Transcript

EP 100 - Mary Shelley and Karel Čapek: Who Created the Monster? · Conversations Beyond Their Lives

HOST: The awkward part is—we invited the people who basically gave us our robot nightmares. [SFX: scary zap] GUEST1: I gave you a creature, not a gadget. GUEST2: And I gave you workers. “Robot” comes from robota—forced labor. HOST: Mary Shelley, Karel Čapek: if today’s A.I. misbehaves, who’s the real monster? GUEST1: The maker who abandons it. Victor runs. That is the sin. GUEST2: No, the factory owner who says, “It is only a tool,” while replacing everyone. [AD_BREAK:1] HOST: Karel, your 1920 play ends with artificial workers destroying humanity. GUEST2: Because humans built servants, then feared servants having souls. GUEST1: See? We agree. GUEST2: Briefly. Don’t enjoy it. [SFX: silly ding] HOST: Mary, would you regulate A.I.? GUEST1: I would require responsibility before animation. GUEST2: And wages before automation. [AD_BREAK:2] HOST: So the warning isn’t “don’t create.” GUEST1: It’s “don’t create and flee.” GUEST2: Or create and call exploitation progress. HOST: That lands uncomfortably close. GUEST1: Good. Let it.