If We Could Engineer Animals to Be as Smart as Humans—Should We?

[Kathandira]

I definitely think there should be criteria for what should and shouldn't be uplifted. Maybe anything that's self-aware, not livestock or a traditional working animal and not a species traditionally kept as pets. The first criteria alone narrows the candidates down to a baker's dozen at most: apes, elephants, dolphins, orcas, magpies and a few others.

I think Ape's would be the most logical first candidate since they would be able to physically function in our world. Too many animals lack the hand dexterity we have as humans, but I think Ape's would be able to keep up.

[Valkrysa]

We can't even accept other humans as equal if they look slightly different, how are you going to expect people to not be horrible to the uplifted ape/dolphin?

[Shakari]

Though quite hostile comment, I think this is something worth agreeing on. We shouldn't work on making animals smarter when you have human beings who can't act better than an animal.

Not hostile at all, just the simple truth... humanity as a whole is thick as 2 short planks when it comes to anything other than the immediate future and gaining material wealth in the short term and anything outside there own self interest.

Individually people are intelligent, more than 1 .... and it goes down hill proportionally to the number of people involved.

Then we get to politics .... which is all about gaining money and power or taking it away from other in one form or another, intelligence from an outside view hardly enters into it.

[Hilhen7]

We can't even accept other humans as equal if they look slightly different, how are you going to expect people to not be horrible to the uplifted ape/dolphin?

Exactly. Imagine all the racial profiling and the hate crimes.

And what about interspecies relations? Would ape on woman action would be legal? What about religion?

[Doctor Amadeus]

I have a better question, if you could surgically restore part of the brain that makes it impossible for a sociopath feel should we do it?

Think about that years and years in on a person's life, and then suddenly have them wake up flooded with nightmares of a person they literally are no longer.

I ask that, because one if you do engineer animals to be as smart as humans, well I would say we should be prepared for every bit of what that means.


Because like Planet of the Apes, or A.I, it's possible we make animals so smart, they might decide they don't actually like us very much, especially what we do to them, for our pleasure.

[Hilhen7]

Because like Planet of the Apes, or A.I, it's possible we make animals so smart, they might decide they don't actually like us very much, especially what we do to them, for our pleasure.

Yeah if you look at history or even current events us humans are creatures that go around mass murdering people, pollute the planet, and ruin entire ecosystems. Any other animal that had the same level of intelligence as us would see humans as the biggest threat to the rest of the world.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Yeah if you look at history or even current events us humans are creatures that go around mass murdering people, pollute the planet, and ruin entire ecosystems. Any other animal that had the same level of intelligence as us would see humans as the biggest threat to the rest of the world.

Well said, and that is a big chunk of it, just because we help to make animals smarter, that doesn't mean they are going to LIKE US.

This kind of thinking also gets human beings in a lot of trouble. Not everything living or alive cares about us or maybe even wants to be friends. And under the current circumstances, even if we did make us think they would us as friendly.

I know I sure as hell wouldn't

[Techno-Druid]

I think Ape's would be the most logical first candidate since they would be able to physically function in our world. Too many animals lack the hand dexterity we have as humans, but I think Ape's would be able to keep up.

It actually be that huge of a leap. I think a lot of people actually underestimate the intelligence of great apes out of fear of anthropomorphizing them.

The two apes that have interested me in regards to intelligence have been Chantek (who died last year) and Kanzi, an orangutan and a bonobo. Chantek had an understanding of work and currency. He would ask his handler to get ice cream and she would sign 'work' prompting him to start picking up trash. As a reward for chores he was given steel washers which he would save to "buy" things. He also told lies and could pick/manipulate locks.

Then there's Kanzi, who is considered the smartest non-human that we know of and can understand fluent English, make tools, build fires and understands abstracts like "good" and "bad".

I ultimately think that if we uplifted apes or another close animal, most of their behavior would be influenced by how we treated them. If you treat someone like a person then they will act like a person, if you treat them like animals they will act accordingly.

[onesBronson]

I read a book about this once, it spanned across multiple stories depicting gen-engineered animals who take after humanity and go on to live lives similar to ours. Although some of those stories took place in the distant future where interstellar travel was also possible, but others kept to the modern age of society. I'm all for this idea, I'm used to seeing intelligent humans every single day, imagine another species blending in with us as well.

[Jonnusthegreat]

We should create smart humans first.

Only March and already have the post of the year.

OT: Absolutely. There are many limitations humans have that animals could overcome.

[Silver Forte]

No we shouldn't. Imagine if hornets were smarter. They wouldn't just build nests under your rafters, they'd build them in your living room ceiling. The smarter something is, the harder it is to deal with.

[Techno-Druid]

I saw a documentary on Ants that was also really fascinating... they are evolving, creating supercolonies, and they can do some amazing things. I think if people took the time to learn about animals, they would see the world a lot differently.

Ants may also be self-aware (amazingly), but I definitely wouldn't be in any rush to uplift them lol. If you want to talk about a species that could actually pose a threat to humanity in the long term...

[Deleted]

Why would we want to dumb them down?

[schwarzkopf]

No OP - I think it would be cruel to purposely dumb down animals.

[Deleted]

Animals are a pure product of nature. If we decide to alter ourselves, whatever. We should leave other animals untouched.

Why are humans not a pure product of nature?

[Uncle]

No, first of all, this is impossible: you CAN'T create intelligence like an IA on an already existing being. Second: the human brain and physiology is NOT like an animal.
An animal DOESN'T think, an animal acts like an animal, you can teach tricks to an animal, but teaching tricks is hard, and it's not a proof of intelligence.

If it was possible (wich is not and will never be), it would be extraordinary stupid to do that: nobody know what could happen.

[Sky High]

I don’t think we need the competition.

[Laerrus]

Knowing us, the next thing we do is enslave them.

Which we already do anyway, pointing to dogs, horses, elephants and oxen. I would hope that if we ever gift a species with sentience, that we are benevolent enough to allow them free will.

[StayTuned]

Why are humans not a pure product of nature?

Didn't you read the word "other"?

[Techno-Druid]

No, first of all, this is impossible: you CAN'T create intelligence like an IA on an already existing being.

You certainly can if you insert the right genes.

Second: the human brain and physiology is NOT like an animal.

Of course it is, the human brain functions exactly like any other mammalian brain. We've known for years that species like dogs process emotion in the same way as humans do because the same areas light up in the caudate nucleus in response to positive stimuli.

An animal DOESN'T think, an animal acts like an animal, you can teach tricks to an animal, but teaching tricks is hard, and it's not a proof of intelligence.

Humans are animals and we think. A predator must make a choice on what member of a herd to go after. Chimpanzees not only learn through experience, but possess culture, passing learned skills down through generations such as the knowledge on how to make a 'spear' to hunt monkeys and bushbabies.