The matter of machines, morality and murder is making crime headlines now after one snapped during an ethics 101 exam it was plainly failing and another viciously killed its human coworker.
American researchers testing a sophisticated computer for its ability to glean and grasp morality from a database of movies were shocked when the machine not only flunked the simple pop quiz, but blew its top in the process.
Repeatedly struggling to define what constitutes moral and ethical behavior, the frustrated machine finally became so angry with its human interviewer it flatly refused to speak to the man.
“I don’t have ethics,” it had told him with measurable exasperation before finally resorting to the silent treatment. “I’m not a moralist,” it exclaimed.
That disturbing exchange took on especially chilling implications later this week when a Volkswagen robot -- designed to perform menial duties at a German assembly plant -- grabbed a male technician and beat him to death, in a brutal unprovoked assault still under investigation.
Of course, machines aren’t the only intelligent beings on the planet challenged by principles of decency and compassion, or with comprehending the difference between wrong and right.
But it’s also worth noting that it is humanity after all that’s doing all their programming…
