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I don't subscribe to the AI Boogeyman theories. Consciousness is some made up philosophical macguffin. I don't care if a bunch of phds can align on a definition

I don't subscribe to the AI Boogeyman theories. Consciousness is some made up philosophical macguffin. I don't care if a bunch of phds can align on a definition for hokum and then tell me if one robot has it or not. Asking things to draw themselves is fun, I could just as easily ask an elephant holding a paint brush to paint itself and then enjoy the outcome. That's pretty much all there is to it.

adamsmith143 4y ago
>Consciousness is some made up philosophical macguffin. Well it's not totally made up. There is definitely something there, there is a real difference between the experience of being a rock and being a human. The idea then of a P-zombie or some other version of a major intelligence operating with the lights off internally really is spooky. >Asking things to draw themselves is fun, I could just as easily ask an elephant holding a paint brush to paint itself and then enjoy the outcome. That's pretty much all there is to it. Agreed. But asking Dalle or whatever model to draw "The meaning of life" and thinking there is some kind of enlightenment in what it draws is ridiculous.
- Ukv 4y ago
  > Well it's not totally made up. There is definitely something there "Consciousness" can be a (fairly vague) term encompassing concretely realizable things like train of thought, the ability to introspect those thoughts, an internal model of self, etc. Humans have these whereas a rock does not, and there's nothing in particular preventing AI from eventually having these. "Consciousness" as something incorporeal that a physically identical being could lack is nonsense territory IMO (but already heavily debated by people far smarter than me). I don't see how whatever we mean by consciousness can make no physical difference when we're directly aware of it and talking about it in the physical world.
- NoToP 4y ago
  If you are having this conversation with me then you are a consciousness and I am a consciousness and that's as good a definition of consciousness as we are ever going to get. Consciousness thus defined exists entirely within the communicative medium.

adamsmith143 4y ago

>Consciousness is some made up philosophical macguffin. Well it's not totally made up. There is definitely something there, there is a real difference between the experience of being a rock and being a human. The idea then of a P-zombie or some other version of a major intelligence operating with the lights off internally really is spooky. >Asking things to draw themselves is fun, I could just as easily ask an elephant holding a paint brush to paint itself and then enjoy the outcome. That's pretty much all there is to it. Agreed. But asking Dalle or whatever model to draw "The meaning of life" and thinking there is some kind of enlightenment in what it draws is ridiculous.

Ukv 4y ago
> Well it's not totally made up. There is definitely something there "Consciousness" can be a (fairly vague) term encompassing concretely realizable things like train of thought, the ability to introspect those thoughts, an internal model of self, etc. Humans have these whereas a rock does not, and there's nothing in particular preventing AI from eventually having these. "Consciousness" as something incorporeal that a physically identical being could lack is nonsense territory IMO (but already heavily debated by people far smarter than me). I don't see how whatever we mean by consciousness can make no physical difference when we're directly aware of it and talking about it in the physical world.
NoToP 4y ago
If you are having this conversation with me then you are a consciousness and I am a consciousness and that's as good a definition of consciousness as we are ever going to get. Consciousness thus defined exists entirely within the communicative medium.