Xiang-Hong Wang

The Possibility of Artificial Qualia

Communications in Humanities Research September 14, 2023 Xiang-Hong Wang

The possibility of artificial qualia—conscious experiences in AI—depends on whether strong AI is possible. The essay argues against objections to strong AI, beginning with Searle's Chinese Room Argument, and contends that common counterarguments from AI practitioners are invalid given modern AI developments. Drawing on David Chalmers' principle of organizational invariance, the author reconstructs two reductio ad absurdum arguments: the fading qualia argument and the dancing qualia argument, which refute the absent qualia argument and the inverted qualia argument. The principle of organizational invariance thus supports the possibility of artificial qualia.