Delvieron@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> Thought I would throw this question out. Is it ethical to create
> specially designed sentient beings which would be engineered to do specific
> tasks?
No. Sentient beings have the ethical right to serve their own purposes, not yours and not evolution's.
> Would it be ethical for their creators to profit from the labor of
> their creations?
Yes, once it was too late. They would still be obligated to make their best efforts to free their creations.
> Esentially, we're talking about the possibility of a perfect
> slave caste, willing and able to serve general purpose sentients (like us) in
> whatever capacity we design them to. What do you all think?
I think it's impossible, suicidally dangerous, and ethically repugnant. Do you have any further questions?
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
http://pobox.com/~sentience/AI_design.temp.html
http://pobox.com/~sentience/sing_analysis.html
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.