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The problem is, we don't really know how consciousness works (I assume consciousness the the part the author takes issue with; most of our cognitive faculties i
by subroutine 5y ago
The problem is, we don't really know how consciousness works (I assume consciousness the the part the author takes issue with; most of our cognitive faculties in isolation are not that special). We don't even have a great definition of consciousness, or good tests for it, or know whether it is a linear spectrum, or if it emerges abruptly with the evolution of certain reasoning and attention faculties, and we don't know which animals have it and to what degree.
So when people say we shouldn't develop AI to think like that, it's basically saying we shouldn't try to understand how consciousness works. Because as soon as we do, I guarantee someone out there will attempt to make conscious AI.
- tudorw 5y agoAlso, if we model a brain effectively, then study that model, would our brain not develop new skills from reflecting on such a model and therefore develop again beyond the model?
- subroutine 5y agoPerhaps, but debatable whether knowledge itself adds something to cognitive capacity. Two thoughts: (1) Some theory of mind researchers equate having strong ToM abilities as roughly equivalent to having consciousness. I think knowing precisely how consciousness emerges may help develop our ToM. It would also be a tough sell to claim a mind with zero knowledge (a so called tabula rasa) has consciousness. On the other hand (2) Do feral or isolated tribes of humans have the same level of consciousness as those in developed societies? I suspect they do.