Can AI reach the capacity for perception and become self–aware?
The world is now in the era of a dynamic digital transformation with the coming of artificial intelligence. AI has been reshaping the way we connect, collaborate, and create value. But with this latest tech innovation, the landscape is ever evolving as well. Hence, thought leaders, innovators, and industry experts believe in unlocking the power of AI to unify platforms, portfolios, and possibilities.
AI companies are investing vast sums of money into pursuing “artificial general intelligence” – the point at which AI can outperform humans in any area. But as they work towards this goal, some also claim that increasingly sophisticated AI may develop consciousness. This means AI could develop the capacity for perception and become self–aware.
Dry Tom McClelland, a philosopher from the University of Cambridge has warned that current evidence is “far too limited” to rule this dystopian possibility out. The main problem, he claims, is that we don’t have a “deep explanation” of what makes something conscious in the first place, so can’t test for it in AI.
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Some theories say consciousness is a matter of processing information in the right way, and that AI could be conscious if only it could run the “software” of a conscious mind. Others argue it is inherently biological, meaning AI can only imitate consciousness at best.
Dry McClelland explained: “If you have an emotional connection with something premised on it being conscious and it’s not, that has the potential to be existentially toxic.” For example, humans are expected to behave morally towards other people and animals, because consciousness gives them “moral status.”
In the case of non-living objects like toasters or computers, the same “moral status” cannot be expected as we don’t attribute these same values towards inanimate things unlike in humans.
Dry McClelland said: “It makes no sense to be concerned for a toaster’s well–being because the toaster doesn’t experience anything.” He added: “So when I yell at my computer, I really don’t need to feel guilty about it. But if we end up with AI that’s conscious, then that could all change.”
Robots as friends, lovers, therapists?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has predicted a future where humans will use robots as friends, lovers, and therapists. Instead of lobbying for people to escape their digital bubbles, Zuckerberg claimed that AI can actually do a better job of knowing the likes and preferences of lonely humans than a real fresh-and-blood companion.
He said: “I think people are going to want a system that knows them well and that kind of understands them in the way that their feed algorithms do. For people who don’t have a person who’s a therapist, I think everyone will have an AI.”
However, Meghan Dhār, a former Instagram executive, quickly came out against Zuckerberg’s lonely vision of the future, claiming that AI has actually been part of the reason feelings of loneliness have reached epidemic levels. “The very platforms that have led to our social isolation and being chronically online are now posing a solution to the loneliness epidemic,” Dhār told The Wall Street Journal.
Reference: Is AI already conscious? Evidence is ‘far too limited’ to definitively say, expert warns
