It seems that the machines have taken the reins of human destiny. We wonder if we are heading towards a inevitable technological progress by the hand of the Artificial intelligence. Already at the end of the 19th century Samuel Butler alerted us to the arrival of “superior machines” and Mary Shelley he imagined his ‘collage’ of doctor frankenstein electrically animated. Since then the progress of machines has been radically accelerated, from looms to the value machine and calculators. The passing of the narrative fiction to the science and technology.
In the 20th century, Turing he was wondering if he could “think” a machinewith an affirmative answer and if in the future they could be equipped with “self-awareness” and even if we could be surpassed by artificial beings.
The answer to this and many other questions is Professor of Law Frank Pasqualeexpert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the American Cornell University in his recent essay ‘The new laws of robotics’(2024) who published the Gutenberg publishing house.
Pasquale already wrote in previous works about the secrets of algorithms and the control of money and information. This prominent North American jurist focuses his research on the huge impact that the new technologies are having in areas such as law and economicsin the world of health and education or employment.
As a researcher of this phenomenon he clearly defends a AI regulation that helps control robots and algorithms, placing itself in a middle ground between technophobia and technophilia. He considers that a new stage in the history of humanity is beginning in its already long series of adventures and misadventures, dramas and comedies. From now on we will share the spotlight with AI, we will therefore be co-executive producers and together we will write the script for the future of a techno-humanity.
The core of Pasquale’s monumental essay is to clearly state the Strong AI performance with what he calls «existential risk» for humans for the tool loss of controlseparating it from the most worrying issues for Humanity such as inequalities, injustices, discrimination, rights and illiberty that threaten liberal democracies.
In his opinion, a new ethics: the future of robotics must be inclusive and democratic. AI advances are not just any advances, they can be very positive for humanity or quite the opposite. For Pasquale, the ethical principles and values that distinguish us as a species must be guaranteed through a strong regulation for which a international consensus, a trusted global regulator. If AI has gone too far, certain intelligence systems should be banned due to the real danger they may pose to humanity. The rapid development of unregulated AI must end.
The danger could come from the industry AI that accumulate political power enough to crush any attempt to regulate it. Governing fairly and inclusively, for example, is not a matter of algorithms. Thus the United States Congress summoned Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) to testify about his social network’s repeated failures regarding fake news, voter manipulation and misuse of data. The EU legislation has approved a pioneering standard in the world for the regulation of AI, a moratorium (government authorization) that slow down the loss of control of this important tool in our lives. If the Infosphere was born without human consensus, nor democratic will, but from the disruptive and irresponsible spirit of Silicon Valleyit is time to regulate it to guarantee a future where citizens control AI, and not excessive technological development due to the desire for private enrichment.
‘The new rules of robotics’.
Author: Frank Pasquale.
Editorial: Gutenberg Galaxy. Barcelona, 2024.
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