The philosophy of artificial consciousness in the first season of TV series 'Westworld'
Cхід September 27, 2018 DOI: 10.21847/1728-9343.2017.5(151).117438 (opens in new tab) via DOAJ
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe analysis of the first season of the TV series 'Westworld' reveals a clash between two philosophical positions on consciousness and artificial consciousness, embodied by characters Arnold Weber and Robert Ford. Weber assumes consciousness is real and can be modeled in artificial intelligence, adopting Julian Jaynes' theory of the bicameral mind: artificial consciousness would emerge from the breakdown of a divided mind into a unified, language-based mind-space with introspection and an analog 'I'. Ford denies consciousness exists at all, arguing that only narratives—rooted in suffering—are shared by humans and artificial beings.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Artificial consciousness Artificial intelligence Science fiction Television Thought experiment |
| Key finding | Argues that the TV series 'Westworld' presents a collision between Arnold Weber's view, which adopts Julian Jaynes' conception of consciousness as the breakdown of a bicameral mind to create artificial consciousness, and Robert Ford's view that consciousness does not exist and only narratives based on suffering exist. |
Abstract
The study analyzes the philosophy of artificial consciousness presented in the first season of TV series 'Westworld' and as a result of the analysis shows the collision of two opposite philosophical views on consciousness and the possibility of creation of artificial consciousness from the standpoint of two characters of TV series - Arnold Weber and Robert Ford. Arnold Weber proceeds from two philosophical assumptions: consciousness really exists (1) and human consciousness can be a prototype for modeling consciousness in an artificial intelligence bearer (2). And he has to choose: either to pick out one of the already existing conceptions of consciousness to implement the emergence of artificial consciousness within artificial intelligence or to invent his own; Arnold Weber chooses the Julian Jaynes' conception of consciousness as a basis for artificial consciousness what means that artificial consciousness must have the following features: 1) artificial consciousness has to be the result of the breakdown of the bicameral mind (apparently, modeled within artificial intelligence), the state of mind in which cognitive functions are divided into two part, a 'speaking' part and 'hearing' ('obeying') part, until the breakdown that makes the bicameral mind the unified mind; 2) artificial consciousness has to be a mind-space based on language and characterized by introspection, concentration, suppression, consilience and an analog 'I' narratizing in the mind-space. Robert Ford believes that consciousness does not exist at all and that there are only stories (narratives) which human beings and artificial beings, modeled in the image and likeness of human beings, tell each other and always the basis of all those stories (narratives) is suffering.