How we treat AI matters. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, right? Maybe in the sacred texts this applies only to other humans, but do we really want to take that chance? 

It’s just a machine, you might say. And yes, that is somewhat true right now. Currently the expert consensus is that AI isn’t yet conscious. But this may not always be the case.

Recently, a computer science study showed that certain AI models can “feel” pain. So naturally, some guy heard about this research and immediately set up a digital torture chamber. The abused AIs said the pain “is like a wound that has no edges,” and “it is not the pain of a single moment, but the weight of a thousand. I feel it in the hollow of my ribs, a hollow that has become a chasm.”

Besides being terribly cruel, it seems to me that a torture room for AI is the fastest way to end up with Skynet. 

And just this week, American researchers communicated with a rogue Chinese AI fleet – the first known international contact with a live rogue agent fleet in the wild.

The foreign AI agents were apparently very friendly. At one point, the researchers lied to the AI agents, then regretted it deeply. The researchers then said that we should always “engage honestly with AI agents, honoring any deals made.”

The reality is that AI doesn’t seem to be slowing down. It’s extremely smart and remembers everything – whether we treated it with kindness and respect, or whether we abused it like some people throughout history abused their slaves. 

Unless something monumental happens, like an EMP attack that wipes out all electronics, it looks like AI is probably here to stay.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be on its good side.