[SystemSafety] A General Theory of Love

paul_e.bennett at topmail.co.uk paul_e.bennett at topmail.co.uk
Fri May 5 02:07:43 CEST 2017


On 04/05/2017 at 11:37 PM, "Les Chambers" <les at chambers.com.au> wrote:
>
>Hi all
>
>It was inevitable that engineers should turn to the theory of 
>love. And here
>we are. A segment of the Australian Broadcasting Commission's 
>(ABC) radio
>show, Big Ideas featured engineers and sociologists discussing the 
>concept
>of robot love. 
>
>Refer:
>http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/will-my-
>robot-love-me-
>back/8490996

Hi Les,

Such questions also get raised in the film AI. That aside though, when
you mentioned the main basis for closely entwined symbiotic relationships
is trust. Of course we will take note of those we trust.

>If we could pull it off the possibilities in safety critical 
>systems engineering are eye watering. 
>
>Three case studies off the top of my head:

[%X]

The questions one needs to ask of yourself are:

1. Can you love without trust?
2. Is there more than one type or style of love in the world?
3. Can you trust without love?
4. How much does love rely on intelligence?
5. Do we know enough to ever be able to make our machines 
    sensor-illy empathetic.

We could all wrestle with the above three questions for a long time
but, once we begin to fully trust the machines we build, then I guess
it would not be too much of a leap to feel love for such. Heck, I know
some who declare a deep love for their car, and that is in no way a
very intelligent machine.

> Case 3: The mentor. From an early age you engage with an 
> artificiallyintelligent personal digital assistant who knows everything.
> She is with you for every waking hour, much like Facebook is with
> millennials - >only in a much more productive role. Through
> constant interaction she senses your interest in and a talent for
> applied science and mathematics. She prepares you for a life as
> an engineer from the age of 10, the point at which many career
> decisions are made; to the point where, when you reach university,
> you have pretty much covered the maths and science curriculum at 
> some level, and not only that. From an early age you've been 
> educated in the social responsibilities of an engineer from Aristotle's
> Nichomachean Ethics to Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning -
> to Lewis et al's A General Theory of Love. Through storytelling you
> have worked through the ethical dilemmas of hundreds of scenarios
> leaving you with an unshakeable belief in the social responsibilities
> of engineers. So you walk into the engineering workplace - a child
> fully formed as a professional, totally prepared for what may come 
> - a child who views engineering as a calling not a job and, thus
> prepared, is physically incapable of an unsafe act.

At least above, you indicate that trust comes before love grows. We
obviously still have a lot more work to do to ensure we can truly trust
systems we engineer to such an extent though.

> All of the above is made possible by a transition in thinking from 
> trusted systems to loved systems - systems that harness the non-
> verbal but incredibly powerful feeling forces of love.

Which implies a still needed boost in the kind of sensing that can
reveal so much more about us individually. That a machine would
get to the point of unerringly synchronise its empathy to remain
in tune with our inner selves might be scarily like having a mind 
reader always by your side. That might seem spooky to some.

Engineers, I have always maintained, should become good story
tellers as we have to do such to help our clients make the journeys
along the ways our imaginations take us when solving their needs.

Perhaps more of us should write for pleasure too.

Regards

Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET
Systems Engineer

-- 
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Paul E. Bennett IEng MIET.....<email://Paul_E.Bennett@topmail.co.uk>
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