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5 Savannah L. Rev. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/savanlr5 and id is 1 raw text is: 















AVANNAH


VOLUME   5 NUMBER 1


RISE   OF  THE   AUTOMATONS
Wendell   Wallach

    If you listen to the techno-optimists you would think that we are on a highway
to heaven on Earth and the self-driving buses are speeding up at an exponential
pace. On the other hand, if you just listen to the techno-pessimists you would think
we are going straight to hell in a handbasket.
    But  most  of us  do perceive  technology as  a source  of promise  and
productivity, and yet there is considerable disquiet-disquiet about specific areas
of research and disquiet about the overall trajectory of scientific discovery and
technological innovation. You can see that disquiet in so many different areas: the
worldwide prohibition on human cloning, the use of human growth hormones in
sports, the E.U. has had its debate on genetically modified foods, and the U.S. is
debating embryonic  stem cell research. And there are the never-ending issues
surrounding bio-security and info-security. Over the past few years we've had this
dramatic  uptake  in concerns  around  what  can happen   with AI  and  the
biotechnologies due  to breakthroughs  in machine  learning algorithms  and
CRISPR   Cas9, which dramatically eases the editing of the genome.
    I see the self-driving car as giving us a metaphor for what we're dealing with.
Technology  is moving into the driver seat as a primary determinant of humanity's


Chair, Technology and Ethics Studies, Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for
Bioethics. Author, A DANGEROUS MASTER: How To KEEP TECHNOLOGY FROM SLIPPING
BEYOND OUR  CONTROL (Basic Books, 2015). I was truly honored to give the plenary talk
at Rise of the Automatons. The input of ethicists is not always valued by lawyers or law
schools. The quality of the student and faculty presentations was excellent, and the
southern hospitality of Savannah Law Review and its students could not have been
surpassed. I was particularly touched when the students presented me with an oil portrait
of my future cyborg self, painted by artist Fauvista Artista. Finally, let me express special
appreciation to Marlan Eller who invited me, served as my primary host, and made sure
that my trip to the Savannah Law School went very smoothly.


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