Artificial intelligence: free will, self-consciousness and ethics.

The article examines challenges in creating artificial intelligence, focusing on free will, self-awareness, and ethics. It reviews the neurobiological basis of consciousness, particularly the neocortex's role in recognition, memory, and prediction, which inform cognitive modeling in AI. Neural networks are discussed for reproducing perception and decision-making, alongside modern training approaches. The paper addresses modeling self-awareness and subjective experience in AI, questioning the feasibility of self-aware machines. Ethical concerns center on rights, responsibilities, and societal roles of such machines, including legal frameworks and protections. Free will is questioned through experiments and philosophical theories in both biological and artificial contexts. The authors conclude that AI creation requires careful ethical and legal analysis for harmonious integration.

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Abstract

The article discusses key aspects of artificial intelligence creation, including issues of free will, self-awareness and ethics. The focus is on the neurobiological basis of consciousness, in particular the structure and functions of the new cerebral cortex, as well as the mechanisms of recognition, memory and prediction, which are important for modelling cognitive processes in artificial systems. The paper discusses the role of neural networks in reproducing cognitive functions, such as perception and decision making, and presents modern approaches to training neural networks. A separate part of the paper is devoted to the issue of modelling self-awareness and subjective experience in artificial intelligence and how realistic it is to create self-aware machines. Ethical issues of artificial intelligence creation are at the centre of the discussion, including the topics of the rights of self-aware machines, their responsibilities and their role in society. The article considers the possible social consequences of the emergence of artificial personalities, the need to develop new legal frameworks and legal protections for such beings. It also discusses the problem of free will in the context of both biological and artificial systems, citing experiments and philosophical theories that question free will as a phenomenon. It concludes that the creation of artificial intelligence has great potential, but requires careful ethical and legal analysis to ensure the harmonious integration of artificial persons into social and legal structures.