Is AI really an intelligence? Chatbots, especially, look and behave much like a human and it is easy imagine it is so. Afterall, we talk to them, they reply. A chatbot can seem uncannily like a person.
Today, no serious expert argues that Ai’s have anything resembling actual consciousness. They are essentially amazingly sophisticated statistical prediction machines. Losing sight of that reality can be dangerous. The most worrying factor is that the giants of the AI industry think that the emergence of truly conscious AI is eminent and will be human-like only smarter and more capable, practically God-like. They believe that the way to that future lies in building out an unimaginably huge digital infrastructure. Thus, the frantic race to build data centers worldwide and even in space – the impact on the environment be damned. Also, we see an unprecedented and dangerous economic overextension, a bubble.
We’ll examine more of this in later posts. But let’s look more closely at the question of consciousness. To stimulate our thinking, I refer you to these podcasts and books:
Podcast: Are you a ‘PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE’? What AI is showing us about consciousness
with David Chalmers
View | Listen (PocketCasts) | Listen (Apple)
Is AI ALIVE? What AI is teaching us about consciousness with Michael Pollan
View | Listen
A book: A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness, Michael Pollen
Mark Craig
I recently listened to an episode of Freakonomics from July 24. An interesting perspective on AI, and then a lot more on putting it in space. I think a worthy listen