From: Chris Hind (bholat@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Aug 30 1996 - 02:16:42 MDT
>What could a creature "with little or no grey matter" do that a machine
>or AI could not do faster and cheaper? It appears to me that the only
>reason to build any tool is to get the job done quicker, cheaper and more
>thouroughly than the old tool. Why assign tasks to a new tool that is
>inferior to the one it replaces. By the time a race of humaniod drones
>hit the market, AI should already have a considerable marketshare of
>brainless labor. , Machines already out perform humans, horses and oxen
>at many brainless tasks, and better machines will(be able) to out perform
>them in the remaining drudgeries.
Lets face it, robots will never be doing tasks such as house-cleaning,
building construction, interior or exterior decorating, etc. because they're
too clunky and not as flexible as flesh and bone the only potential
replacement I can think of is nanites or robots consisting of nanites. They
can't even climb stairs with much ease which is why they invented the
webblimp to fly over the terrain and skip the obstacle altogether.
>A big question is how much will it cost to maintain a drone work force.
>I'm sure that genetic engineers could make more efficient organisms than
>those currently available, but they'll still need food and waste
>removal. Who will provide the mindless service of feeding and clean up
>after the drones-- machines, humans, or more drones?
We could make them programmed to use toilets and to go to a dispensor where
they hit a button to drop food into a slot. This whole idea sounds sorta
creepy but would be commonplace eventually.
>Moral Question: How is bulding an race of drones in a laboratory for
>labor different from just building designer humans to perform those same
>tasks? Would these humans be created or enslaved?
I personally believe that in order for a race to be considered enslaved it
needs to be able to think on it's own in a philosophical manner such as "why
do i exist?". Anything other than that is free for us to utilize.
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