{"id":13734,"date":"2023-12-07T10:59:51","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T10:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=13734"},"modified":"2023-12-07T11:04:22","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T11:04:22","slug":"consciousness-is-not-a-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/consciousness\/consciousness-is-not-a-thing","title":{"rendered":"Consciousness is not a Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is the concept with the features people like to associate with that term.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this is the same as with many other terms\/concepts, especially human-related ones \u2014 intelligence, feelings, motivations\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Changing the question: \u201cWill super-AI attain consciousness<\/a>?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question can be changed into a better one: \u201cWill AI get characteristics that you want to attach to your notion of consciousness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer depends on your notion of consciousness, which may be quite different from mine. This also shows the domain\u2019s subjectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s OK,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is about what we want to see as features of consciousness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, no system\/organism can be seen as conscious if it has no intelligence whatsoever. Also, if there is intelligence but no volition, one cannot speak of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, these are two necessary characteristics. To me, they are also sufficient. Features such as learning and generality (of domains) are subsumed under intelligence. Autonomy is part of volition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will super-A.I. attain consciousness?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question can be made more specific: Will super-A.I. attain intelligence and volition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intelligence part is already happening. One can be pretty certain that, a decade from now, this will be generally acknowledged. Most people will see the A.I. as truly intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The volition part is also already happening. Step by step, systems are made to react more autonomously \u2015 as a matter of fact, with huge economic incentives. With more intricate ways to respond to complex circumstances, the resulting behavior will increasingly accord with what people can see as volition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is this not just \u2018seemingly conscious\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seemingly intelligent? Seemingly volitional? These questions are old ones. Today, we can solve them by broadening the related concepts as done above. For that, we need to abandon our human-centeredness. Intelligence, volition \u2013 and therefore also consciousness \u2013 are not strictly human or even strictly organic features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, if we see them as \u2018magical stuff that is only applicable to humans,\u2019 we\u2019re in for a fall from the magical kingdom. That fall may be hurtful and is unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the lack of humility may blind us to the real danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real danger is not a conscious superintelligence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real danger in a world of shared intelligences is the possible lack of Compassion, basically<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s plain and simple. By no means will we win the competition in such a world. In other words: We will lose. Urgently needed, therefore, is worldwide Compassion<\/a> between humans and \u2013 more and more for existential reasons \u2013 between all sentient beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not intelligence is the goal, but Compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will we learn this soon enough?<\/p>\n

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It is the concept with the features people like to associate with that term. Of course, this is the same as with many other terms\/concepts, especially human-related ones \u2014 intelligence, feelings, motivations\u2026 Changing the question: \u201cWill super-AI attain consciousness?\u201d This question can be changed into a better one: \u201cWill AI get characteristics that you want Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2247.jpg?fit=960%2C559&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fdiq-3zw","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13734"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13739,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13734\/revisions\/13739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}