The Wall Street Journal recently reported that French researchers treated COVID-19 patients with a “game-changer” combination of hydroxychloroquine and a Z-Pak (antibiotic), and that every single patient was cured within 6 days. In comparison, the recovery rates were 57.1% for patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone and only 12.5% for patients who received neither medication. More tests are needed but the obvious conclusion would be treat first, test later. What harm could that do? Read More ›
As the world reels amid the COVID-19 (formerly, coronavirus) pandemic, the government of China wants us to know that 1) the virus didn’t originate in China and 2) President Xi stopped it in its tracks. And that we should all be thankful to him. Read More ›
While many people (myself included) have railed against the excesses of technology and its tendency to weaken community spirit and understanding, it turns out that, in the present crisis, it is having the opposite effect. We are all stuck in our houses for the next several weeks. However, thanks to our new digital infrastructure, we aren’t really alone in the same way any more. Read More ›
Coronavirus provides a test. The Chinese Communist Party offers mainland Chinese people security and prosperity in exchange for the sacrifice of personal freedom. But when the government cannot uphold its end of the agreement — security — the people may become less tolerant of the human rights violations. And the age of information makes it much easier to discover them. Read More ›
Artificial intelligence expert Robert J. Marks investigates the potential military use of lethal AI and examines the practical and ethical challenges. Marks provocatively argues that the development of lethal AI is not only appropriate in today’s society — it is unavoidable. Read More ›
Doomsday headlines warn that the age of “killer robots” is upon us, and that new military technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to the annihilation of the human race.
In his new, short book The Case for Killer Robots: Why America’s Military Needs to Continue Development of Lethal AI (Discovery Institute Press 2020), artificial intelligence expert Robert J. Marks investigates the potential military use of lethal AI and examines the practical and ethical challenges.
Dr. Marks directs the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute, and he is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University. Marks also heads up the Center’s daily news website, Mind Matters News and hosts the Mind Matters Podcast.
This short monograph is published in conjunction with the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence and the Center is making if freely available as a digital book at the Mind Matters website. Physical copies are available through Amazon.com.
“Marks makes a lucid and compelling case that we have a moral obligation to develop lethal AI,” said Jay Richards, philosopher and author, The Human Ad-vantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines. “He also reminds us that moral questions apply, not to the tools that we use to protect ourself, but to how we use them when war becomes a necessity.”
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Some of the recent conflicts around algorithms and ethnicity are flubs that social media entrepreneurs will regret. Others may endanger life. Read More ›