Artificial intelligence (AI), DeepSeek, Computing, Technology, ChatGPT, Internet, Energy, Environment, United Nations, Consciousness, Science, Philosophy, Ethics, Meta, Nvidia, World news Business | The Guardian
Dr Tom McClelland on the consequences of AI consciousness, Michael Webb on protecting creative industries, and Prof Virginia Dignum and Prof Wendy Hall on the need for a global regulatory frameworkThe recent open letter regarding AI consciousness on which you report (AI systems could be ‘caused to suffer’ if consciousness achieved, says research, 3 February) highlights a genuine moral problem: if we create conscious AI (whether deliberately or inadvertently) then we would have a duty not to cause it to suffer. What the letter fails to do, however, is to capture what a big “if” this is.Some promising theories of consciousness do indeed open the door to AI consciousness. But other equally promising theories suggest that being conscious requires being an organism. Although we can look for indicators of consciousness in AI, it is very difficult – perhaps impossible – to know whether an AI is actually conscious or merely presenting the outward signs of consciousness. Given how deep these problems run, the only reasonable stance to take on artificial consciousness is an agnostic one. Continue reading…
Dr Tom McClelland on the consequences of AI consciousness, Michael Webb on protecting creative industries, and Prof Virginia Dignum and Prof Wendy Hall on the need for a global regulatory framework
The recent open letter regarding AI consciousness on which you report (AI systems could be ‘caused to suffer’ if consciousness achieved, says research, 3 February) highlights a genuine moral problem: if we create conscious AI (whether deliberately or inadvertently) then we would have a duty not to cause it to suffer. What the letter fails to do, however, is to capture what a big “if” this is.
Some promising theories of consciousness do indeed open the door to AI consciousness. But other equally promising theories suggest that being conscious requires being an organism. Although we can look for indicators of consciousness in AI, it is very difficult – perhaps impossible – to know whether an AI is actually conscious or merely presenting the outward signs of consciousness. Given how deep these problems run, the only reasonable stance to take on artificial consciousness is an agnostic one.
