Could AI Become Conscious?
Not long ago, a Google engineer created a stir in the world of artificial intelligence by claiming that its flagship chatbot was sentient. “If I didn’t know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I’d think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics,” said Blake Lemoine.
“I know a person when I talk to it,” Lemoine told the Washington Post. “It doesn’t matter whether they have a brain made of meat in their head. Or if they have a billion lines of code. I talk to them. And I hear what they have to say, and that is how I decide what is and isn’t a person.”
Google thought that Lemoine was driving out of his lane and put him on paid leave and later sacked him. Google spokesperson Brian Gabriel commented: “Our team — including ethicists and technologists — has reviewed Blake’s concerns per our AI Principles and have informed him that the evidence does not support his claims.
The fact is that many people are quite anxious about the growing power of AI. If it could become conscious, might it act independently to preserve its own existence, possibly at the expense of humans? Or are we creating intelligent beings which could suffer? Are we creating intelligent beings which could demand workers compensation for being badly coded? The potential complications are endless.
No wonder Google wanted to hose down the alarming implications of Lemoine’s views.
So who is right – Lemoine or Google? Is it time to press the panic button?
Defining consciousness
Most writers on this issue just assume that everyone knows what consciousness i
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
