IFT201c 40-50/105

In the scenario "Machines as Criminals", what's different in this future?

• It proves impossible to teach ethical decision making to robots and AI. As a result, most "smart" machines behave in ways that are criminal or in violation of human values, and the production of "bad" machines is banned.

• Lawmakers have to decide who should be legally responsible when "smart" objects break the law: the people who own the objects, or the companies who make them? For example, if a self-driving car gets a speeding ticket, who should pay: the owner of the car, or the auto manufacturer who programmed it to speed?

In the scenario "Machines as Conscience", what is different in this future?

• A new AI called the "Digital Consequence Awareness System" helps people understand the ripple effects and long-term consequences of their actions, so they can behave more ethically.

• 
  A new blockchain app called "Karma" allows individuals to report when someone else's actions have helped them or harmed them, creating a lifelong record of who is a "good person" or a "bad person

Of these 3 scenarios, which one do you personally think is the most thought-provoking and important to consider? There is no right or wrong answer to this question; use it as an opportunity to reflect on what you've read this week. (Whatever answer you pick will be marked correct!)

• Machines as Consumers

• Machines as Criminals

• Machines as Conscience

• ALL

This week you learned about the neurological pathways and activity areas of the brain that support thinking more creatively about the future.One of the most important neurological activities in thinking about the future is "scene construction." During scene construction, the brain creates a vivid movie or 3D virtual reality in your mind's eye. It allows you to "look around" and immerse yourself in a simulated scene, whether it's something that you're remembering or something you're imagining could happen in the future. What is another term for this neurological activity?

• Mentalizing

• 
  Performance monitoring

• Memory and simulation

Another important neurological activity that happens when we think about the future is that we try to simulate how other people might feel and what they might do. This activity is a way for our own brain to "get inside someone else's mind." That why it's called:

• Performance monitoring

• Memory and simulation

• Mentalizing

A third neurological activity that happens when we think about the future is a kind of "scanning" of the future for possible opportunities to make choices and take actions that serve our own personal goals. What is this called?

• Mentalizing

• Memory and simulation

• Performance monitoring

If you want to build up all of the neurological pathways that support these 3 important activities - memory and simulation, mentalizing and performance monitoring - you can practice the "magic triangle" of simulation. What are the 3 habits that make up this magic triangle? Pick three answers only.

• Remembering the past exactly as it was.

• Remembering the future as if it has already happened.

• 
  Predicting the past, and how it could have been different

• Predicting the future, and explaining why it will be that way.

• Hard empathy, or imagining yourself in situations you've never directly experiencedEasy empathy, or experiencing other people's feelings in familiar situations as if it were happening to you.

There's a region of the brain that fires up whenever you register something as important to you, personally. It says, "Hey! This matters to YOU! It's about YOU! Pay attention!" What is this region called?

• Temporal Lobe

• Amygdala

• Hippocampus

• Medial PreFrontal Cortext

What does this same part of the brain do, for most people, when they imagine themselves in a far future - say, 10 years out or more?

• If they're in a good mood, it fires up and says "Hey! Pay attention!"

• If they're bored, frustrated, or angry, it doesn't react.

• 
  It acts like they're thinking about a complete stranger, someone who doesn't matter to them at all.

• 
  It fires up and says "Hey! This is important! Pay attention!"

What's the result of this part of the brain's behavior, when it comes to imagining your future self?

• It's easier to predict what you will do and harder to predict what other people will do in the future.

• As a result, you lose empathy for others and focus only on your own needs and goals.

• If you spend too much time thinking about your future self, you can become disoriented. You may become confused about what is realistic or possible and set unrealistic goals for yourself.

• It's hard to have empathy for your future self. As a result, you make decisions that feel good in the short run but are maybe not-so-good in the long run.