J G Lynn

Free Will in Machines: Essays on Intelligence and Consciousness J G Lynn 2nd edition

Most of us believe we have free will. We believe that to the extent allowed by our circumstances, we each choose what we do, what we say, and what we think. This notion of freedom carries along with it the implication of personal responsibility for those actions. By being free to make our own decisions, we assume at least some responsibility for the consequences of those decisions. Is it possible for a machine to have this same free will? Are machines capable of achieving the prerequisite level of consciousness to be held accountable for their own actions? In science fiction from Asimov?s ?I, Robot? to the more recent ?Terminator? we have been warned of the evils of unbridled technology and its potential for the ultimate destruction of mankind. Is what governs our behavior any different than what governs the behavior of a machine? Once the exclusive province of fantasy and fiction, neuroscience has shown the cause of ?good? vs. ?bad? behavior to be tied to specific brain systems. As our understanding grows of this connection between mind and body, our legal and ethics theories regarding moral responsibility will need to adapt, perhaps to include machines.