[machine conscousness is ]No more scary than other human beings, which we don't know what will do
or why.

Human beings are not mere tools. When I deal with a human or a dog or
even a frog, I do not expect it to merely do what it was designed to do.
When I put a light on a certain spot on stage, I expect that it will
stay there, even if it disagrees with me as to whether or not I am doing
a good job of lighting. If the lights start to design themselves, I
will lose control over whatever it is I am trying to accomplish for the
audience. Likewise I don't want my hammer to start reviewing the
architectural plans of the house I'm building and then refuse to hammer
the seventh and eighth beams into place.

I expect certain behavior from tools, and act accordingly. I expect
different behavior from people, and treat them accordingly.

Imagine the benefits - by the time we can make a truly conscious machine
with human intelligence, we will probably have the technology to do a
brain-dump. You could brain dump into a machine, discard your feeble
meat body, and go off into space and explore the planets - requiring no
pesky, complex, difficult life support to keep meat alive.

I don't think I'd ever want to do that.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
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