The debate and discussion on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is mostly about how it may take over our lives. Will human beings become redundant with atrophy brought on by my machine power? Now these questions are all up in the air, for neither do we know enough about human consciousness nor do we know anything substantial regarding AI’s future potential as proto humans. Writing in Naturemagazine, Liad Mudrik discusses a new book by Daniel C Dennett, Tufts University, called I’ve Been Thinking where he talks of the need to first understand our own consciousness, the self and free will before we try to delve into the intricacies of AI.
Are some animals conscious? And fetuses? What about artificial neural organoids? Two more books that deal with these topics are Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Willby Kevin J Mitchell and The Four Realms Of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human by Joseph E LeDoux – from Trinity College, Dublin and Harvard University respectively. Dennett says that consciousness, free will and meaning emerged from billions of years of natural selection and cultural shaping, “as single-celled organisms became eukaryotic, multicellular ones”. At the very end of the spectrum during a fraction of the entire timescale, came Homo sapiens and the development of language that brought humans a great deal of freedom to think, ideate, analyse, express, formulate and act. A lot to deal with, all at once.
Consciousness is the key to navigate and exercise some control over all of these new developments, that are full of potential and freedom, expectations and actions. To be human is to be able to reason and control one’s behaviour and actions. Here, the sakshi bhav practice brings value as you learn to be witness, observing what you experience, and how you respond, and this comes from your sense of self. Evolution and its changes forced humans to make choices and become conscious agents, says Mitchell. He also speaks of indeterminism in a random Universe, somewhat similar to the brain. This unpredictability helps humans adapt, fight opponents and survive – and reason out things. For Mitchell, such conscious, rational control of our actions is nothing other than our free will. It is a biological, evolved function, as Dennett argues too, writes Mudrik. And LeDoux agrees. His book talks of four basic varieties of life on Earth: biological, neurobiological, cognitive and conscious. Most living things are in the biological realm; some are also neurobiological, fewer are cognitive and it is humans, as far as we know, who are conscious.
Where does AI figure in all of this? LeDoux says only biological life can become conscious. Dennett too says even if we artificially mimic biological attributes, the result will not endow the machine with intention or an agency with beliefs and desires. AI is not an intentional system that can make wilful choices.
To understand the potential indicators of consciousness in AI, an inter-disciplinary approach is vital, so that all aspects of life and evolution are covered. Though some life forms other than humans are observed to have a certain degree of consciousness, it is doubtful if this is a possibility in AI, is what many scientists have concluded – but so far, the jury is still out on this.
COMMENT