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Originally Posted by Perfect Organism
I'm going to have to disagree with Saint and Cpt Clean on this. A SAI which can't relate to humans is seriously dysfunctional; in fact I would go so far as to say that a SAI which doesn't understand human type emotions at all isn't a SAI but a LAI.
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You're correct; that would be a dysfunctional SAI. I wandered off-topic, talking about AI's in general. My SAI character had some very human motivations. In some ways, the SAI was more human than hir "owners."
Still, if you look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it's difficult to for me to imagine an SAI fitting into this human mold:
1) Physiological needs (hunger, thirst, bodily comforts) - stick an SAI in a suitable cybershell, or on the Web, and all physical needs are taken care of
2) Safety needs (out of danger) - SAI's go to war just like everyone else. But if your "self" is backed up on a disk somewhere, will you view peril in the same light as somebody risking the only life they have?
3) Belongingness, acceptance and love needs - Tricky. If all SAI's want acceptance, why do they settle for being treated as second-class citizens in some parts of the world? Do they feel real kinship to humans? Would you feel real kinship to an SAI? I wouldn't touch love with a ten-foot pole . . .
4) Esteem needs (achievement, competition, recognition) - Achievement is easier to understand. But what about an SAI specializing in the computer sciences? Would it consider human computer scientists to be real competition? Wouldn't it operate on a level a human could never hope to achieve?
5) Cognitive needs (to know and to understand) - Humans have always asked "Why are we here?" To a certain extent, SAI's know why they are here. How does that affect philosophy?
6) Aesthetic needs (symmetry, beauty, and order) - An SAI contemplating a van Gogh, through low-res electronic eyes, might be unimpressed. It might not be any different with the best visual interface. What does a digital entity find to be beautiful? Would you or I be as impressed by it?
7) Self-Actualization needs - What if through many cycles of contemplation, the SAI decides it wants to be the best darn city-bus pilot program there ever was - an occupation more suited to an LAI or NAI?
8) Transcendant needs - Would an SAI, a creation of logic, science and technology, really want to subscribe to one today's traditional religions - a vehicle of
faith? How does an such an entity find faith? THS suggests it's possible . . .
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Now 'some capacity for human emotion' doesn't mean that the average AI is exactly like the average human, but I imagine that the vast majority of SAIs will be less alien than the weirdest humans (especially considering how weird some of the humans in THS are).
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To be honest, going through the hierarchy, it was difficult to place some people's motivations (including my own) on the chart. ;)
That's why I like THS - it'll stretch your brain . . .