Austar Union
02-10-2005, 14:51
[b]Lecture Hall 388.2-B, University of Anatoba City, the Absolutist State of Austar Union
"Students," began the semi-shorter man at the front of the class. "Please remove your textbooks, and open to Page Three Eighty-Five."
Mostly asleep, the half-asleep group of post-teenagers groaned as they fumbled for their books. Some had bothered to bring them, and some had. And then there were some who didnt bother to turn up at all; it seemed that the early lecture classes didnt gain much popularity with the students here--those of whom spent their weekends mostly partying hard, taking drugs, and sleeping with whomever looked best at the time. Raves, were but one place which had developed into popular sections, and underage entry was quite legal even--so long as they werent planning to bomb the statehood's pride, but, that went for anything that goes. Leadership was to be respected, but until they reached a point of dispute; drugs, alcohol, et cetera--such were relatively open to the public for free, but safe enjoyment.
Back to the class, however. It was Monday; fantastic Monday.
"Now, does anyone remember where we left off on Friday?" asked the lecturer rhetorically. He of course, knew, but it was quite a part of his job to wake this bunch up, so he could cram yet another unfathom of information into their weak-excuse for a mind. "No? If I remember, we were talking about the properties of an average Sentient Being. Tell me," he selected a random face from the room--one whom looked semi-here at least. "Sam, give me the definition of Sentient."
"Sentience is the capacity for basic consciousness — the ability to feel or perceive, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. The word sentient is often confused with the word sapient, which can connotate knowledge, higher consciousness, or apperception. The root of the confusion is that the word conscious has a number of different meanings in English. (One can easily distinguish the two by looking at their Latin roots: sentire, "to feel"; and sapere, "to know".)" she read out.
"Good," commented the lecturer, folding his arms. "I see you have learened to read a dictionary. Can anyone give me a definition, in layman's terms?" He pointed across the other side fo the Hall. "You, John."
John grinned inwardly. He was what most called the 'class nerd'. Had an answer for everything, and dilligently did his homework. "Mr. Keystone, Sentient refers to any kind of being, which has the ability to percieve, to understand, to have a perspective on things, rather than to generate a fake sort of perception; such as a computer." At least he would pass.
Mr. Keystone pushed his lips to the side, "Close enough, A sentient being is basically, anything with it's own understanding of the world around them, and anything which retains the ability to make a concious decision. Basically, anything which is concious." He paused, eyes scanning across the room. "And so by this definition; would you consider for example, humans to be sentient?"
A hand raised to the air, "Of course, we're concious enough of the world around us, and we feel emotion just as would, any other living thing."
A pause, but Mr. Keystone accepted it, "Anything else, what about animals?"
"Sure," another voice answered. "So long as it could make a proper decision. And so long as it had a grip on reality, per say."
The lecturer began to cross the floor, "Now an interesting topic of discussion; there has been some recent speculation at the Sentience of computers, as John here used for example. High Level Programming, Digital Sequences, whatever you might like to call it; there are some degrees of Artificial Intelligence among us."
He stopped nearest to the window, "Let me use, my coffee machine for example; within that machine, there is an Artificial Intelligence which is programmed to 'learn', and reproduce what I consider the 'perfect mix'. And transmitting that data via various, other channels, now each coffee machine will know what it is I like in my coffee, tea, whatever." He smiled. "But, how intelligent is that, exactly? Let me use another example, quite different from the first."
"As most of you are aware, Lord Indigo Blue, this administration has employed that of an A.I., codenamed 'Elektra' for personalized contact. Elektra is at present, the ruling power over D'na Apollo, our colony and representation on the Planet Mercury. 'She', is able to process data at least thirty times quicker than ten human minds combined, and is usually able to produce a better result. As an ultimate thinking design, she is also able to act as an investor, make stock designs et cetera. And what is even more interesting, is that she has recently been granted that of a human avatar." Some slight gasps around the room. "Now that she has control of a fully functioning form, she is quite able to produce normal, human children. And what is even more interesting, is that she is self-aware, and can make her own fully functional decisions."
Some silence as Mr. Keystone continued; "Now by definition, does that make Elektra, or even my coffee machine outside a Sentient Being?" Hands raised up everywhere as students rushed to give their thoughts and opinions. "You."
John spoke again, "I disagree. Whilst they might have the ability to make a decision per say, they are only essentially, following the pre-programming which has been completed long ago."
"Quite possibly," answered Mr. Keystone as neutral as possible. "But these 'programming geniuses', have been reported the ability to learn.
"Only because it is programmed to do so," replied John skillfully. "I fail to see your point."
Another hand was raised, and Keystone pointed in his direction. "I disagree with John. By definition, they are Sentient; whether that be convenient or not."
"Hm. And what about the differences between the two?" challenged the lecturer. "Surely the coffee machine example, isnt as Sentient as Elektra, or even S.H.O.D.A.N. from Zero-One. What about citizenship; do they retain such recognition?"
"Citizenship is the basic right of every Sentient Being," piped in the same voice as before. "And so if by definition, Elektra, or S.H.O.D.A.N. as you have pointed out, are Sentient, then they have the right to citizenship here--within means of rights of course. Elektra, might because she was born or programmed here. But S.H.O.D.A.N. is from Zero-One and should be treated as a foriegn citizen."
"Interesting," pondered the lecturer. "And the coffee machine?"
"Non-Sentient," offered the voice again. "It might be able to make decisions, but as per the definition, it has no true conciousness."
The bell went off around them; time passed so quickly these days. Nevertheless it was an issue yet to be properly explored, and would require further thought and debate. Truth was, there was no law defining what exactly was a Sentient Being. At present, A.I.'s had no real requirement for citizenship, but were only treated as equal individuals. Was this right though, was it fair?
Only time, and some true attempt for thought could decide.
"Students," began the semi-shorter man at the front of the class. "Please remove your textbooks, and open to Page Three Eighty-Five."
Mostly asleep, the half-asleep group of post-teenagers groaned as they fumbled for their books. Some had bothered to bring them, and some had. And then there were some who didnt bother to turn up at all; it seemed that the early lecture classes didnt gain much popularity with the students here--those of whom spent their weekends mostly partying hard, taking drugs, and sleeping with whomever looked best at the time. Raves, were but one place which had developed into popular sections, and underage entry was quite legal even--so long as they werent planning to bomb the statehood's pride, but, that went for anything that goes. Leadership was to be respected, but until they reached a point of dispute; drugs, alcohol, et cetera--such were relatively open to the public for free, but safe enjoyment.
Back to the class, however. It was Monday; fantastic Monday.
"Now, does anyone remember where we left off on Friday?" asked the lecturer rhetorically. He of course, knew, but it was quite a part of his job to wake this bunch up, so he could cram yet another unfathom of information into their weak-excuse for a mind. "No? If I remember, we were talking about the properties of an average Sentient Being. Tell me," he selected a random face from the room--one whom looked semi-here at least. "Sam, give me the definition of Sentient."
"Sentience is the capacity for basic consciousness — the ability to feel or perceive, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. The word sentient is often confused with the word sapient, which can connotate knowledge, higher consciousness, or apperception. The root of the confusion is that the word conscious has a number of different meanings in English. (One can easily distinguish the two by looking at their Latin roots: sentire, "to feel"; and sapere, "to know".)" she read out.
"Good," commented the lecturer, folding his arms. "I see you have learened to read a dictionary. Can anyone give me a definition, in layman's terms?" He pointed across the other side fo the Hall. "You, John."
John grinned inwardly. He was what most called the 'class nerd'. Had an answer for everything, and dilligently did his homework. "Mr. Keystone, Sentient refers to any kind of being, which has the ability to percieve, to understand, to have a perspective on things, rather than to generate a fake sort of perception; such as a computer." At least he would pass.
Mr. Keystone pushed his lips to the side, "Close enough, A sentient being is basically, anything with it's own understanding of the world around them, and anything which retains the ability to make a concious decision. Basically, anything which is concious." He paused, eyes scanning across the room. "And so by this definition; would you consider for example, humans to be sentient?"
A hand raised to the air, "Of course, we're concious enough of the world around us, and we feel emotion just as would, any other living thing."
A pause, but Mr. Keystone accepted it, "Anything else, what about animals?"
"Sure," another voice answered. "So long as it could make a proper decision. And so long as it had a grip on reality, per say."
The lecturer began to cross the floor, "Now an interesting topic of discussion; there has been some recent speculation at the Sentience of computers, as John here used for example. High Level Programming, Digital Sequences, whatever you might like to call it; there are some degrees of Artificial Intelligence among us."
He stopped nearest to the window, "Let me use, my coffee machine for example; within that machine, there is an Artificial Intelligence which is programmed to 'learn', and reproduce what I consider the 'perfect mix'. And transmitting that data via various, other channels, now each coffee machine will know what it is I like in my coffee, tea, whatever." He smiled. "But, how intelligent is that, exactly? Let me use another example, quite different from the first."
"As most of you are aware, Lord Indigo Blue, this administration has employed that of an A.I., codenamed 'Elektra' for personalized contact. Elektra is at present, the ruling power over D'na Apollo, our colony and representation on the Planet Mercury. 'She', is able to process data at least thirty times quicker than ten human minds combined, and is usually able to produce a better result. As an ultimate thinking design, she is also able to act as an investor, make stock designs et cetera. And what is even more interesting, is that she has recently been granted that of a human avatar." Some slight gasps around the room. "Now that she has control of a fully functioning form, she is quite able to produce normal, human children. And what is even more interesting, is that she is self-aware, and can make her own fully functional decisions."
Some silence as Mr. Keystone continued; "Now by definition, does that make Elektra, or even my coffee machine outside a Sentient Being?" Hands raised up everywhere as students rushed to give their thoughts and opinions. "You."
John spoke again, "I disagree. Whilst they might have the ability to make a decision per say, they are only essentially, following the pre-programming which has been completed long ago."
"Quite possibly," answered Mr. Keystone as neutral as possible. "But these 'programming geniuses', have been reported the ability to learn.
"Only because it is programmed to do so," replied John skillfully. "I fail to see your point."
Another hand was raised, and Keystone pointed in his direction. "I disagree with John. By definition, they are Sentient; whether that be convenient or not."
"Hm. And what about the differences between the two?" challenged the lecturer. "Surely the coffee machine example, isnt as Sentient as Elektra, or even S.H.O.D.A.N. from Zero-One. What about citizenship; do they retain such recognition?"
"Citizenship is the basic right of every Sentient Being," piped in the same voice as before. "And so if by definition, Elektra, or S.H.O.D.A.N. as you have pointed out, are Sentient, then they have the right to citizenship here--within means of rights of course. Elektra, might because she was born or programmed here. But S.H.O.D.A.N. is from Zero-One and should be treated as a foriegn citizen."
"Interesting," pondered the lecturer. "And the coffee machine?"
"Non-Sentient," offered the voice again. "It might be able to make decisions, but as per the definition, it has no true conciousness."
The bell went off around them; time passed so quickly these days. Nevertheless it was an issue yet to be properly explored, and would require further thought and debate. Truth was, there was no law defining what exactly was a Sentient Being. At present, A.I.'s had no real requirement for citizenship, but were only treated as equal individuals. Was this right though, was it fair?
Only time, and some true attempt for thought could decide.