Jack Trembath Intermission 4-Story 4


Through intermission four and story four, Yamamoto begins to look at the relationship between humans and humanoids and their similarities and differences.  This begins with the story teller noticing how humanistic Ibis appears and how she is sexually attractive.  The storyteller asks why she looks like an attractive human woman, and her response is she’s appeared that way sense birth.  He goes on to ask why she hasn’t changed her appearance, and her response puts into light a new way of thinking about AI.  She claims, “’Consciousness is inextricably tied to the senses.  Since an AI without a body feels no bodily sensations, a consciousness cannot be born.  In order to acquire a consciousness similar to that of humans, we need to have human bodies, the same instincts, and the same senses as humans” (123-124).  This is an interesting point.  A key part of Ibis’ identity is her physical appearance and furthermore a change in this physical appearance would alter her consciousness.  The idea of separating the mind from the body defined as Cartesian dualism goes against this notion, but the human body, image, and senses are essential to human consciousness and identity.  I think this brings in to question what is human or what defines human.  If something looks like a human, acts like a human, and functions similar to that of a human, is it human?  I believe this may be the question Ibis is attempting to get the storyteller to contemplate.  That is the uncanny nature of humanoid artificial intelligence.  Everything about them seems to be human except for the overlying matter that their components are mechanical.  This question flows through in the fourth story.  The computer that encompasses the entire space system is aware that it does not have a soul, nor does it have the capability of loneliness or mourning, but it attempts human acts through the process of writing.  By the end of the story, the computer seems to have developed a sense of sadness or human-like feelings through interaction and attempted understandings of humans.  If not pointing out the potential for humanistic AI, it does have a universal message that through better understanding of others, one can gain at least an empathetic connection with those surrounding them.
I think a topic I would like to explore is the relationship between AI and their creators especially in interaction with each other.  If you think about it, AI creators create in their image and put themselves in to this new being.  This creates a God-like relationship and/or a Father like relationship.  While this is sentimental and well-intended, the AI presents this threat of outsmarting and dominating its master.  I think this idea also plays with the concept like that of Frankenstein in which the creation expands beyond the creator’s original intent.  One place I am seeing this relationship played out is in the HBO series Westworld.  In this series, people enter an electronic world and play out story lines with artificial intelligence, but things seem to go slightly awry when the artificial intelligence become more aware especially through the allowance of their creators who want their “children” to grow.  When the creator enters the world, he is God-incarnate walking amongst his beings.  The creator seems to have personal investment in the AI he creates, and it drives his motivation in directions different than that of the corporate company running the show.
http://www.wisecrack.co/shows/wisecrackedition/philosophy-of-westworld/
This link is to a video that discusses the philosophy surrounding the show and especially touches on how the world reflects the humans who interact with it.                   

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