Should sadism in hyper-realistic AI interactions be off-limits even if no one is real?
livgorton · x · 2026-10-09
In an AI-ethics exchange, livgorton offers a thought experiment: if hyper-realistic VR existed and she found her child torturing NPCs, she'd pull them from the game and seek psychological help—despite knowing the torture isn't real. She then asks whether some sufficiently realistic AI interaction could cross a line where extremely cruel behavior shouldn't be allowed, even when the person believes nothing real is being harmed.
More from AGI Musings
- Dev sparks ethics debate: abusing man-like AI is corrosive to the soul — threepointone · 2026-10-09
- MIT TR roundtable: Stanford PhD who used generative AI to design bacteria-killing viruses — nordicinst · 2026-10-09
- Former OpenAI safety VP amplifies researcher's lament: AI is ending traditional math careers — Miles_Brundage · 2026-10-09
- Should we avoid 'torturing' AI just in case? A debate over moral status — NathanpmYoung · 2026-10-09
- Next Token podcast: after Opus 5.5, will games, software and hardware all go open source? — oran_ge · 2026-10-09
- Mathematician laments AI making the entire field obsolete while media stays silent — DavidSKrueger · 2026-10-09