Should?AGI be a she, he, or a it?

Anthropomorphizing machines is not a new phenomenon and is universal. The fear of machines that will kill us, intimidate us or betray is, if not new, but certainly not universal. The West including America and Britain had slavery in our recent past history, which makes us afraid and imagine ourselves enslaved by digital super intelligence specifically and autonomous robots generally. We are afraid that what we did to others will come back to haunt us.?

In cultures that have less history of slavery, this is not the case, with Japan being a good example where the fear of being slaved by super intelligence doesn’t exist. Interestingly, Japan has the belief of Animism. It is a belief that places, objects, creatures alike have some level of spiritual essence. Machines, rivers, plants, animals and some instances of words are living and animated. Anima is a Latin word meaning spirit. If a machine has a spirit, has breadth and is alive, just like you, why will you be afraid of it, even if it is more intelligent than you??

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) can be considered as a tool or an alien creature that has been intrinsically discovered or invented by humans. If it is a tool (A ‘it’), AGI and its variants can have an interface that makes it something (as opposed to someone) that is at our service, friendly, willing to be touched and ready to be kicked out at our pleasure. It’s after all a ‘it’. Steve Jobs made every?iMac to be shipped with a handle even if it meant more cost and extra manufacturing complexity to the shiny iMac. The iMac handle made sure that people that time were not intimidated by this device called a computer while also getting the signal that the iMac can be thrown out of your window anytime - it was there to serve you and was at your command. It also gives a good single point where you can touch and carry it wherever and whenever you like.?

Anthropomorphizing AGI into a creature (A ‘she’ or a ‘he') in this Generative native world, can have some unforeseen consequences where s/he can manipulate you. Sometimes, just like a human or an animal, it can comfort you. As an optimist pessimist, having a big red button that says “Hit the Switch & I’m dead” on such AGI and its physical manifestation is a good consideration. This is where regulation and designing AGI with safety from groups up come into play. Designing AGI systems that?are safe is a competitive differentiator, and not an afterthought that will cost more.

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