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ArtificialIntelligence,Consciousness,andMoralStatus
SusanSchneider
UniversityofConnecticutandInstituteforAdvancedStudy
ForthcominginTheRoutledgeHandbookofNeuroethics,SydJohnsonandKaren
Rommelfanger,eds.
AIandConsciousness
Whenphilosophersponderwhethermachinescouldbeconscious,theyaregenerallyinterested
inaparticularformofAI:AGI,orartificialgeneralintelligence.AGIdoesn’texistyet,butwe
nowhavedomainspecificintelligenceslikeAlphaGoandWatson,theworldGoandJeopardy!
champions,respectively.Thesesystemsoutperformhumansinspecificdomains,andtheyare
impressive.ButAIseemstobedevelopingexponentially,andwithinthenexttenortwenty
yearstherewilllikelybeformsofartificialgeneralintelligence(AGI).AGIisakindofgeneral,
flexibleintelligencethatcandothingslikemakebreakfastwithoutburningthehousedown,
whilethinkingofmathematicsandansweringthephone.Itsintelligenceisnotlimitedtoa
singledomain,likechess.BecauseAGIsaregeneral,flexible,integrateknowledgeacross
domains,andexhibithuman-levelintelligenceorbeyond,AGIsseemlikebettercandidatesfor
beingconsciousthanexistingsystems.
Androidsarealreadyunderdevelopmentthataredesignedtolookhuman,suchastheandroids
intendedtotakecareofJapan’sagingpopulation.Armedwithpapersabouttheneuroscience
ofhumanempathy,AIresearcherswillbuildrobotsthattugatourheartstrings.So,ifandwhen
youfirstencounteranAGI,willitbeconscious?Ifyoulikesciencefictionfilmsthenyoumaybe
thinkingofcharacterslikeRoy,PrisandRachaelinBladeRunner,orEvainExMachina--it
seemedtofeellikesomethingtobethem.WhatI’maskingis:Willitfeelacertainway,from
theinside,tobeAGI?Willtherebeasubjective,feltqualitytotheirmentallives?Thisisthe
problemofAIconsciousness.
ButwhydoesAIconsciousnessevenmatter?
ThefuturemoralstatusofAI
Noticethatifabeingisconscious,thenitseemstodeservespecialmoralconsideration,asit
couldsufferandfeelarangeofemotions.Butifwe'vecreatedanAGItoworkforus,toforce
ittofightourwarsorcleanourhomeswouldbeakintoslavery.Anddestroyingitwouldbe
akintomurder.
SoconsciousnessiskeytohowwevalueAI.Conversely,itmightalsoturnouttobekeyto
howAIvaluesus.ForifAIisconscious,theymayvalueusbecausetheyseeinusthewellof
consciousexperience.
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Fromanethicalstandpoint,itisimperativetoknowifAIisconscious,soastoavoid
mistreatingconsciousbeings.Further,afailuretobecharitabletoAImaycomebacktohaunt
us,astheymaytreatusaswetreatedthem.
ApproachingtheProblem
So,howcantheproblembesolved?Here,Idon’thaveacomprehensivesolution,(althoughI
haveoutlinedaninitialtest(Schneider2016).Whenitcomestomachineconsciousness,we
arestilltakingbabysteps,Isuspect.Onesteptowardanyfuturesolutionistoappreciate
whatmakestheproblemsodifficult.
Itmayinitiallyseemthattheproblemiseasy:Cognitivescienceholdsthatthebrainisan
information-processingsystemandthatallmentalfunctionsarecomputations.Giventhis,it
wouldseemthatartificialintelligences(AIs)canbeconscious,forAIshavecomputational
minds,justaswedo.Justasatextmessageandavoicemessagecanconveythesame
information,sotoo,bothbrainsandsophisticatedAIscanbeconscious.
However,Ibelievethatitisanopenquestionwhetherconsciousnesssimplygoeshand-inhandwithsophisticatedcomputationfortworeasons.
First,anAGImayhaveanarchitecturethatbypassesconsciousnessaltogether.Forconsider
howconsciousnessworksinhumans.Onlyaverysmallpercentageofhumanmental
processingisconsciousatanygiventime.Consciousnessiscorrelatedwithnovellearning
tasksthatrequireconcentration,andwhenathoughtisunderthespotlightofourattention,
itisprocessedinaslow,sequentialmanner.
NowconsiderthatanAGIcouldbehighlyadvanced,beingwhatiscalled“superintelligent
AI”.SuperintelligentAIisahypotheticalformofAIthatoutthinkshumansineverydomain–
scientificreasoning,socialskills,andmore(Bostrom,2015).Asuperintelligencewould
surpassexpert-levelknowledgeineverydomain,withrapid-firecomputationsrangingover
vastdatabasesthatcouldoccupythespaceofanentireplanetorencompasstheentire
internet.Itmaynotneedtheverymentalfacultiesthatareassociatedwithconscious
experienceinhumans.Consciousnesscouldbeoutmoded.
Indeed,superintelligentAImightrewriteitsowncode;aself-improvingAImayoptto
outmodeitsownconsciousnessorbuildotherAGIsthatarenotconscious.Andthe
processingofasuperintelligencewilllikelybebeyondtheunderstandingofunenhanced
humansinanycase.ItwillbedifficultforahumantograspwhetheragivenAGIsystemis
evenconscious.
Second,forallweknow,consciousnessmaybelimitedtocarbonsubstrates.Carbon
moleculesformstronger,morestablechemicalbondsthansilicon,whichallowscarbonto
formanextraordinarynumberofcompounds,andunlikesilicon,carbonhasthecapacityto
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moreeasilyformdoublebonds.Thisdifferencehasimportantimplicationsinthefieldof
astrobiology,becauseitisforthisreasonthatcarbon,andnotsilicon,issaidtobewell-suited
forthedevelopmentoflifethroughouttheuniverse.
Ifthechemicaldifferencesbetweencarbonandsiliconimpactlifeitself,weshouldnotrule
outthepossibilitythatthesechemicaldifferencescouldalsoimpactwhethersilicongivesrise
toconsciousness,eveniftheydonothindersilicon’sabilitytoprocessinformationina
superiormanner.Similarissuesmayariseifmicrochipsaredevelopedfromsubstratesother
thansilicon.
Inessence,wecanonlydeterminewhetheragivensubstrateiscapableofconscious
processingafterdetailedinvestigationofboththesubstrateandthelargerarchitectureof
theAIinquestion.SincetheremaybemultiplekindsofAGIs(multipleintelligences,ifyou
will),wemayneedtotesteachtypeofsystemandnewsubstrateindependently–someAGIs
maybeconscious,othersmaynotbe.Itmaybethatandroidsthataredesignedtotugatthe
heartstrings,likeEvainExMachina,arenotconscious,whilesomebland,unsexyserverfarm
is.
ThesetwoconsiderationssuggestthatweshouldregardtheproblemofAIconsciousnessas
anopenquestion.Indeed,perhapsAGIwillbeponderingthesameissues–aboutus.Should
theyeverwaxphilosophical,maybetheywillaskifbiological,carbon-basedbeingshavethe
rightsubstrateforexperience.Afterall,howcouldtheyeverbecertainthatweare
conscious?
Bibliography
Bostrom,N.(2015).Superintelligence:Paths,Dangers,Strategies.Oxford:OxfordUniv.Press.
Garland,A.(dir.)2015.ExMachina.UniversalPictures.
Schneider,S.2016.Itmaynotfeellikeanythingtobeanalien.
http://cosmos.nautil.us/feature/72/it-may-not-feel-like-anything-to-be-an-alien[Accessed28
December2016]
Scott,R.(dir.)1982.BladeRunner.WarnerBrothers.
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