Artificial Life? Would you trust the scientists who would make Artificial Life?
A recent quote from Mark Bedau: "When these things are created, they're going to be so weak, it'll be a huge achievement if you can keep them alive for an hour in the lab," he said. "But them getting out and taking over, never in our imagination could this happen."
2007-08-20T21:45:11Z
This question was inspired by a news article. This guy did not mean a modification but a whole new creation. He really believes that this can be done and should be done.
exbuilder2007-08-20T05:52:24Z
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I take the view that what is referred to as "artificial life" is simply another step in the evolutionary process and therefore, by definition, is neither "artificial" nor inherently dangerous. That does not mean that the creation of new lifeforms or, in a more likely scenario, the modification of existing lifeforms, will not have serious repercussions to humankind.
I think it is niave of Mark Bedau to make the the second statement that you quoted. History is full of examples of the simplest life forms that have had profound effects on humans. Who can be so arrogant as to think that a new lifeform brewed in a research lab might not turn out to be the next black plague or HIV virus. Todays science fiction is often tomorrows reality.
I don't worry so much about what science creates as much as I think about what politicians and theologians might do with their creations. One thing I am certain of is that we humans are our own worst enemy.
Mark Bedau also states in the same article, "We're talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways - in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict." So first he says that it would be impossible to predict what they'd do, and then later states that they would not get out and "take over." Well, that sounds like a prediction to me. The article also refers to this attempt to create artificial life as a "race." Hmmm, I hope those scientists involved in this race don't take any stupid chances in hopes of speeding things up (or maybe that's just something you see in movies). Also, their technique seems to be little more than forming a membrane and then dumping in a bunch of nucleotides and hoping for the best. If it does work, they have absolutely NO idea what they'll get. So we have scientists who are contradicting themselves, racing to the finish line, and in the end, they really don't know what they're making. These guys obviously aren't idiots, I just hope they're paying close enough attention when and if they succeed.
Would God truly be dead then? Would we then be god? Creating conscience, the ability to judge right from wrong and the ever inspiring thought, I am because I think I am is something that explodes with passion.
Would our time not be better suited to fully exploring our original mandate of making all of the earth like that of Eden instead of making a computer that thinks it deserves a coffee break, is a member of the local union and possibly one day writes the number 1 book on the New York Times Best selling list?
I wonder if such a creation would weaken us or make us stronger? I wonder if the power that is perceived by the creators from their creation would be satisfaction enough. Can we trust a scientist who would make artificial life? I am not sure of any real reason that I shouldn't trust such a person, but I can think of many ways in which I wouldn't trust the society that is birthed from such "creative" use of said scientist.
In creating artificial life there are so many factors to consider in order to make it perfect and to insure no after effects. I believe there is no one human being so perfect themselves as to be able to create any "artificial life" without a flaw. Scientisits can be highly intelligent but because of the possiblity of creating a miracle they seem to forget that if they were that perfect in their "ability" to create artificial life then they most likely would not be on this plane of life themselves. Unfortunately, Scientists are vulnerable to the deceptions of others. There will always be people out there that would try to force them to use that ability towards a cause that may not be good for mankind as a whole. With that said where would the Trust factor really be determined? With the Scientists or with Those entities that may be controlling him/her?
Science takes time because of experimentation. Some things work and other things don't work.
I'll trust the scientists who make Artificial Life. It will take years, perhaps decades, to perfect. Down the road, it can and may work. When it becomes successful, then I'll trust these scientists. At the current moment, I don't trust them.