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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. 1 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 2 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. 3