DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE ETHICAL LIMITS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

The ethical debate on artificial intelligence began in classical antiquity, on whether slaves
had souls or not. No more than remembering our history as hominids to see that, with many
examples, we have applied apartheid very frequently.
It is difficult to establish a debate on the ethical limits of AI without taking into account the
fact, as humans, that we generally look too little in the mirror.
I am not referring physically, on a reflective surface, but in our inner world, with deep
questions about our ethical limits as human beings, concerning ourselves, including our
social relationships.
As is logical and many teaching professionals know, it is not possible to teach someone if
the concepts and ideas to show are not clear before. That is why, before teaching a machine
that is ethics and its limits, we must ask ourselves which are ours.
To do this, we can draw on many examples in literature, film, and our own culture:
• The movie Spartacus: When Spartacus tells his partner Antonino before the battle ‘’ You
will not fight ’’, it highlights the debate that there are people more valuable than others
because of their qualities.
• The Terminator 2 movie: Sarah Connor’s character raises doubts, as a mother and
educator, about how a machine can educate a child. The conclusion that a machine reaches
is better due to its lack of feelings.
• The movie Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). Here is the control by an AI of the world
government in a catastrophic key. However, the debate that will result when AIs begin to be
applied in governments and control of the economy is significant.
• In his novels Alien in a Foreign Land and Troops in Space, Robert A. Heinlein sets out the
ethical bases for acting in cases of life and death dilemma. Does a mother have the right to
life to save her child? Is a human being sacrifice for the common good? These kinds of
questions cross, in my own opinion, the limits of ethics to enter fully into morality.
• The dilemma that was posed to the classic hero Achilles, when he is given a choice
between a quiet and anonymous life or an ephemeral warrior glory. What value of life
would such a dilemma have for an AI with self-awareness? Under what ethical coordinates
should it be educated to respond?
Many more questions can be raised, all very difficult to answer. However, all of us will
answer under our subjectivity, and based on our rules established by our education and
social and cultural environment.
A current example.
If it is difficult for us to respond, how can we educate a machine to respond, in a way that
we can accept, appropriately according to our parameters?
We can see him every day at school. We are educated ourselves first from our parents, then
by our teachers, and finally by society. If an AI is properly educated, it will give ethical
answers according to our mental image.
If we are evil or good people, this will be reflected in our machines, as it is exposed to our
descendants.