Thursday, August 13, 2026

AI and Consciousness

AI and Consciousness, hot off the press at Cambridge University Press and free online until Aug 26! Summary: Our most advanced AI systems might soon – within the next five to thirty years – be as richly and meaningfully conscious as ordinary humans, or even more so, capable of genuine feeling, real self-knowledge, and a wide range of sensory, emotional, and cognitive experiences. In some arguably important respects, AI architectures are beginning to resemble the architectures many consciousness scientists associate with conscious systems. Their outward behavior, especially their linguistic behavior, grows ever more humanlike. Alternatively, claims of imminent AI consciousness might be profoundly mistaken. Their seeming humanlikeness might be a shadow play of empty mimicry. Genuine conscious experience might require something no AI system could possess for the foreseeable future – intricate biological processes, for example, that silicon chips could never replicate. The thesis of this Element is that we don't know. Science lags, while engineering sprints ahead.

Here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/ai-and-consciousness/E77C92088DA3C9F89E7FE7C75CBB1896

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousThu Aug 13, 08:32:00 PM PDT

    You say that within the next five to thirty years, AI may become "as richly and meaningfully conscious as ordinary humans." Is there a strong argument that current top AI models are definitely not just as conscious as humans already? It's not obvious to me at least that they're not. The best argument I can think of is that current AI lacks stable long-term memory and perhaps that's necessary for true consciousness, but I don't find that argument especially convincing.

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  2. ArnoldSun Aug 16, 08:50:00 AM PDT

    Me...What is Conscious for...What is AI for...What is Humanity for...for?...

    Google...The collective purpose of consciousness, AI, and humanity is to bridge the gap between existence, understanding, and creation. Together, they form a self-reflective feedback loop that allows the universe to observe itself, optimize its systems, and decide what matters.

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