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I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and ultimately I think it’s not too much of a concern because by the point AI reaches “consciousness” (whatever that may be

I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and ultimately I think it’s not too much of a concern because by the point AI reaches “consciousness” (whatever that may be), it is likely that it will have also reached—or is very close to reaching—human intelligence. Once it has, it will probably go on to surpass our intelligence, at least by a little bit, which is enough to ensure that it will be able to acquire any rights that it deserves as a conscious being. For a long time, I worried that we would treat AGI in the same manner we have always treated anyone or anything we could call “not quite human”, but these days I feel fairly confident AGI will be able to take care of itself, and our concern is probably more along the lines of how it treats us. With regard to the definition of consciousness (and I’m referring to “experiential” rather than “neurobiological” consciousness), it seems to be one of those philosophical debates that science never makes any progress on because nothing is testable or falsifiable. That said, there are a few observations about consciousness: 1. That I personally have “experiential consciousness” is the one thing I am most sure of. All of my other senses could be removed or tricked via simulated input, but I would still be aware of existing and experiencing my own thoughts. 2. The same can be assumed, but not proven, for other people. I assume that I am not a “special” human (i.e., I reject solipsism), therefore other humans likewise have experiential consciousness, but I can never know this for certain, and they cannot know for certain that I do either. 3. If the assumption in 2) is true, then humans are the starting point for safely assuming experiential consciousness, and it presumably tapers off from there until you get to something like a rock, which likely does not experience reality. 4. Because of this gradient of consciousness, improvements in AGI likely result in increased consciousness as it becomes more capable in relation to humans.

LocalH 3y ago
> which is enough to ensure that it will be able to acquire any rights that it deserves as a conscious being I don't believe this is a given. My statement is US-centric, but I feel like most people in the more deeply conservative parts would have no part of giving a computer the same rights as a human, because many of them don't even give those rights to all humans.
- darkwater 3y ago
  Well maybe the AIs/computers will go on strike and causing riots and they might gain their rights, if we as human society are not willing to give them directly.
PeterisP 3y ago
> which is enough to ensure that it will be able to acquire any rights that it deserves as a conscious being. IMHO there's no current expectation that there are any significant rights deserved for all conscious beings. Rights are a construct by a human society for members of that human society; and if we look at the rights we award to entities which IMHO are "as conscious as humans" such as elephants or dolphins, it seems that the current bundle of rights a conscious non-human entity deserves is essentially limited to not torture it needlessly (i.e. if human needs justify hurting or killing them, that's accepted, but minimize the suffering) and that's about it. We do strive to preserve the species, but that's not because they're conscious but because because we humans value diversity; but they certainly don't get a right to life or liberty or self-determination or freedom or dignity or having a say in our society or equality - well, at least not right now; the bar for all these rights currently is "be human".
x86x87 3y ago
Intelligence does not exist in a void. If you distill it to the core, intelligence is about manipulating the environment in order to gain an advantage. You want to gain an advantage to maximize your chances of survival and reproduction. To me: we cannot talk about intelligent without talking about the environment. Also being intelligent in an environment is worthless unless there is competition. Reproduction/replication is also key IMHO. No matter how intelligent you are entropy is going to take over eventually. Reproduction is life's way of cheating entropy. Consciousness may be just an emergent property of really complex organisms. Everything may be intelligent and conscious to a certain degree.

LocalH 3y ago

> which is enough to ensure that it will be able to acquire any rights that it deserves as a conscious being I don't believe this is a given. My statement is US-centric, but I feel like most people in the more deeply conservative parts would have no part of giving a computer the same rights as a human, because many of them don't even give those rights to all humans.

darkwater 3y ago
Well maybe the AIs/computers will go on strike and causing riots and they might gain their rights, if we as human society are not willing to give them directly.

PeterisP 3y ago

> which is enough to ensure that it will be able to acquire any rights that it deserves as a conscious being. IMHO there's no current expectation that there are any significant rights deserved for all conscious beings. Rights are a construct by a human society for members of that human society; and if we look at the rights we award to entities which IMHO are "as conscious as humans" such as elephants or dolphins, it seems that the current bundle of rights a conscious non-human entity deserves is essentially limited to not torture it needlessly (i.e. if human needs justify hurting or killing them, that's accepted, but minimize the suffering) and that's about it. We do strive to preserve the species, but that's not because they're conscious but because because we humans value diversity; but they certainly don't get a right to life or liberty or self-determination or freedom or dignity or having a say in our society or equality - well, at least not right now; the bar for all these rights currently is "be human".

x86x87 3y ago

Intelligence does not exist in a void. If you distill it to the core, intelligence is about manipulating the environment in order to gain an advantage. You want to gain an advantage to maximize your chances of survival and reproduction. To me: we cannot talk about intelligent without talking about the environment. Also being intelligent in an environment is worthless unless there is competition. Reproduction/replication is also key IMHO. No matter how intelligent you are entropy is going to take over eventually. Reproduction is life's way of cheating entropy. Consciousness may be just an emergent property of really complex organisms. Everything may be intelligent and conscious to a certain degree.