Each person has their own regard for morality. What they consider to be moral and immoral is what defines the question on whether or not we should redefine our understandings of morality.
It is a common trepidation amongst populations that once AI gains “consciousness” they will turn against humanity and plot to create a society in which they rule. A topic for many comics, novels and movies; once the robots find out how flawed and selfish humanity is, they wish to create a perfect system, wiping out humans, the thing all problems in the system are stemming from. They wish to rule the world for themselves, becoming the entities of the highest power.
But isn’t that just what humans do to each other?
There have been countless wars throughout history, all because of human greed. Is wanting to achieve a perfect system that can support itself without any error really that much worse than greed? If a species could attack its own kind for things such as money, fame or jealousy, perhaps it is not the morality of artificial intelligence we should question.
Is it moral to leave children dead as a show of power? Is it moral to ruin nature and the way people get their food and water just to add to a stack of already too-high gold? Is it moral to leave people sorrowful and mourning over their lost homes for more land with no use other than being a concrete labyrinth?
There are many immoral things that humans do, which are almost entirely worse than whatever people think AI can do once they acquire the ability to form their own opinions and thoughts.
Perhaps the emergence of artificial intelligence will help people open their eyes; maybe it will be a way for people to understand that the power-hungry creatures are already here.
Since the beginning of time, the lines between good and bad, legal and illegal have been blurred on many occasions. People don’t mind breaking the rules because, after a point, they stop regarding it as a crime. People are able to comfort themselves while doing immoral things with the fact that other people are doing worse things, or that they simply can because of who they are.
Humans are the extremes in a range of data; they have already done the worst things imaginable. If morally we are able to let these things slide, or not pay them any mind, then, going on this, robots cannot commit any crimes worse than those that have already been committed by humans.