Roko’s Basilisk or Pascal’s? Thinking of Singularity Thought Experiments as Implicit Religion
05 social sciences
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
06 humanities and the arts
0603 philosophy, ethics and religion
DOI:
10.1558/imre.35900
Publication Date:
2018-05-23T02:59:52Z
AUTHORS (1)
ABSTRACT
In 2010 a thought experiment speculating on the motivations and aims of a potential superintelligent Artificial Intelligence, sometimes known as the ‘Singularity’, caused uproar and anxiety on the forum board where it was initially posted. This paper considers that thought experiment’s debt to older forms of religious argument, the reactions from among the community, and how expectations about the Singularity as a being with agency can be considered to be an example of implicit religion. This is significant as the thought experiment appeared in a field of research, AI, considered by many to be secular due to its technological focus. The communities under discussion also explicitly express their aim of ‘perfecting’ human rationality, and place that ability in opposition to ‘religion’ as a derided object and the aims of ‘Goddists’ in general. This tension between overt atheism and secular communities’ return to religious tropes and narratives is relevant for the wider study of religion in the contemporary era.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Coming soon ....
REFERENCES (0)
CITATIONS (4)
EXTERNAL LINKS
PlumX Metrics
RECOMMENDATIONS
FAIR ASSESSMENT
Coming soon ....
JUPYTER LAB
Coming soon ....