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Name: Jeffrey Baker
From: North Carolina
Bio: Internet User, computer science major
Area of Expertise: Technology Developer/Administrator
Topic: General, Overarching Remarks
Headline: Intelligent internet life will roam freely
Nutshell: In the future, intelligent programs will roam the internet, like a life form in its own environment.
Vision:Advances in artificial intelligence will allow for programs that are able to think and act on their own. Programmers will take advantage of these advances, and eventually the internet will be almost like its own world, even sustaining intelligent life (the programs).
Some of these programs will be benign; others will act like viruses, replacating themselves and causing damage to everything they come into contact with.
Perhaps some will even form societies, and a new ethical dilemma will be created: how do we deal with these intelligent programs? Can we simply destroy those that are harmful, even though they are an intelligent form of life? How much freedom should we give them? Should they indeed be considered life, or should we simply look at them as machines created to fulfill a task?
Date Submitted: February 4, 2005
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