Reasearch: could or should
28 September
Jan’s sister Sykped again yesterday and made a comment about how tall and
good looking Kile is getting after she saw him on Sunday. That got me thinking
about how much we might be trapped by our genes. You see, I was taller than my
dad, Tom is 6’ 4”, taller than me by around a foot. Kile’s mum is around the
same height as me. On Jan’s side they are all tall and lanky, all that is except
Trish who is 5’ 10”, still taller than me though. After they had finished I had
said that I was hoping that Sam’s genes would kick in somewhere and hold Kile’s
height back a wee bit.
At least we know what our lineage is and where we get our various traits from,
but what of the five-month baby boy that was on the news last night? He is a
mix of three sets of genes not matter what those doctors in Mexico said.
No-one, and I do mean no-one, can be sure as to how anyone will turn out with
just the genes from his mum and dad, so how on earth can they be sure they have
got it right by adding a third person into the mix?
I’m really struggling with this one you know. I do see the benefits of
gene therapy to help remove the chance of a particular illness being passed on
to kids. Even then I have doubts as to what effects messing with their genes
like that will have in the future. This is all now ground these people are
breaking. How can they be certain that by selecting some genes that might help
parents in one way, will have no adverse effect in later generations. They also
claim that designer babies are a long way in the future, if at all. Is it
really? It seems to me that every time someone makes breakthrough in this area,
we are getting closer to designer babies. They don’t know what will happen in
the future! And don’t let them try to kid
you they do.
Hollywood does occasionally come out with good line we need to take to
our hearts. The one I am thinking of right now is Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum says, ‘They were so busy trying
to see if they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should!” So true my
friends, so true.
Along a different line of research is artificial intelligence (AI). That
too is a line of research that is gathering speed; it’s also a worry for a lot
of people at the same time. Have you heard of Asimov’s Laws, or the Laws of
Robotics? No, well here they are …
- A robot
may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
- A robot
must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot
must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Okay, I know, they are fiction, made up in 1942 by SF writer Isaac
Asimov, and yes, I think this is something that researchers should at least
take not of. Perhaps he could the need of such laws in the near future as well
as the far future. So, where has this come from for me to write about it today?
It’s come from the latest issue of WebUser
and its writer Barry Collins who claims that relying on AI will ultimately leave
us in a mess. He quotes an anecdote about a robotic vacuum cleaner which managed
to spread dog poop all over the living room floor as one possible example.
He moves on to the prospect of having driverless car on the road soon.
Collins then asks the question, ‘What will happen if an incident forces police
to close a road, post an officer to direct traffic, but the driverless car
ignores the cop and either drives on regardless or just comes to stop having
been totally confused by what is going on?’ Thing is, an AI unit is only as
good as its programming, same as all computers. No matter how good the
programming is, it still lacks one item that we humans have that can’t
programmed, common sense. That is why we will never be safe with giving full
control of computers/AI units.
These two issues are linked by two things; a, research; b, at what point
should it stop. Goldblum’s line was right; ‘They were so busy trying to see if
they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should!”
Common sense eh? For today’s photo …
an example of where it’s been thrown
out, along with the rubbish.
Today’s funny …
If his brain was
chocolate, it wouldn't fill an M&M.
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