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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