January 5

[Derek]

Originally Posted by mudshark

Hmm. Without programming, how could you ever have AI to begin with?

Heh. True. My point was that an AI has to be true to its programming, and so I didn't think that an AI would just randomly adopt new instincts that it hadn't been programmed with.

In other words, that cliched plot where the computer becomes intelligent and the first thing it does is destroy everyone who tries to pull the plug on it seems a bit hokey to me since very often the computer wouldn't have been programmed for self-preservation (at least, that's not a priority in the programs I write).

Similarly, evay, I don't believe an AI would try wiping out all of humanity because it is wasteful and inefficient unless it were programmed to do so, or at least, programmed to think wastefulness and inefficiency were bad. And I don't believe it would have any ambition to rule the planet unless it were designed to do so or at least programmed to think that was a desirable goal.