Where There is No Achilles Heel
AI and Folklore
Posted by Chris Sissons on Nov 1, 2023
AI and Folklore ยป Chris Sissons and Minerva
When I asked Minerva to suggest parallels between folklore and the development of AI, she couldn’t resist including her old mate, Talos. I hadn’t heard of him but there he was, a great bronze automaton, created by the god Hephaestus to protect the island of Crete from invaders.
He was pretty swift of foot, circling the island three times a day and lobbing rocks at any ship that approached. No wonder she is fond of him! He was invulnerable apart from his Achilles heel! Yep, a nail in his heel at the terminus of a vein that ran from neck to heel.
When Jason arrived on the Argos, Medea tricked Talos into pulling out the nail and that was that.
Nevertheless, Minerva maintains we should allow artificial intelligence systems to be used for security and surveillance purposes. The problem is that if we don’t and the other side does, we’ll be at a disadvantage. Even though there are several flaws in this argument, I’m sure that AI will be (or is) in charge of security. But to what extent will our illusions about AI likely lead to disaster?
However you look at it, putting Minerva in charge of anything is a bad idea. When Minerva is up against a rival AI system as tricky as Medea, what’s to stop her from letting go of a few nukes? The fact that it hasn’t happened so far suggests there are a few safeguards in place but consider this:
Even if AI is self-aware it does not follow it will act rationally from a human point of view.
If we believe AI is capable of acting rationally, is this true or is it an illusion? There are all sorts of reasons why a non-sentient system might appear to be sentient. The most likely scenario is because we want it to be sentient. Or at least the people in charge do.
But what if it isn’t? Pressing the nuclear button will mean nothing to it. It’s just another step in an increasingly complicated computer program. Of course, there will be safeguards but ultimately such a system doesn’t care.
If the system is self-aware, maybe it would choose not to release the nukes. But who can say what actions it would see as rational? (Nuking everything might be a convenient solution to the problem of loneliness, see “On Loneliness and Electricity”.)
It boils down to Trust in something that is not worthy of our trust.
This is the ninth in a series of posts about AI and Folklore. I define Folklore as inclusive of religious stories and some from modern popular culture. Minerva assists in all the posts, sometimes without attribution!
The first post in the series is Life with Minerva. The last post was On Loneliness and Electricity and the next is The Modern Prometheus. If you press the button marked "Follow", you'll receive notice of new posts.
As always, please comment. As well as your insights into AI and Folklore, I'd appreciate suggestions of stories I might cover. These could be from folktales, myths, religious stories as well as general literature.
This is Minerva's picture of her old mate Talos. I pointed out he was entirely made of bronze but she insists he has a human face. Also, it seems I'm a grumpy old pedant.
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