Strangely enough the likeness between machines and humans isn't viewed by people as a partnership, but more of ownership. Example: I own my car, therefore I tell it what to do like drive me to the grocery store. Fair enough. As with most machines, if you ask it to do a certain task, it should comply without much argument...or does it. The greatest comparisons today between humans and machines can be seen in computers. By looking at the brain as an advanced microprocessor, one can clearly see why some people often compare the two. Both operate with small amounts of electrical energy and they have the ability to process millions of calculations per second. Many will argue that the brain is better, however logically speaking that may in fact be false. The reason? While the brain has such a massive amount of processing power, some estimate at somewhere around the equivalent of having a a 16.8trhz processor (16.8 trhz = 16800ghz) the mind is indeed flawed and can, at times make incredibly mistakes as far as mathematical computation and logic operation.
The flaw can be seen as the single greatest human trait: Emotion. We would all like to think that because we can feel and display emotion that it somehow makes us superior when in fact is both a blessing and a curse. Other reasons can be given such as memory constraints and soft tissue vulnerability, however emotion is what seemingly leads many people to make what other may see as stupid mistakes.
A prime example is gambling. When a person is gambling and winning, they often times feel an emotional rush, a high generated by the success of their play. With this high, people can often times feel cocky and overconfident, giving them the impression that they are on a lucky streak, therefore they may risk more based on the same mathematical problem. If a man is playing blackjack and has won 5 hands in a row, he may begin to wager more and split hands simply out of emotion, neglecting the logical option of staying with his proven method. A computer on the other hand will always play with the odds in their favor if possible. A computer will stay within a certain set of rules to the given situation. If a computer is playing a game of chess, they will always think many moves ahead while a person may go against the odds based on emotion or the hopes that their opponent makes a mistake. The computer will never assume a mistake will be made, therefore the move the machine makes will always follow logic. In other words, it will never "take a chance."
Because of emotion, a man is flawed when it comes to logical reasoning in many cases.
The computer however by the same token is flawed in our eyes as well based on the same argument properties. Setting the scene, I will place a computer inside that of a human skull and call it a robot or cyborg, whichever is more comfortable for your imagination in this example. The machine will still follow the same rules of logic as before, weighing percentages and outcomes. The scenario is a burning building where a person is trapped inside and cannot escape without assistance. Assuming all available information is available to the robot, it in fact chose not to rescue the trap individual based purely on mathematical chance. If the fire is fairly simple in nature and threat level, the machine will weight it's chances of success against the chance of failure and act accordingly. If the chance of success is 50.1% or higher (based on the rules set forth in its programming), the cyborg will attempt a rescue and try to save the person. Take the same situation and make the fire a blazing inferno. The chances of success are now less than 10%. Based on the logic present within the cyborgs programming, it will choose not to attempt a rescue. The same cannot be said for a human.
A human, as we all know, may be steered by emotion. They will see the blazing inferno and know that the chance of success is very low, however they may still attempt to enter the fire and rescue the person. All logical reasoning in this case is out the door as that person runs in to save the life of another. They know that they may die in the process and based on the numbers that may prove to be true. Should that person save the other and live to tell the tale, people will view him in many different ways. A small number may see him as a sick man for doing something "insane" or "suicidal" while others will look upon him as a hero. Lets us now place the cyborg back in the scenario have him go against logic. The cyborg runs in and rescues the person. When the situation is examined later on, the cyborg may also be viewed as sick (IE computer virus) or a hero. The human hero will be revered while his machine counterpart will be taken apart and inspected for abnormalities as most humans do not associate heroism with a machine, thinking there is no way that a computer can understand emotion or even value human life. The big question here is can a machine "learn" emotion?
By all accounts, it seems very possible. Think of emotion as simply another process that the brain calculates. Technically speaking if you are missing the part of the brain that processes emotions or it is damaged in some way, in all likelihood that person will not display or be swayed by emotional situations. A computer can be seen the same way; write a program to display emotion and the computer will display it...if it had a face of course. Think of why we show emotion. If a person we know dies, then we will be upset, perhaps cry over this loss. The level to which we mourn is based on the connection we feel toward that person and how much value we place on life. If a person you do not know dies, you may say to yourself "What a shame", but never cry or mourn that loss because you do not feel a connection to them. A Computer can be programmed the same way. It can be programmed to develop a connection to an individual which can grow exponentially over time. The time of exposure can be changed by the individual programmer. Some, by reading this so far can argue that we are no one to "program" emotion into anything. Many of these opponents may not realize that the are and have been programmed since their birth.
Example. A person is born and spends the first 15 years of their life with a parent. Through those years, they grow closer to the parent and feel love for them. Based on their experiences with that adult, they can feel any number of emotions. Love or hate, spending time with that person will eventually develop into an emotion, a "program" telling you that since this person has been there for and cared for you, you in turn love them. You have at this point been programmed to love, a directive in your brain tells you that you love them. Same can go with hate. If a child is abused by a parent, they will be hateful toward that adult, therefore once again they are programmed to hate. This can happen so quickly and seamlessly in humans that no one seems to realize it happens. Why does a child sometimes prefer one parent to another? Parents will say "Well, he is just close to his daughter" or something similar. The father feels that connection, therefore he spends more time with his daughter. The daughter unconsciously knows this so in turn she develops love for him as well.
Technically speaking, the brain is a learning computer that is changing every day and in more way that we can even fathom. If we were able to create programs that simulate human emotion and plug them into a computer, it could learn to feel emotion. To simplify this idea, think of a common document application like Microsoft Word. As you use the program, you can "teach" is to do certain things or correct it's behavior so that it is pleasing to you...which is very similar to that of a developing child. When you first have this child, it is just a small, seemingly help life form that needs love and attention so that it can eventually turn into a well balanced adult. The same can be done with a program. Again, referring to Word, as you use it and teach it, it learns more about you and the world. You can teach it new words, new scenarios, news ways of writing. It grows with you. While Word may not be the best example, it does display the basics of what a program can learn.
Being self aware is also another argument against machines and emotion. The computer only knows what we want it to know in mostly all cases around the world. We only allow the computer access to certain files, programs, hardware, etc. With the gaining of knowledge, the birth of consciousness up to this point in time has not been established. While the idea of creating a self aware machine that understands what it is and knows what it can do is still some ways off into the future, that future is getting closer by the day. We simply need to find a way to not only mimic our emotions, but also allow the computer to have free will, the ability to make decisions not only based on mathematical chance, but also while weighing those emotions as well...just like we humans do.
Works Cited
http://library.thinkquest.org/C001501/the_saga/compare.htm
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