Robot Consciousness: Physics and Metaphysics Here and Abroad
Journal of Big History September 28, 2024 DOI: 10.22339/jbh.v7i4.7403 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Transformative learning Artificial general intelligence Epistemology Artificial consciousness Cognitive science Human intelligence Metaphysics Narrative Artificial intelligence |
| Key points | Argues that questions about the identity of advanced robotic intelligence with human consciousness and its potential to substitute for humans in responsible roles remain open, and that these issues intersect with broader topics in the theory of mind and cosmology. |
Abstract
Interest has been renewed in the study of consciousness, both theoretical and applied, following developments in 20th and early 21st century logic, metamathematics, computer science, and the brain sciences. In this evolving historical narrative, I explore several theoretical questions about the types of artificial intelligence and offer several conjectures about how they affect possible future developments in this exceptionally transformative field of research. I also address the practical significance of the advances in artificial intelligence in view of the cautions issued by prominent scientists, politicians, and ethicists about the possible historically unique dangers of such sufficiently advanced general intelligence, including by implication the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Integrating both the theoretical and practical issues, I ask the following: (a) is sufficiently advanced general robotic intelligence identical to, or alternatively, ambiguously indistinguishable from human intelligence and human consciousness, and if so, (b) is such an earthly robotic intelligence a kind of consciousness indistinguishable from a presumptive extraterrestrial robotic consciousness, and if so, (c) is such a human-created robot preferably able to serve as a substitute for or even entirely supplant human intelligence and consciousness in certain exceptionally responsible roles? In the course of this investigation of artificial intelligence and consciousness, I also discuss the inter-relationships of these topics more generally within the theory of mind, including, emergence, free will, and meaningfulness, and the implications of quantum theory for alternative cosmological ontologies that offer suggestive answers to these topics, including how they relate to Big History.