Artificial intelligence, machine autonomy and emerging needs

Abstract

Questions associated with AI require us to consider the landmark figure of Alan Turing. Among us on every computer or smartphone, he was the first to imagine all the functions inherent in the way we process information could be reproduced in a machine. From the functional viewpoint, it is irrelevant to distinguish processing by a human from that by a cognitive machine. If the latter wins the imitation game, i.e., if the human does not distinguish the answers provided by his thinking from those of machines, then the machine must be assumed to be thinking autonomously. For unfortunate reasons, Turing did not live long enough to witness the complete triumph of his conjectures. It is possible at the moment to build autonomous cars, robots that work in nursing centres and help doctors with diagnoses, or programs that perform financial transactions on the Stock Market without human intervention. Such achievements and those yet to come require the development of a computational morality.