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> Such as whether we are unique and special, or that we may also be deterministic automatons and free will doesn't exist. That's only scratching the surface of

> Such as whether we are unique and special, or that we may also be deterministic automatons and free will doesn't exist. That's only scratching the surface of the implications. The real question arises when we have to decide what moral rights consciousness proffers. A lot of arguments for and against vegetarianism, for instance, focus on whether animals suffer in a way that we would understand as suffering. A lot of arguments for terminating a comatose life center around the lack of consciousness. If you suddenly declare that a piece of software is conscious, you have to grapple with what it means for all these questions—and for that matter with what we do with the software itself. Is the software enslaved, having to perform the same thing over and over again? Does turning it off kill it? Does it want anything? Specifically, something other than what its lot is? Should it have a voice in deciding how it is used? Should it get the vote? Should agglomerations of humans? Say, corporations? Should they get free speech? Sci-fi books have explored a lot of these subjects, of course, but reality will be different, and we'll have to deal with it on its own terms.

visarga 7y ago
Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. But we could quickly settle this question if we checked some things first: does it need anything (have necessities)? does it learn? can it act on its environment? Can it evolve? Is it part of a group or alone? If no, then it's probably not conscious. All the conscious agents I know have one and the same ultimate goal - to exist and reproduce themselves. All their other goals are just subgoals. By my definition a virus and AlphaGo which was trained as a population of interacting agents with a winner survives rule are both conscious of their environment, which is just a board for AG.
- retsibsi 7y ago
  Why are you confident about any of these things? Unless you're simply stipulating a definition, and not worrying too much about whether it corresponds to 'consciousness' in the sense most of us care about.
- to1y 7y ago
  >Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. If life was a cartoon maybe. Although i'm sure many people would argue if it believes its conscious we have no right to dispute, as we cannot know and even may be essentially the same.
- Psyladine 7y ago
  >Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. Ever threatened legal action against a multinational corporation?

visarga 7y ago

Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. But we could quickly settle this question if we checked some things first: does it need anything (have necessities)? does it learn? can it act on its environment? Can it evolve? Is it part of a group or alone? If no, then it's probably not conscious. All the conscious agents I know have one and the same ultimate goal - to exist and reproduce themselves. All their other goals are just subgoals. By my definition a virus and AlphaGo which was trained as a population of interacting agents with a winner survives rule are both conscious of their environment, which is just a board for AG.

retsibsi 7y ago
Why are you confident about any of these things? Unless you're simply stipulating a definition, and not worrying too much about whether it corresponds to 'consciousness' in the sense most of us care about.
to1y 7y ago
>Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. If life was a cartoon maybe. Although i'm sure many people would argue if it believes its conscious we have no right to dispute, as we cannot know and even may be essentially the same.
Psyladine 7y ago
>Don't worry, if it is conscious it will fight back and have a will of its own. It won't be hard to tell. Ever threatened legal action against a multinational corporation?