Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me
Ian McEwan: Machines Like Me. 5/5.
McEwan is possibly the most interesting writer on moral philosophy in our time. Ian McEwan poses some tough questions in Machines Like Me, how artificial intelligence might struggle with the Janus face of humanity. McEwan introduces the concept of ”machine sadness”, of course familiar to any viewer of Bladerunner.
I wonder if @RedFlagSv’s book-keeping machine learning software dreams of electric sheep?
I find it baffling that we still almost don’t at all have a discussion regarding introducing some compliance and regulation or at the very least ethics into AI/ML development. Elin Musk has been onto this obviously, but politicians globally seem unaware. And yes I know, it is discussed in the education at MIT, but I’m thinking of a broader discussion with all stakeholders so we don’t end up in yet another stupid situation where we again stifle innovation because we started to discuss these matters too late.
You are stressed out about global warming? AI/ML is an area even more crucial. Possibly not as publicity friendly. The Terminator is not the imminent issue. Temporary mass unemployment however could be an issue. Enter 20+% unemployment added with poor market performance… We will find new jobs eventually and training and re-training for those, I’m not as concerned over time, but short term we might end up in a very bad place. Usually in such times, extremists thrive. But it’s not just a matter of employment but also a matter of what kind of policy we place on the machines. The UN project to find machine learning biases is a start, but we need more work on these matters — quickly.
Regarding the book. It is a clear 5/5. Highly recommended. Beautiful story, poses all the right questions, well-read.
Only one meager annoyance: why the hell is the bot using a keyboard?!
Otherwise: perfetto!
Mikael Pawlo
