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Epistemological and metaphysical questions Purpose:
The purpose of this discussion is for you to think critically about
epistemological and metaphysical questions and why you think
the way that you do and for you to argue for them. It is easy to
say what you think, but it is hard to back it up in a debate. This is
an extreme case, but working with it makes every-day cases
easier.
The Case:
Growing up, you had a near and dear childhood friend, call them
Andi Rossum.1 Now, for sleep-overs or slumber-parties, Andi
would not eat and the Rossums explained that this is because
Andi has a very special diet. You take classes together, play
together and Andi is your best friend. In your teens, while getting
into shenanigans, Andi cuts themselves and you notice that it’s
not blood which comes out, but rather a greenish-blue liquid. You
recognize it immediately as coolant, like in a car.
It turns out, the Rossums were researchers at a top secret
government lab. They fell in love and ended up having a baby,
which they named ‘Andi’. But this Andi died only a few years old
and the parents, distraught, used their accesses to various
technologies to build a ‘baby’. The brain is a computer and the
parts are exchanged to match growth patterns.2
But, does Andi have a mind? Are they conscious? Remember
that Andi is a machine. Epistemological and metaphysical questions
Tasks:
- For your initial post, you need to:
- Think carefully about the above case and then explain
whether you think Andi has a mind, are they conscious, do they feel, etc. Going outside of the case for a
moment, all of your real evidence your non–robotic
friends and family have minds is based on their
behavior, which is no difffferent than the evidence you
have that Andi has a mind.
- Say why you think that. As always with these cases,
you should not say merely that this is how you feel, but
rather explain why you have that feeling.
- Say how you think another student may reply to your
stance. Doing these 3 things is worth 10pts.
- Reply to 2 other students in this class who have opposing
views to you or take on the role as the devil’s advocate and
object to them. And, if possible, avoid replying in the way
that they thought someone might reply. Each reply is worth
5pts. Going above and beyond (more than 2 substantive
replies) is rewarded with extra credit.
Major Note: Epistemological and metaphysical questions
I have seen this several times and it really fails to answer the
questions. Many students try to make a distinction between
‘having a mind’ and ‘being conscious’. This is a distinction
without a relevant difffference. In order to be conscious, a thing
must have a mind and if a thing has a mind, then they are
conscious. Think of the mind as whatever is necessary for
consciousness, that is, it is impossible for something to be
conscious without having a mind.
To Succeed:
- Make sure you are clear about your stance, that you do not
devolve into name-calling and uncivil behavior.2. Debate and replies to replies are encouraged as this is
practice for real-world debates.
- Make sure that you have all of the above points in your
posts.
- I will comment replies if the post is very offff-the-mark in the
interpretation of the case, if it is unduly inflflammatory, or
otherwise not appropriate.
For a real world case where people have been fooled by clever AI
programs, check out the following links:
(Links to an external site.)
AI Teaching Assistant Jill Watson
(Links to an external site.)
Ted Talk
(Links to an external site.)
For fifictional examples of trying to determine whether some
android has a mind, I recommend the following:
Star Trek The Next Generation, Season 2 Episode 9, The
Measure of a Man.
Star Trek The Next Generation, Season 6 Episode 9, The Quality
of Life.
Footnote(s):
1 The name ‘Rossum’ is in reference to the play Rossum’s Universal
Robots, by Karel Capek which is the fifirst use of the word ‘robot’ in English. It
comes from the Czeck word ‘robotnik’, meaning ‘forced worker’, as in a slave
or serf.
2 A quick note, a computer can learn, the basic level way that this is done is
described in the module concerning AI. Epistemological and metaphysical questions