The second in a series of four STEM seminars, titled “The Science of Intelligent Machines,” took place Friday in Anna Pechanec Hall.
The lecture was presented by Ken Luchini, who teaches mechatronics at Columbia Tech Center. The event flyer said he would “cover the ins and outs of mechatronics–the science behind the machines used in manufacturing and many other applications.”
Luchini spoke about artificial intelligence for the majority of the lecture, warning against creating self-aware artificial intelligence without a moral code.
“If we give intelligence to our machines without … rules, our days are limited,” he said.
Luchini suggested the “Three Laws of Robotics,” written by sci-fi author Isaac Asiimov in his short story series “I, Robot,” as a guideline.
Luchini also said mechatronics majors are not required to take any ethics training. “What I would like to see an ethics course do is teach people empathy and compassion,” he said. “And how would you program that into a machine?”
According to the flyer, the next two lectures in the STEM seminar series are on Feb. 19 and 26, entitled “Real Life Monkey Business,” with Rob Schubert and “Fascinating Fermentation” with Jared Englund.
