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1 #+title: Ethics of Mind's Eye
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2 #+author: Robert McIntyre
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3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu
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4 #+description:
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5 #+keywords:
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6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
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7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
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8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
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9
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10 * COMMENT Ethical Considerations Regarding DARPA's Mind's Eye Program
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11
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12 As scientists and engineers, it is our sacred duty to explore the
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13 boundaries of human knowledge in a responsible way. We are part of the
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14 larger organism of humanity, and tasked with discovering new things
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15 that help the race first, and all life second.
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16
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17 While knowledge and non-sentient technology is neither morally good or
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18 evil, the things we discover are embedded in a wider cultural context,
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19 and in many cases it is possible to foresee possible uses and abuses
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20 our new technology will enable.
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21
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22 It is naive to think that the government or any group of humans is
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23 either wholly good or evil, but by reasoning from the
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24 motivations/power of such groups, we can try to infer whether a
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25 technology will improve the lot of humanity or not.
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26
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27 It is possible to give and institution/culture a technology that they
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28 will enthusiastically accept, but which will greatly diminish their
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29 quality of life.
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30
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31 Some examples:
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32
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33 PGP -- an encryption suite that can help individuals to send messages
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34
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35
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36
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37 * Questions
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38
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39 - What should our ethical place be in deciding whether or not to
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40 pursue research?
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41
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42 - Follow orders, assume our overall culture will use things
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43 responsibly, and leave the ethical considerations to the
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44 government/people.
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45
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46 - Many scientists who worked on the atomic bomb later questioned
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47 their decisions.
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48 - Yet, an advanced society /should/ have atomic weapons, if for
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49 nothing else than to defend themselves from meteors, blow shit
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50 up, etc.
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51
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52 - We are each morally responsible for the things we help create. We
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53 are responsible for the misuses of technology we develop and the
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54 pain and suffering it causes. Ultimately our contributions to
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55 society will be judged by whether our technology did more good
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56 than bad.
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57
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58 - If we decide that we *are* morally responsible for the technology we
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59 develop, then is the Mind's Eye project in particular something we
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60 should be doing?
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61
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62 - Here are some things you can build with Mind's Eye tech:
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63
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64 - System to monitor single humans living alone and call for help
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65 in the case of emergencies (such as a fall)
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66
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67 - Same system for hospitals and nursing homes (of course, this
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68 also makes them even more impersonal)
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69
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70 - The equivalent of a FBI special agent watching everything you do
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71 from the moment you step out your door to the moment you go back
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72 to your house to sleep, building a dossier of every move you
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73 make, everyone you talk to, where you shop, etc.
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74
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75 - A concentration camp / prison that is ABSOLUTELY impossible to
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76 escape from.
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77
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78 - Many other countries that don't care as much about human rights
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79 as America will use this technology to monitor their citizens
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80 24/7.
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81
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82 - Protection from surveillance in you own home does not apply
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83 unless you *own* your house. Say goodbye to privacy in school
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84 dorms, apartments, rented houses, etc.
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85
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86 - People are OK with current surveillance because it is
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87 *dumb*. Mostly people only use security camera footage in the case
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88 of crimes, and it is a painstaking process because it requires
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89 manual human intervention. With AI, this will soon not be the
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90 case.
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91
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