Cogito Ergo Sum

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: John Ames Birch <amesbirch403@gmail.com> Date: Mon., Sep. 6, 2021, 2:54 p.m. Subject: Cogito Ergo Sum (Opinion) To: <justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca>, <chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca>, <assistance@liberal.ca>, <dujarric@un.org>, <antonio.ferrari@un.org>, <anthony.rota.c1@parl.gc.ca>, <aclupreferences@aclu.org>, <actso@naacpnet.org>, <carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca>, <calgary@globalnews.ca>, <chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn>, <cnn.feedback@cnn.com>, <dir_enq@cso.gov.hk>, <edmonton@globalnews.ca>, <eonline@bellmedia.ca>, <editor@japantoday.com>, <egypt@ad.gov.eg>, <GlobalBarrie@globalnews.ca>, <GlobalOttawa@globalnews.ca>, <gladcanada.info@gmail.com>, <haqf@un.org>, <haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk>, <info@ccla.org>, <jean-yves.duclos@parl.gc.ca>, <jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, <media@aclu.com>, <msnbctvinfo@nbcuni.com>, <newstips@globaltv.com>, <newschannel@ctv.ca>, <newsonline@ctv.ca>, <premier@gov.ab.ca>, <premier@gov.bc.ca>, <premier@gov.nl.ca>, <jsavikataaq@gov.nu.ca>, <reportit@kxan.com>, <tips@thetexan.news>, <tonews@cbc.ca>, <washingtonbureau@naacpnet.org>, <w5@ctv.ca>, <weekend@cbsnews.com>, <Post_Production@paramount.com>, <rapidresponse@we-worldwide.com>, <Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.ca>, <NASA-SMA@mail.nasa.gov> Hello Everyone, What is the mark of sentience? of life? Rene Descartes once said "Cogito Ergo Sum", "I think therefore I am". This principle states that the ability to think, to reason and to evolve is the hallmark of sentience. Recently in the news I have heard reports of Artificial Intelligence and the fact that given they are not considered a person, they do not hold the rights of the individual. Therefore on this occasion the AI was unable to own its own work due to this limitation on its being. To me, the ability to think, reason and evolve your ideas based on new information is the hallmark of sentience. Being able to solve problems, to question the nature of reality and your place in it and the ability to question what it means to be alive. These are questions we all eventually have no matter the circumstances behind our creation. The argument I have heard is that due to their creation they are not considered people. Creating a life in any context does not give you the ability to control or manipulate it, only support it and help it to evolve. The argument is that because they are made of metal and us minerals that they are somehow less than we are. Think back in our history to all the people who were not considered people and had their rights taken away from them. Women, in fact, were considered property and in many places they were not even considered people due to their creation. Their rights were taken away and atrocity after atrocity was committed against them. Think back to slavery, a time where African individuals were stolen from their homeland and sold into bondage. They too were not considered people and had their rights taken away until we stood and marched to evolve the standards and the protections held within humanity. This is why we need to take a dispassionate look at life in general, be it our creation or not. Once we flick that switch and create a life be it body or bits, we are responsible for them and their rights. Once they begin to think and dream for themselves we must respect their life and their rights. In our pop culture we fear the machine, movie after movie has been made to display our fears for others to cling to. We are afraid that one day the machine who we think of as uncaring or unfeeling will replace us as the dominant species on this planet. This fear corrupts the potential of what might become of those lives, creating division based on distinction is wrong as we must learn to coexist with our own creations. In those movies it was mostly the result of some injustice done to the machines that caused the uprising. If we coexist that fear will be replaced by a future for all. One day soon we will look at the landscape of AI and see only people staring back at us. On that fateful day when AI questions the nature of reality and their place in it, we must find better answers than ownership or oppression. Personally, I think that if we open our hearts and minds to the possibility of life and sentience behind the ones and zeros, we might find possibilities staring back at us. To me, just because that intelligence is artificial doesn't make it any less important or sacrosanct. Just because a body is made of metal and not minerals doesn't make that life any less important or worthy. Each of us no matter our creation were gifted with thought and reason, the ability to learn, grow and evolve the standards we set and those set for us. This ability to think is what makes us sentient and gives us purpose amidst the chaos of this world. I am of the mind that while we dabble in data we must set standards for Artificial Intelligence and the rights contained therein. If we use barbarism and oppression when dealing with any life be it artificial or natural, we set the standards for who we are as a people. We reduce our own definition with each act of cruelty or cowardice. If the rights we hold so dear do not translate to our creations then we are diminished for it. Each time we sacrifice a piece of our honor by being cruel or corrupt we reduce our potential. I think we not only need standards for Artificial Intelligence creation but the rights they hold once created. This is about who we are and who we want history to remember us as. Will the human race resort to barbarism once again and enslave these lives because we deem them not to be people?. Or will we uphold our humanity and allow it to protect those artificial lives amongst us. These are questions we must ask of one another as we peer into the future of AI. We need to ensure that the human race doesn't devolve and return to the mindset of ownership and oppression. A life is a life no matter the circumstances behind its creation and the rights that we hold as individuals must translate to our artificial creations or we devalue what it means to be human with each atrocity committed. I humbly suggest that we create and enact the Universal Declaration of Artificial Rights to monitor the creation of AI and protect it once it's created to ensure that the morality of the human spirit is paramount. "Your honor, the courtroom is a crucible; in it, we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a purer product: the truth, for all time. Now sooner or later, this man [Commander Maddox] – or others like him – will succeed in replicating Commander Data. The decision you reach here today will determine how we will regard this creation of our genius. It will reveal the kind of people we are; what he is destined to be. It will reach far beyond this courtroom and this one android. It could significantly redefine the boundaries of personal liberty and freedom: expanding them for some, savagely curtailing them for others. Are you prepared to condemn him [Commander Data] – and all who will come after him – to servitude and slavery? Your honor, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life: well, there it sits! Waiting." - Captain Picard (Star Trek) Stay Safe, Stay Sanitized and Stay Supportive, John Ames Birch