"Human Rights" ? I recalled "Colonization", which was so popular and so powerful hundrend years ago. Peter Bi ----- Original Message ----- From: "R. Gancie/C.Parcelli" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2001 9:51 AM Subject: Re: The Poetics of History Part IV > Sorry. Human rights for automata, robots and "fifth generation" > computers. CP > > R. Gancie/C.Parcelli wrote: > > > > Not Pound Materials per se. But the richness of the possibilities of > > such materials for poetry. I hope you are right about the "overoptimism" > > of the pursuit of human rights for computers. But the push has huge > > corporate interests behind it, and corporations are already considered > > 'individuals' in a court of law which is quite an ontological [e.g. > > expansion of legal taxonomies] slight of hand in and of itself. CP Tim > > Bray wrote: > > > > > > At 09:44 PM 02/06/01 -0400, R. Gancie/C.Parcelli wrote: > > > >Because of the broad commercial applications in industry, the U.S. > > > >Congress > > > >and the courts will in the near future be taking up the question of > > > >whether or not to grant > > > >"human rights" to automata, or robots. > > > > > > This posting is technically overoptimistic. Among other things > > > > > > - Von Neumann provided one of the stepping stones that may get > > > us to intelligent machines, but not the biggest > > > - Machines are not remotely close to acting intelligent. > > > - The decades-long quest to make them intelligent has foundered > > > on the rock of our ignorance of how our own minds work. > > > > > > One of these decades, these issues will become material. Er, > > > where does EP come in? -Tim >