Consciousness in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Introduction

• The nature of consciousness is unknown despite personal experiences and altered states through meditation or chemical means.
• Fundamental question: How do non-conscious material particles generate conscious experiences?
• Different perspectives: Matter creates mind, mind creates/transcends matter, or matter contains seeds of consciousness (protoconsciousness).
• Importance of the topic heightened due to developments in artificial intelligence (AI).

Speakers

• David Chalmers: University professor of philosophy and neuroscience, co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at NYU. Author of "Reality Plus: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy."
• Anil Seth: Professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience, director of the Center for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex. Author of "Being You: A New Science of Consciousness."

AI and Consciousness

• David Chalmers: Believes it's possible for AI systems to be conscious, likening the brain to a machine.
• Anil Seth: Argues it depends on the AI's nature and cautions against conflating consciousness with intelligence; emphasizes the uniqueness of biological machines.

The Hard Problem of Consciousness

• Coined by Chalmers in 1995: The challenge of explaining subjective experience beyond objective brain functions.
• Differentiates from "easy problems" like sleep vs. wakefulness or behavior control, which are mechanistic explanations.
• Thought experiment: Mary the neuroscientist who knows everything about color but learns something new when seeing red for the first time.

Theories of Consciousness

• David Chalmers: Open to dualist perspectives and believes a fundamental principle may link physical processes and consciousness.
• Anil Seth: Advocates for prediction-processing theory, seeing consciousness as controlled hallucination based on brain predictions.

Consciousness and Science

• Consciousness might be akin to mass or charge: fundamental but not fully explainable by material processes.
• Philosophical debate: Consciousness as an emergent property vs. intrinsic to matter (pansychism).
• Real problem vs. hard problem: Addressing consciousness without solving the hard problem can advance science.

Implications of AI

• Difficulty in determining consciousness in AI systems due to lack of subjective expression.
• Ethical concerns: Conscious AI could redefine our moral and ethical frameworks.

Future of Consciousness Research

• Possible convergence on a model of consciousness that may not solve but dissolve the hard problem.
• Consciousness could potentially be seen as a fundamental quality of reality, akin to fundamental physical properties.

Ethical Considerations

• Consciousness is key to moral consideration; neglecting conscious AI or systems could lead to moral catastrophes.
• Consciousness research's goal: Ensure ethical treatment and understanding of potential conscious entities, whether biological or artificial.