# HG changeset patch
# User Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
# Date 1380301586 14400
# Node ID df7950667f587bdd991a05c1b8d606d05d2da4e5
# Parent  82cfd2b29db675af936eef81372e96a1d9d9c602
add thoughts on mind's eye

diff -r 82cfd2b29db6 -r df7950667f58 org/minds-eye.org
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/org/minds-eye.org	Fri Sep 27 13:06:26 2013 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+#+title: Ethics of Mind's Eye
+#+author: Robert McIntyre
+#+email: rlm@mit.edu
+#+description: 
+#+keywords: 
+#+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
+#+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
+#+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
+
+* COMMENT Ethical Considerations Regarding DARPA's Mind's Eye Program
+
+As scientists and engineers, it is our sacred duty to explore the
+boundaries of human knowledge in a responsible way. We are part of the
+larger organism of humanity, and tasked with discovering new things
+that help the race first, and all life second.
+
+While knowledge and non-sentient technology is neither morally good or
+evil, the things we discover are embedded in a wider cultural context,
+and in many cases it is possible to foresee possible uses and abuses
+our new technology will enable.
+
+It is naive to think that the government or any group of humans is
+either wholly good or evil, but by reasoning from the
+motivations/power of such groups, we can try to infer whether a
+technology will improve the lot of humanity or not.
+
+It is possible to give and institution/culture a technology that they
+will enthusiastically accept, but which will greatly diminish their
+quality of life.
+
+Some examples:
+
+PGP -- an encryption suite that can help individuals to send messages
+
+
+
+* Questions
+
+- What should our ethical place be in deciding whether or not to
+  pursue research?
+
+  - Follow orders, assume our overall culture will use things
+    responsibly, and leave the ethical considerations to the
+    government/people.
+    
+    - Many scientists who worked on the atomic bomb later questioned
+      their decisions.
+    - Yet, an advanced society /should/ have atomic weapons, if for
+      nothing else than to defend themselves from meteors, blow shit
+      up, etc.
+   
+  - We are each morally responsible for the things we help create. We
+    are responsible for the misuses of technology we develop and the
+    pain and suffering it causes. Ultimately our contributions to
+    society will be judged by whether our technology did more good
+    than bad.
+
+- If we decide that we *are* morally responsible for the technology we
+  develop, then is the Mind's Eye project in particular something we
+  should be doing?
+  
+  - Here are some things you can build with Mind's Eye tech:
+
+    - System to monitor single humans living alone and call for help
+      in the case of emergencies (such as a fall)
+
+    - Same system for hospitals and nursing homes (of course, this
+      also makes them even more impersonal)
+
+    - The equivalent of a FBI special agent watching everything you do
+      from the moment you step out your door to the moment you go back
+      to your house to sleep, building a dossier of every move you
+      make, everyone you talk to, where you shop, etc.
+
+    - A concentration camp / prison that is ABSOLUTELY impossible to
+      escape from.
+
+    - Many other countries that don't care as much about human rights
+      as America will use this technology to monitor their citizens
+      24/7. 
+
+    - Protection from surveillance in you own home does not apply
+      unless you *own* your house. Say goodbye to privacy in school
+      dorms, apartments, rented houses, etc.
+    
+  - People are OK with current surveillance because it is
+    *dumb*. Mostly people only use security camera footage in the case
+    of crimes, and it is a painstaking process because it requires
+    manual human intervention. With AI, this will soon not be the
+    case.
+