Teach machines compassion, too

Will “the machines” take over the world one day? That’s been asked many times since science fiction writers first posited the idea of “artificial intelligence (AI)”.

The term is used for nonhuman electronic and mechanical “creatures” which grow their own “brains” and can “think”. This autonomous ability is premised on the machines “learning” from original human inputs.

In science fiction, the result has largely been malign: The machines become evil and often turn on their human creators once they “realise” they are better and more powerful than us.

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Does it have to be that way? Perhaps not – that is the fascinating possibility raised by marketing strategist Robynne Rowlinson Bisset on our pages today.

Engaging the latest AI technology, the ChatGPT “bot”, she struck up a fascinating conservation with it … in the end leading it to reveal distinctly “human-like” reactions to the simple inputs of a real person saying “please” and “thank you”.

If a bot can learn some of the basics of human decency – such as politeness – can it also not learn the even more important, emotional responses like compassion?

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If machines inherit the best of us rather than the worst, perhaps the world will one day be a better place.