I have a simple question – Are you aware of any institution, public or private, that is engaging in serious research regarding humanities issues in a "post-conscious AI" world? Despite the now thousands of hours I’ve put into researching AI for the eight near-future, science fiction novellas on the subject...
I’m having a problem understanding why Stuart Russell thinks that AI learning human preferences is a good idea. I think it’s a bad idea. I assume I am wrong but I assume I don’t understand something. So, help me out here please. I’m not looking for an argument but rather...
What follows is the draft of a letter I wrote but did not send to UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI aka CHAI. Whoever I sent it to might feel put on the spot which would limit its dissemination. So I thought I would post it here and see what...
I have a simple question – Are you aware of any institution, public or private, that is engaging in serious research regarding humanities issues in a "post-conscious AI" world? Despite the now thousands of hours I’ve put into researching AI for the eight near-future, science fiction novellas on the subject I have written I have not found one.
Sure it’s entertaining to see social issues regarding AI or companions/androids/social robots explored in games like Detroit: Become Human but I’m curious to know if anyone is doing serious academic research towards the eventuality of conscious AI being present in society. While there is a wide range of opinions, a great many people do seem... (read 310 more words →)
I’ll be seventy later this year so I don’t worry about “the future” for myself much or how I should live my life differently. I’ve got some grandkids though and as far as my advice to them goes I tell their mom that the trades will be safer than clerical or white color jobs because robotics will lag behind AI. Sure you can teach an AI to do manual labor, like say brain surgery, but it’s not going to be making house calls. Creating a robotic plumber would be a massive investment and so not likely to happen. In my humble opinion.
Of course this assumes the world will still need plumbers in... (read 586 more words →)
For the past two-plus years I’ve been writing hard science fiction novellas and vignettes about social robots called Companions. They are based in this and the next two centuries.
After a thirty year career in IT I am now retired, write as a hobby and self-publish. I try to write 300-1k words per day and have written seven novellas and forty vignettes.
As a way to address my own social isolation at the time, about ten years ago I also researched and created a social activities group which I ran successfully for two years. Info is here…
https://socialwellness.wordpress.com/
I agree with your views and here are my own responses.
Most people will not ignore real relationships. We... (read 580 more words →)
I think you raise a very valid point and I will suggest that it will need to be addressed on multiple levels. Do not expect any technical details here as I am not an academic but a retired person who writes hard science fiction about social robots as a hobby.
With regards to your statement, “We don't have enough data to be sure this should be regulated” I assume you are referring to technical aspects of AI but in regards to human behavior we have more than enough data – humans will pursue the potential of AI to exploit relationships in every way they can and will do so forever just like they... (read 762 more words →)
Yes I agree that AI will show us a great deal about ourselves. For that reason I am interested in neurological differences in humans that AI might reflect and often include these in my short stories.
In response to your last paragraph while most science fiction does portray enforced social order as bad I do not. I take the benevolent view of AI and see it as an aspect of the civilizing role of society along with its institutions and laws. Parents impose social order on their children with benevolent intent.
As you have pointed out if we have alignment then “good” must be defined somewhere and that suggests a kind of “external” control... (read 434 more words →)
I have been writing hard science fiction stories where this issue is key for over two years now. I’m retired after a 30 year career in IT and my hobby of writing is my full time “job” now. Most of that time is spent on research of AI or other subjects related to the particular stories.
One of the things I have noticed over that time is that those who talk about the alignment problem rarely talk about the point you raise. It is glossed over and taken as self-evident while I have found that the subject of values appears to be at least as complex as genetics (which I have also had... (read 539 more words →)
When In Rome
Thank you for posting this Geoffrey. I myself have recently been considering posting the question, “Aligned with which values exactly?”
TL;DR - Could an AI be trained to deduce a default set and system of human values by reviewing all human constitutions, laws, policies and regulations in the manner of AlphaGo?
I come at this from a very different angle than you do. I am not an academic but rather am retired after a thirty year career in IT systems management at the national and provincial (Canada) levels.
Aside from my career my lifelong personal interest has been, well let’s call it “Human Nature”. So long before I had any interest in AI... (read 724 more words →)
Thanks for responding Viliam. Totally agree with you that “if homo sapiens actually had no biological foundations for trust, altruism, and cooperation, then... it would be extremely difficult for our societies to instill such values”.
As you say, we have a blend of values that shift as required by our environment. I appreciate your agreement that it’s not really clear how training an AI on human preferences solves the issue raised here.
Of all the things I have ever discussed in person or on-line values are the most challenging. I’ve been interested in human values for decades before AI came along and historically there is very little hard science to be found on the... (read more)
TL;DR Watch this video ...
or read the list of summary points for the book here
If you don't know who this guy is he is a historian who writes about the future (among other things).
I'm 68 and retired. I've seen some changes. Investing in companies like Xerox and Kodak would have made sense early in my career. Would have been a bad idea in the long run. The companies that would have made sense to invest in didn't exist yet.
I started my IT career in 1980 running an IBM mainframe the size of a semi-trailer while its peripherals took up an entire floor. Almost no one but hobbyists owned a PC and... (read 449 more words →)
“…human preferences/values/needs/desires/goals/etc. is a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving alignment.”
I have to agree with you in this regard and most of your other points. My concern however is that Stuart’s communications give the impression that the preferences approach addresses the problem of AI learning things we consider bad when in fact it doesn’t.
The model of AI learning our preferences by observing our behavior and then proceeding with uncertainty makes sense to me. However just as Asimov’s robot characters eventually decide there is a fourth rule that overrides the other three Stuart’s “Three Principles” model seems incomplete. Preferences do not appear to me, in themselves, to deal with the issue of evil.
Stuart does say something along the same lines that you point out in a later chapter however I felt it detracted from his idea of three principles:
1. The machine's only objective is to maximize the realization of human preferences.
2. The machine is initially uncertain about what those preferences are.
3. The ultimate source of information about human preferences is human behavior.
He goes on at such length to qualify and add special cases that the word “ultimate” in principle #3 seems to have been a poor choice because it becomes so watered down as to lose its authority.
If things like laws, ethics and morality are used to constrain what AI... (read more)
I’m having a problem understanding why Stuart Russell thinks that AI learning human preferences is a good idea. I think it’s a bad idea. I assume I am wrong but I assume I don’t understand something. So, help me out here please. I’m not looking for an argument but rather to understand. Let me explain.
I have watched Stuart’s four hour lecture series of Reith lectures on the BBC. Highly recommended. I have watched several other videos that include him as well. I am currently reading his book, Human Compatible. I am not an academic. I am now retired and write science fiction about advanced social robots for a hobby.
Reading the chapter “AI:... (read 363 more words →)
What follows is the draft of a letter I wrote but did not send to UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI aka CHAI. Whoever I sent it to might feel put on the spot which would limit its dissemination. So I thought I would post it here and see what the LessWrong community, thought in regards to the issue I raise.
[Beginning of draft email]
To whom it may concern:
Given CHAI’s efforts at communicating its message and reading through your 2020 Progress Report I am surprised there are no channels other than non-fiction.
There are three reasons I suggest why being open to members of your community writing and sharing related fictional stories among themselves... (read 1417 more words →)