient robots are introduce questions about ethics would be raised and sentient robots would maybe impossible to conceive due to human ethics. It would also raise the questions about “is it just creating life itself, just in different form than the flesh and blood that we human are?”There is a lot of ethical issues regarding the sentience of robots. One day it might come true, due to human curiosity.

(Reflection)

In the writing of the revised proposal, I have changed many aspect of it from the draft. The draft proposal contained to many ideas to follow and it was just to general. In the revised proposal I have narrow it down by doing research based on the advice given in the comment in the proposal draft. The ideas I have came up with was more complex and more focus. In order to write this proposal I took one question from the proposal draft and expanded on it by doing research. The research led me to a more general ideas of sentient robots. As I began to dig more into the sentience of robots I found a good understanding of what the research should contain. In the process of the research, the idea of robot rights and ethics of sentient robot kept popping up. Though the research did led me where I wanted to be, it also showed other intresting topic to investigate. One thing that the research challenged was my patience. After getting used to every necessary information hand to me, the idea of research really tested my patience. There is always dead end and I for most of the time did not know what I was looking for until it was right in front of me. In the writing of this proposal I have ditch the idea of humanoid, because that is a subject on its own that need researching. While doing the research, I have come across many irrelevant ideas in google scholar but still manage to find sources that I was able to use. In city tech’s online library I was able to modify my search more narrower and find what I need. In the process of compiling the proposal I have ditch many of the ideas I have research because it wasn’t focused enough to be used. The proposal was all written in my own word though some ideas were taken from researching and used to make my point a bit more clear to the audience. Though still at this point I’m uncertain if the research was enough.

(sources)

http://Faculty.smcm.edu/acjamieson/s13/artificialintelligence.pdf

http://ritter.ist.psu.edu/misc/dirk-files/Papers/HRI-papers/Sentience%20in%20robots_Applications%20and%20challenges%20.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis_Seabra_Lopes/publication/3453952_Semisentient_robots_Routes_to_integrated_intelligence/links/5533e3920cf2f2a588b22d6f.pdf

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/139/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10676-010-9235-5.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs10676-010-9235-5&token2=exp=1494902640~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F139%2Fart%25253A10.1007%25252Fs10676-010-9235-5.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs10676-010-9235-5*~hmac=5ac5efbf2b0e6192b58a6858e5dec14d226c3a746d5abfabf201d22dd3cb495d

http://careymorewedge.com/papers/SensebySentience.pdf

Proposal:

Planetary colonization is a topic often discussed and explored in science fiction. The infinite expanse of space has made many dreamers wonder what possibilities lie in wait for us. And with a real world attempt to colonize Mars, the dream looks to be within our grasp. But this is still science fiction. What stops this topic of science fiction from being a reality. From the research that I have done there seems to be no end to the issues.

Science fiction often depicts a number of planets that are habitable. So that should mean that there are plentiful amounts of worlds that can support life. The sad truth to this is that such planets are few and far between. Life is delicate. Finding a planet that can support life is one of the hardest things to do. The fact that Earth can support life is similar to winning a few dozen lotteries. Thankfully we have technology. Our understanding of celestial bodes and their effects on our bodies continues to grow as we learn and explore more detailed discoveries. So how does our real world technology measure up to our science fiction stories? Assuming the story does not involve some ancient alien temple that just does so without explanation, this is done in a number of arduous steps. To be able to walk on the surface of Mars without the use of environmental suits, the planet would first need to support an environment that can support life. Behrokh Khoshnevis is a a professor in engineer at the University of Southern California and has given us his insight in the procedure to colonize Mars. In a CNN report he says that the first step is to establish key infrastructural buildings like landing pads and radiation protection. However the process is too dangerous and strenuous for human astronauts to go out to Mars just to be construction workers. These first few steps will require heavy labor on a remote planet that cannot support life. So the answer to this is to use robots to construct these buildings and facilities. Robots will play a key role in colonizing hostile environments like Mars. Given our current technology each motion the robot takes will have an 8 minute delay. While not helpful, it is something we can manage with our current technology. Despite this, it does mean that we can build infrastructure and other buildings without risking very expensive and skilled astronauts to the dangers and horrors of Mars.

Science fiction has a number of stories taking place on distant planets. An example of this is from the Borderlands series. The majority of the series takes place on the fictional planet of Pandora. There native wildlife have a habit of violently killing everyone who attempted to colonize the planet. So colonizing a planet that can’t support life may be a benefit if you do not have to concern yourself with native wildlife that enjoys new entrees in the local food chain. So the theory and practice of colonization is very interesting. It is the imagination of the infinite expanse of space and exploration. Then setting your roots down where few have traveled before.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/21/tech/nasa-3d-printing-colony-mars/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1022271301244?LI=true

http://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.1541431

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/027311779290108A

http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Tech/Space/mars.html

Reflection:

After the initial proposal I realized I had a glaring problem with it. It doesn’t connect with science fiction. The proposal was just about planetary colonization and had no connection to science fiction. I thought to fix that in this revised proposal. Here’s the problem. I fixed it with a short paragraph. That’s not much of a fix, more like a patch job. It was also brought to my attention that citing my sources is a thing I should be doing so I did it. I drew a lot of this proposal from an interview that CNN did. Originally I wrote some steps that would lead to the colonization of a planet. I thought it was educated and well thought out. Then I realized that I was not an expert in the field and should probably look into a professional’s opinion on the topic as opposed to my educated guess. Thankfully the CNN interview is with a professor at the University of Southern California so that was miles better than the thought out nonsense that I came up with because I thought I was clever for some strange reason. So I used that interview to talk about the steps toward colonization. The interview also went into deeper detail about gravity and radiation but I thought that I was going on long enough about the subject and that I needed to move onto how this all relates to science fiction. When it comes to topics about science fiction I cannot find any sources that relate to science fiction and planetary colonization. To that I responded by trying to pull up a colonized planet from a science fiction setting that I have seen in popular media. The problem with that is the limit in my options. I prefer fantasy stories over science fiction so I don’t have that many options that I can think of. The only science fiction games I can think of are ones that my sister roped me into playing. The only two science fiction games that my sister has managed to drag me into and have something to do with planetary colonization is the Borderlands series and Destiny. The difference between the two is that Borderlands starts as a planet that can support life and involve colonists being destroyed and Destiny has this alien orb thing that makes all planets in the Milky Way a habitat that can support life.