Can We Give A Robot A Conscience?

Artificial intelligences are getting smarter every day, so how will we stop them from taking over the planet? Here's a hint: Isaac Asimov's Three Rules won't work. FACT OF THE DAY: When IBM's AI, Watson, competed on Jeopardy, the biggest challenge programmers faced was teaching it to understand questions posed in everyday language. [Welcome To A Smarter Inbox]( How Can We Prevent A Robot Uprising? [Why The Three Laws Of Robotics Wouldn't Work — And What Would Instead]( - Isaac Asimov's "Three Rules of Robotics" were meant to prevent robots from hurting people or disobeying orders. - But modern AI experts think those rules are woefully inadequate. - They say that any "unbreakable" rules we try to impose will inevitably be broken when robots become exponentially smarter than us. - The good news is that some programmers think we can give robots a moral compass anyway. [HOW DO YOU PUT AN ANGEL ON A ROBOT'S SHOULDER?]( The Curiosity Podcast Have you listened to [The Curiosity Podcast]( yet? In our most recent episode, Cody talks with [Kurt Melcher]( Robert Morris University's Executive Director of eSports. He's worked in both traditional sports and e-sports — and he thinks that pro video-gamers aren't so different from what you might think of as "traditional" athletes. If you like the podcast, we'd love it if you'd give us a 5-star review on your favorite listening platform, whether that's [iTunes]( [Stitcher]( or [Google Play](. Last Week On Curiosity - [Maxwell's Demon Claims There's A Way Around This Law Of Physics]( - [Believe It Or Not, Scientists Still Don't Understand Gravity]( - [What It Takes To Be A Pro Player In eSports]( - [Why Did Mice That Couldn't Smell Lose More Weight Than Mice That Could?]( - [Why Doesn't A "Reverse Microwave" For Cooling Food Exist?]( - [Tardigrades Are So Tough, They'll Survive Until The Sun Dies]( - [Sleep Deprivation Eats Your Brain]( [At Berlin-Ichthyosaur Park, You Can Camp In A Ghost Town Filled With Fossils]( The Answer Every Saturday, we take on a question sent in by one of our readers. Write to us at [TheQuestion@Curiosity.com](mailto:thequestion@curiosity.com?subject=A%20Question%20For%20The%20Question) to have your question answered next week! How is it that we can feel it when people are staring at us? – Z We've actually tackled this question in [one of our articles]( already, and the answer will probably either make you say, "Huh, that makes sense," or "No way, that's not what I'm talking about at all." Basically, back in 1898, a British psychologist named Edward Titchener published an article entitled [The Feeling Of Being Stared At](. In it, he concluded that indeed, many times when you feel that you are being stared at, you look up and discover that it's true. Thing is, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you feel you're being stared at, you get a bit twitchy, attracting the attention of people around you. So you look behind you and sure enough — everyone's looking. Of course, that was well over a century ago, but [a study from 2009]( doubled down on Titchener's findings. But that's not necessarily the be-all end-all answer to the question. Your jumpy paranoia might be the only explanation for "feeling" eyes boring a hole in the back of your head, but in 2011 [Psychology Today]( cited a study indicating it might be real after all (which isn't to say we all have psychic powers). Instead, it found that a certain cluster of brain cells tends to light up when a person in your peripheral vision begins looking at you. Even if we aren't actively observing our surroundings, our brains are always processing data. So somebody twisting in their seat to see you might just be enough to give your conscious brain a nudge. Since cooperation and coordination are intrinsic to human behavior, it just makes sense that we'd develop the subconscious ability to tell when we're standing out in a crowd. In The Headlines - Hyperloop One has been successfully tested in its vacuum tube, accelerating to 192 mph in just 1,000 feet. [[Wired]( - Live in the UK? Concerned about your electric bill? Why not pick up a set of solar panels and home batteries at IKEA? [[TechCrunch]( - While breaking ground for a new housing complex, workers in France have uncovered an ancient Roman village they're calling "Little Pompeii." [[Condé Nast Traveler]( Got A Question For The Question? Write to us at TheQuestion@Curiosity.com if there's something you're dying to know, or anything you think we could be doing better (we'll also accept lavish compliments). If we like your question, we'll let you know—and then we'll take it on in The Answer in every Saturday's email. Follow us and smarten up your social media. [Facebook ]( [Twitter ]( [Instagram ]( [Google ]( [Pinterest ]( [Advertise on Curiosity]( Discover More Amazing Stories Every Day! Start following the subjects that interest you most. We do the work of writing, designing and curating can't-miss articles and videos in those subjects, so you can let your natural curiosity lead the way. [EXPLORE ALL SUBJECTS]( Not Curious Anymore? 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