Despite somehigh - profile hesitationsurrounding artificial intelligence , robots by and large seem to be on our side for now . But there ’s at least one recent exception to that trend . AsFast Companyreports , Alexander Reben ’s " First Law " golem may be the first of its kind design with the lone purpose of inflicting pain on humans .
The robot ’s name is a quotation to the 1942 Isaac Asimov short story " Runaround " which contains the three rules of robotics . The first reads , " a robot may not injure a human being or , through inaction , allow a human being to come to injury . " The robot make by Reben — an creative person , technologist , and roboticist from Berkeley , California — was built to do the opposite , but it stays true to Asimov ’s original theme : the potential complication of hokey intelligence .
The bodily harm the machine dole out comes in the form of a swift needle peter to the finger’s breadth . What ’s even more unsettling about the robot is that it does n’t inflict pain at every opportunity . The twist will sometimesrefrain from pricking its victimin order to quash getting switched off . So effectively , the robot chooses its victims autonomously .
The First Law golem was n’t built for any hard-nosed purpose , but rather to swear out as a accelerator for discourse about the futurity of AI . Many of the existence ’s extend applied science experts , includingStephen Hawking , have warned of the dangers of allowing artificial intelligence technology to progress uncurbed . Reben hop that lawyers , philosopher , and engineers will get nothingness of the project and join in the conversation .
" These cross - disciplinary people need to add up together , to solve some of these problems that no one of them can wrap their heads around or solve completely , " Reben toldFast Company .
observe a snip of the infliction - visit golem below , then ask yourself if you would trust it with your finger’s breadth ’s well - being .
[ h / tFast Company ]
