James, of course it would know that only one of the two was objectively possible. However, it would not know which one was objectively possible and which one was not.
The AI would not be persuaded by the “proof”, because it would still believe that if later events gave it reason to do X, it would do X, and if later events gave it reason to do Y, it would do Y. This does not mean that it thinks that both are objectively possible. It means that as far as it can tell, each of the two is subjectively open to it.
Your example does not prove what you want it to. Yes, if the source code included that line, it would do it. But if the AI were to talk about itself, it would say, “When someone types ‘tickle’ I am programmed to respond ‘hahaha’.” It would not say that it has made any decision at all. It would be like someone saying, “when it’s cold, I shiver.” This does not depend on a choice, and the AI would not consider the hahaha output to depend on a choice. And if it was self modifying, it is perfectly possible that it would modify itself not to make this response at all.
It does not matter that in fact, all of its actions are just as determinate as the tickle response. The point is that it understands the one as determinate in advance. It does not see that there is any decision to make. If it thinks there is a decision to be made, then it may be deterministic, but it surely does not know which decision it will make.
The basic point is that you are assuming, without proof, that intelligence can be modeled by a simple algorithm. But the way intelligence feels from the inside, proves that it cannot be so modelled, namely it proves that a model of my intelligence must be too complicated for me to understand, and the same is true of the AI: it’s own intelligence is too complicated for it to understand, even if it can understand mine.
James, of course it would know that only one of the two was objectively possible. However, it would not know which one was objectively possible and which one was not.
The AI would not be persuaded by the “proof”, because it would still believe that if later events gave it reason to do X, it would do X, and if later events gave it reason to do Y, it would do Y. This does not mean that it thinks that both are objectively possible. It means that as far as it can tell, each of the two is subjectively open to it.
Your example does not prove what you want it to. Yes, if the source code included that line, it would do it. But if the AI were to talk about itself, it would say, “When someone types ‘tickle’ I am programmed to respond ‘hahaha’.” It would not say that it has made any decision at all. It would be like someone saying, “when it’s cold, I shiver.” This does not depend on a choice, and the AI would not consider the hahaha output to depend on a choice. And if it was self modifying, it is perfectly possible that it would modify itself not to make this response at all.
It does not matter that in fact, all of its actions are just as determinate as the tickle response. The point is that it understands the one as determinate in advance. It does not see that there is any decision to make. If it thinks there is a decision to be made, then it may be deterministic, but it surely does not know which decision it will make.
The basic point is that you are assuming, without proof, that intelligence can be modeled by a simple algorithm. But the way intelligence feels from the inside, proves that it cannot be so modelled, namely it proves that a model of my intelligence must be too complicated for me to understand, and the same is true of the AI: it’s own intelligence is too complicated for it to understand, even if it can understand mine.