Obviously You, Maybe You, Artificial You: Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Technologies on Consciousness and Personal Identity
AJOB Neuroscience March 31, 2020 J. Banja
A review of Susan Schneider's book Artificial You explores how artificial intelligence and related technologies challenge understandings of consciousness and moral attitudes toward nonhumans and posthumans. The book examines what it would mean for an AI to be conscious, questioning whether consciousness requires a feeling of self-awareness or exists on a continuum from simple awareness to complex self-reflection. Schneider considers whether human enhancement with brain microchips could fracture identity and transcend humanness, and whether uploading consciousness to a computer transforms it into something no longer human. The review notes that Schneider leaves the definition of consciousness open to explore deep moral questions about AI's moral status.