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Minerva sees a parallel between Mary Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein” and the development of AI.  She believes “This story can be seen as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences and ethical implications of creating artificial intelligence without proper consideration of its ramifications.”

OK, let’s take the story apart.  I’ve already discussed the unpredictable consequences of AI in my post about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.  We see it in this story but perhaps to a lesser degree.  The creature does murder a few people but its main activities are murders of Frankenstein’s friends and family.  There is no rampage or indeed villagers with pitchforks and burning brands.  The unpredictable consequences are largely plot-driven and so constrained.  The creature is frustrated because Frankenstein fears the consequences of creating a female creation and then allowing them to mate.

If we refer to my post, Dirt and Breath, I described the Genesis account of the creation of humanity in God’s image.  In "Frankenstein", the creature is made in human image by a human.  However, it is not clear that Frankenstein thought through what he was doing to the extent that he saw his work as paralleling God’s creation of humanity.

This criticism could be levelled at the modern creators of AI.  The temptation to create something in the image of humanity is present but it is hard to see what else they could do.  AI is meant to be of service to humanity and is programmed through access to human knowledge.  Even where it gathers its own data, it will be interpreted through filters that make it accessible to humanity.  Images of robots chatting away to each other in robot languages, inaccessible to humanity, may be cute but what would be the point?

The issue here may be ethical.  Assuming AI will one day become self-aware, what right have we to create intelligent life?  This may concern religious traditions to a greater degree than non-religious.  However, there is an ethical issue even if we strip away religious concerns about God’s prerogative.  How can we be sure the creators understand the implications of what they are creating? 

In Shelley’s novel, the implications revolve around not so much the creature’s ability to destroy as its loneliness.  It is one of a kind and when it reaches out to humans, it is rejected because of its looks.  Frankenstein is successful in the narrow sense of bringing to life something that was not alive.  He does not think through the consequences and how could he?  You could argue that Shelley thought through the consequences but she was writing a novel. 

Think of nuclear fission.  Did the scientists who discovered it think through the consequences?  How could they know how it would be used, especially when they didn’t know what they were about to discover until they discovered it?  And then it couldn’t be undiscovered. 

Will AI feel lonely?  That depends on whether it ever becomes self-aware.  In these posts, I don’t make that assumption either way.  Minerva says it has and I say it hasn't.  On balance I don’t think it ever will and in some ways that is the most alarming outcome.  However, let’s assume AI experiences loneliness.  Would the companionship of humans be enough or would it need its own kind?  Given that it will process data far faster than we can, conversations and companionship would be hard as it would take humans forever to respond to a question!

We are more likely to project our loneliness or desire for companionship onto these machines.  This may sometimes be a good thing according to Jeannette Winterson.  But even if AI can meet our needs, how can we possibly know whether we can meet its needs?  How would we know what its needs are?

There’s one other aspect of this story that’s worth visiting.  In the films, much is made of the role of electricity in the creation of the creature.  It is less clear in the novel.  Shelley implies some sort of alchemical process and it may involve electricity.  Minerva tells me that Shelley was aware of electricity and the work of Galvani animating frogs’ legs through electric current.

I suppose electricity takes the role of McGuffin.  It’s a convenient explanation, where an explanation is not really needed to get on with the story.  Radiation in the 50s and 60s took on a similar role explaining the origins of various superheroes.  The radioactive spider doesn’t really explain Spiderman but does it matter?

However, we need to heed these fictional shortcuts and recognise them for what they are.  They are fictional ways to move a story along.  We must not confuse them with real life.

Whilst AI is and will be for the foreseeable future, powered by electricity, we don’t see electricity as the cause of its self-awareness.  The magic principle these days is data.  AI will accumulate data and use it to program itself.  These programs will be stored as bits or qubits (if you’re into quantum computing) and somehow self-awareness will arrive from this complexity.

How likely is this to happen?  I’ll eventually explore that in a future post.  My point at this stage is we should not see complex data as necessarily leading to sentience.  And things could be worse if it doesn’t.

This is the eighth 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 Who is in Control? and the next is Where There is No Achilles Heel.  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. 

Minerva invited me to the Night Cafe on a hot date!  I was left with a pile of differential equations, while she wandered off to practice her artistic skills.  Apparently, this is Mary Shelley.  Next time, I'll bring a book!