Geoffrey Hinton claims that AI possesses consciousness-that it is very much like us (humans). The initial reaction is, of course, dismissal. A machine resembling a human? Absurd. Yet, there is one thing to consider. What exactly is consciousness? Is it conscious awareness of one’s own existence? *Cogito, ergo sum*-as René Descartes once formulated it as a logical proof? Or is it something that can be empirically demonstrated using modern technology like fMRI? After all, such methods cannot even prove the existence of free will. My point is this: we know less about consciousness and what it means to be human than we think. We should therefore turn our attention to new philosophical questions and clarify what distinguishes-or connects-humans and machines, as well as what consciousness actually is. Something id love to explore more in the near future.
AI Pioneer Geoff Hinton tells me he believes AI is conscious.... and humans better get used to the idea that they're not the only intelligent life on earth. "They've very like us," he says. "They're beings like us." AI chatbots, he says, must understand your questions in order to answer them. There's an awareness there that equates to sentience. "We're going to have to accept that intelligence is not just biological."
