STREET DOGS
Will computers be eager to play and please?
Randolph Nesse warns the unforgiving mirror the internet holds up to our nature, writes Michel Pireu
From Randolph Nesse at Edge.org: To see where thinking machines are headed, we need to look into the unforgiving mirror the internet holds up to our nature. Like the processed foods on grocery store shelves, internet content is a product of selection for whatever sells. The variations we ignore are selected out. Whatever grabs eyeballs is reposted with minor variations that evolve to whatever maximises the duration of our attention. That we can’t tear ourselves away should be no surprise. Media content evolves to snare our attention, just as snacks and fast food evolve to become irresistible. Many lives are now as overstuffed with social media as they are with calories. Enter thinking machines. They too are evolving. They will change faster and more radically when software evolves by selection among minor variations. Our preferences will be the selection force.Many imagine coldly objective future computers, but no one likes a know-it-all. People will prefer modest, polite computers ...
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