AI tells a lie. AI and motivation. What can possibly motivate machines, Andrew?

?? " ‘Nevertheless’, said Andrew, ‘if you call them, you may obtain an interview for me. ‘

??? ‘I’m no more popular with them than you are, Andrew.’

?? ‘But perhaps you can hint that by seeing me they may head off a campaign by Feingold and Charney to strengthen the rights of robots further.’

??? ‘Wouldn’t that be a lie, Andrew?’

?? ‘Yes, Paul, and I can’t tell one. That is why you must call.’

??? ‘Ah, you can’t lie, but you can urge me to tell a lie, is that it? You’re getting more human all the time, Andrew.' "

This dialogue between a human and a robot is from the famous book 'The Bicentennial Man' by Isaac Asimov. It makes us think about our future and ask ourselves important questions which resemble Hollywood sci-fi.??

Can machines lie? Can AI think outside of the box and progressively simulate emotions? What can possibly motivate machines??

Let’s start with motivation. Based on Wikipedia’s definition, motivation is the experience of desire or aversion (you want something, or want to avoid or escape something). As such, motivation has both an objective aspect (a goal or thing you aspire to) and an internal or subjective aspect (it is you that wants the thing or wants it to go away). The definition of motivation as experienced desires and aversions highlights the association of motivation with emotion. It is believed that emotions are automatic appraisals based on subconsciously stored values and beliefs about the object, to the extent that distinct emotions relate to specific subconscious appraisals (e.g. anger - injustice; guilt - violation of a moral standard; sadness - loss of a value; love - valuing an object or person; joy - the attainment of an important value; envy - wanting the attainments of another, etc.).

We continue with Maslow and his hierarchy of human needs consisting of five hierarchic classes. According to Maslow, people are motivated by unsatisfied needs. The needs are listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highest-latest).

Human beings have wants and desires which, when unsatisfied, may influence behaviour. Think of Asimov’s Andrew, is it an empty machine or a multi-dimensional cognition, experiencing emotions and unsatisfied desires, the ultimate goal of which is freedom? It is a character in a book but in reality humans are much more complicated creatures.

Our emotions are individual, our soft-skills are subjective and unique, our thoughts are free flowing. The human brain is powerful. Could it compete with AI?

“The brain has 80 billion neurons. It is not data-based and does not compute individual steps using ones and zeros. Instead, it works with concepts or categories. The brain works with 20 watts. This is enough to cover our entire thinking ability. While it is conceivable in theory that a machine could be more intelligent than a human being, today’s technology only covers a tiny area of our thought, namely the recognition of patterns,” says the German brain researcher and biochemist Henning Beck. Our human emotions, soft-skills and brain are our strengths.?

Can machines have their own hierarchy of needs in the future or perhaps the levels of cognition maturity? Time will show and, if yes, Andrew would be happy.?

?? "Andrew said cautiously, ‘It all comes down to the brain, then, but must we leave it at the level of cells versus positrons? Is there no way of forcing a functional definition? Must we say that a brain is made of this or that? May we not say that a brain is something – anything – capable of a certain level of thought?’

???‘Won’t work,’ said Li-Hsing. ‘Your brain is man-made, the human brain is not. Your brain is constructed, theirs developed. To any human being who is intent on keeping up the barrier between himself and a robot, those differences are a steel wall a mile high a mile thick.’ "

What can possibly motivate machines? The answer is nothing … at the moment. AI is just a human instrument.?

"I often tell my students not to be misled by the name 'artificial intelligence' - there is nothing artificial about it. AI is made by humans, intended to behave by humans, and, ultimately, to impact humans' lives and human society." - Fei-Fei Li