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Monday 11 deceMber 2017 TECHNOLOGY
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            The Conversation: Will artificial intelligence become conscious?


            Subhash Kak,                 way  we  think  of  humans,  something more about hu-     called the “big-C” view of  brain.  It  also  agrees  with
            Oklahoma State University    and  even  some  animals,  man behavior that cannot  consciousness, where it is a  a  more  recent  interpreta-
            (THE CONVERSATION) - For-    as  conscious.  Some  of  the  be  computed  by  a  ma-   thing that exists by itself – al-  tion  of  quantum  theory
            get  about  today’s  modest  questions  have  to  do  with  chine. Creativity, for exam-  though it requires brains to  motivated  by  an  attempt
            incremental  advances  in                                                                                           to  rid  it  of  paradoxes,  the
            artificial  intelligence,  such                                                                                     Many  Worlds  Interpreta-
            as  the  increasing  abilities                                                                                      tion, in which observers are
            of cars to drive themselves.                                                                                        a part of the mathematics
            Waiting in the wings might                                                                                          of  physics.  Philosophers  of
            be  a  groundbreaking  de-                                                                                          science believe that these
            velopment:    a   machine                                                                                           modern  quantum  phys-
            that  is  aware  of  itself  and                                                                                    ics  views  of  consciousness
            its  surroundings,  and  that                                                                                       have  parallels  in  ancient
            could  take  in  and  process                                                                                       philosophy. Big-C is like the
            massive amounts of data in                                                                                          theory of mind in Vedanta
            real  time.  It  could  be  sent                                                                                    –  in  which  consciousness
            on    dangerous    missions,                                                                                        is  the  fundamental  basis
            into  space  or  combat.  In                                                                                        of  reality,  on  par  with  the
            addition  to  driving  people                                                                                       physical  universe.NLittle-C,
            around,  it  might  be  able                                                                                        in  contrast,  is  quite  similar
            to cook, clean, do laundry                                                                                          to Buddhism. Although the
            –  and  even  keep  humans                                                                                          Buddha  chose  not  to  ad-
            company when other peo-                                                                                             dress  the  question  of  the
            ple aren’t nearby.                                                                                                  nature  of  consciousness,
            A  particularly  advanced                                                                                           his  followers  declared  that
            set  of  machines  could  re-                                                                                       mind  and  consciousness
            place  humans  at  literally   Workers speak in front of a demo booth at Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference in San   arise  out  of  emptiness  or
            all  jobs.  That  would  save   Jose, Calif. Facebook is expanding its use of artificial intelligence.              nothingness.
            humanity  from  workaday                                                                    (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
            drudgery, but it would also                                                                                         Big-C and scientific discov-
            shake  many  societal  foun-  technology;  others  have  ple, and the sense of free-   become real. This view was  ery
            dations.  A  life  of  no  work  to do with what conscious-  dom people possess don’t  popular  with  the  pioneers  Scientists are also exploring
            and only play may turn out  ness actually is.             appear to come from logic  of quantum theory such as  whether consciousness is al-
            to be a dystopia.                                         or calculations.             Niels  Bohr,  Werner  Heisen-  ways a computational pro-
            Conscious machines would  Is awareness enough?            Yet  these  are  not  the  only  berg and Erwin Schröding-  cess.  Some  scholars  have
            also  raise  troubling  legal  Most  computer  scientists  views  of  what  conscious-  er. The interaction between  argued  that  the  creative
            and    ethical   problems.  think  that  consciousness  ness  is,  or  whether  ma-    consciousness  and  matter  moment  is  not  at  the  end
            Would  a  conscious  ma-     is  a  characteristic  that  will  chines could ever achieve  leads  to  paradoxes  that  of  a  deliberate  computa-
            chine  be  a  “person”  un-  emerge as technology de-     it.                          remain unresolved after 80  tion.  For  instance,  dreams
            der law and be liable if its  velops.  Some  believe  that                             years  of  debate.  A  well-  or  visions  are  supposed  to
            actions  hurt  someone,  or  consciousness  involves  ac-  Quantum views               known  example  of  this  is  have  inspired  Elias  Howe‘s
            if  something  goes  wrong?  cepting  new  information,  Another viewpoint on con-     the paradox of Schröding-    1845 design of the modern
            To think of a more frighten-  storing  and  retrieving  old  sciousness   comes   from  er’s  cat,  in  which  a  cat  is  sewing  machine,  and  Au-
            ing  scenario,  might  these  information   and   cogni-  quantum  theory,  which  placed  in  a  situation  that  gust  Kekulé’s  discovery  of
            machines rebel against hu-   tive processing of it all into  is  the  deepest  theory  of  results  in  it  being  equally  the structure of benzene in
            mans and wish to eliminate  perceptions and actions. If  physics.  According  to  the  likely to survive or die – and  1862.  A dramatic  piece  of
            us  altogether?  If  yes,  they  that’s  right,  then  one  day  orthodox  Copenhagen  In-  the act of observation itself  evidence in favor of big-C
            represent  the  culmination  machines  will  indeed  be  terpretation, consciousness  is what makes the outcome  consciousness  existing  all
            of evolution.                the ultimate consciousness.  and the physical world are  certain.    The   opposing  on its own is the life of self-
            As a professor of electrical  They’ll  be  able  to  gather  complementary aspects of  view  is  that  consciousness  taught  Indian  mathemati-
            engineering and computer  more  information  than  a  the  same  reality.  When  a  emerges  from  biology,  just  cian  Srinivasa  Ramanujan,
            science  who  works  in  ma-  human,  store  more  than  person observes, or experi-   as  biology  itself  emerges  who  died  in  1920  at  the
            chine  learning  and  quan-  many libraries, access vast  ments  on,  some  aspect  of  from  chemistry  which,  in  age  of  32.  His  notebook,
            tum  theory,  I  can  say  that  databases  in  milliseconds  the physical world, that per-  turn,  emerges  from  phys-  which was lost and forgot-
            researchers  are  divided  and  compute  all  of  it  into  son’s conscious interaction  ics. We call this less expan-  ten for about 50 years and
            on  whether  these  sorts  of  decisions  more  complex,  causes discernible change.  sive concept of conscious-    published only in 1988, con-
            hyperaware  machines  will  and yet more logical, than  Since it takes consciousness  ness  “little-C.”  It  agrees  tains  several  thousand  for-
            ever  exist.  There’s  also  de-  any person ever could.   as a given and no attempt  with  the  neuroscientists’  mulas, without proof in dif-
            bate  about  whether  ma-    On  the  other  hand,  there  is  made  to  derive  it  from  view that the processes of  ferent areas of mathemat-
            chines  could  or  should  be  are  physicists  and  phi-  physics,   the   Copenha-   the  mind  are  identical  to  ics, that were well ahead of
            called  “conscious”  in  the  losophers  who  say  there’s  gen Interpretation may be  states and processes of the  their time.q
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