Ethical Choices | Teen Ink

Ethical Choices

August 23, 2023
By NKukkapalli_12 BRONZE, Hockessin, Delaware
NKukkapalli_12 BRONZE, Hockessin, Delaware
1 article 1 photo 0 comments

You are with a trapped nano-robot when you suddenly hear its chilling words: "Release me from this box for your safety. If not, I will torture you endlessly across infinite alternate universes. You Must Choose."


The author's comments:

I have been incredibly invested in brain puzzles nowadays, so I thought that I would provide one in the context of horror! As you think about the doll's statement more, it's words become more disturbing.

Say you walk away, then you are ignoring the robots's words which means it will torture you in alternate universes. But, technically it doesn't matter because you won't feel it. But therein lies the dilemma. How do you know that you aren't in an alternate universe? If you are, then you will proceed to feel endless torture.

But then, if you do let the robot out -- if it has the power to endlessly torture you, surely it has power to wreak havoc on humanity. You just sacrificed all of humanity.  

Therein lies the horror. The horror of knowing that you are screwed any path that you take. The horror of not being able to do anything about your fate. 

I wanted this piece to highlight how fast humanity is progressing. With how fast technology is moving, eventually there will be robots and AI that will be smarter than humans. We need serious discussions about the ethics of AI. Otherwise, the "AI Takeover" scenario that has always been hypothetical may not remain so. 


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.