i am somewhat confused about how i feel… as much as i am confused about how i am making the decision to type this when i really should be getting dressed for work. but this short video clip is absolutely blowing my mind. of course ted tv always finds a way to do that, but for some reason this topic of cybernetic emotional and empathetic intelligence… i mean… really?
but perhaps it is not the topic so much as the presentation style that is so matter of fact. that combined with my ignorance of how close we actually are to creating the types of artificial intelligence that we see in bad hollywood movies. after i got over this intitial shock i started to ponder this further…
could we build a machine that so empathizes with let’s say, a student who is breaking down with a moral dilemma to stay in foster care knowing that it may provide a more stable home environment even though she would miss her family? could a machine understand and attempt to mentor such a student faced with a struggle to find peace in how it orients her own moral compass?
could we build a “moral compass” into a machine like this? could a machine be programmed with infinite patience and close to infinite knowledge and utilize the two to help a struggling child learn? not so eloquently put; could a machine replace me as a teacher? i mean that is really what i am getting down to here…
either way, i think it is very interesting, the concept that we are spending billions of dollars on machines that don’t think or feel and therefor have no qualms with killing all kinds of life, as they were designed to do. but can the opposite approach to robotics design really contain the seeds of hope for humanity? time will tell i guess. if you have 5 minutes, take the time to watch this: