Could machines be conscious?

https://youtu.be/0Ft3P5-aDDQ

Seriously?! Are machines really conscious? Are they aware of what they are doing, can be embarrassed, disappointed, joyful and satisfied with their actions? Since in my last blog post concerns about machines taking over human tasks have arisen, today I want to shed some light on how actually machines think. Let’s talk about consciousness. However, in order to understand what a machine concept of consciousness could be, it’s essential to start from human consciousness and its related information-processing computations. Three levels of consciousness are recognized:

C1: Global availability. It concerns the selection of information which we consider relevant and which we make available for further computational processes (we talk about it, we make decisions based on it, we think about it).

C2: Self Monitoring. It’s about being self-aware, by monitoring one’s computations and thoughts. C2 consciousness arises the subjective sense of errors or certainty about an action or decision and involves feelings.

C0: Unconscious processing. It’s the level of consciousness related to unconscious operations such as recognition of faces and speeches.

Despite the progresses that have been made in the field of AI and Deep Learning, most of nowadays machines still operate at a C0 level. This level can be defined as unconscious consciousness. This sounds a little bit creepy, doesn’t it? However, it illustrates how complex and depth our mind process is. Within this level, different processes are recognized:

1. Unconscious meaning extraction: for instance, semantic association such as animal – dog.
2. Unconscious decision-making: routine task decisions are made unconsciously based on previously accumulated evidence.
3. Unconscious learning: how actions are shaped according to past experiences.

Could machines be provided with C1 and C2 consciousness?

Most present-day machines compute C0 without understanding the goals and the limits of their systems. Machines are still far from performing tasks associated with level C1 and C2 and to have emotional intelligence.  Even if some researchers make predictions about when machines will be able to become conscious, researchers broadly agree that nowadays machines are not conscious as humans are. How could machines be provided with C1 and C2 consciousness? How can consciousness be replicated if it is so difficult to understand? According to a recent study,  the loss of C1 and C2 levels in human beings is related to a loss of personal experience. Would then gaining personal experience be sufficient for machines to become conscious as humans are?

It’s probably too early to say…

References:

Photo by Katarzyna Pe on Unsplash

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