Is AI Conscious? A Primer on the Myths and Confusions Driving the Debate

Susan Schneider, David Sahner, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Mark Bailey, and I have just posted a circulating white paper "Is AI Conscious? A Primer on the Myths and Confusions Driving the Debate". Really, Susan, David, Robert, and Mark did almost all the work. I only contributed a few thoughts and one short section.

We're hoping the paper will be helpful for policy-makers and non-philosophers who are hoping to understand the central issues and concepts in debates about the possibility of AI consciousness. We discuss the definition of "consciousness"; how consciousness differs from "intelligence" and "life"; the difference between "sentience" and "sapience"; what "agency" and "functionalism" mean in these contexts; the difference between "consciousness" and "self-consciousness"; and how the prospects for AI consciousness look on various metaphysical theories such as computational functionalism and substance dualism; and other such issues.

We don't go deep on any of these issues and aren't attempting to present a novel perspective. But if you're feeling at sea and want an efficient overview of some of the central ideas, we hope you'll find it helpful.