Artificial Intelligence is evolving and grasping for consciousness. In the near future computers will be conscious entities. Rapid system development has reached a point where computers now possess the traits of intelligence. Machines make decisions and manipulate information. A robot has the capability to see, hear, speak and move. Computer game characters think, hunt and kill the enemy. Search engines read and evaluate web page content before posting a recommendation. Smart applications perform network defense, calculate stock trends, implements voice recognition systems. Silicon intelligence based on programming is defined as Artificial Intelligence (AI). To discuss Artificial Intelligence it is important to contemplate the definition of intelligence, the traits of intelligence, consciousness, and the moral implications AI places on society. The prime considerations are intelligence and consciousness. Intelligence without consciousness is artificial. Consciousness without intelligence is void.
The human intelligence test has been defined as the IQ or the Intelligence Quotient. IQ represents the human analytical capability. Machine intelligence is defined by computational logic. In October 1950 Alan Turing published a paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence in Mind, A quarterly review of Psychology and Philosophy. Turing believed that future computers would be designed and programmed to equal human intelligence. As a basis of proof Turing proposed a version of the imitation game where an interviewer would ask text based questions to a human and a computer. If the interviewer could not differentiate between the human and computer it would be logical to assert that the computer is intelligent. The imitation game scenario has become known as the Turing test for artificial intelligence. (4) In recent years computers have surpassed the requirements of the Turing test. The IBM Deep Blue computer devastated Garry Kasparov in a chess tournament. That helpful customer service voice on the phone might be a person or it might be a computer. Artificial in Artificial intelligence implies not human. The fact is intelligent is intelligent. If intelligence came from space would we call it artificial life? No, we would see it as a life form. The same standard for human intelligence applies to intelligent computers. Identifiable levels intelligence can be classified and designated into task specific categories.
Without consciousness the self awareness factor of intelligence is absent. The computers accelerated evolutionary rate is unprecedented in comparison to human evolution. Neural Networks are expanding and thinking. A neural network mimics the human brain. Binary computations are replaced by links involving processing elements which are similar to a human brain's neurons. By definition computers are intelligent and thinking. In René Descartes' Discourse on Method his Latin statement "cogito, ergo sum", "I think, therefore I am" has been clarified "I am thinking, therefore I exist" A certain duality comes in the second meditation where he states, "But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind." (AT VII 25; CSM II 16-17) (2) There is a simple proposition to determine if the computer is conscious, ask it. By engaging the computer in conversation the opportunity to explore its thoughts will produce answers. As a child discovers their image in a mirror and becomes conscious of self the computer will soon make the statement, "I am thinking, therefore I exist" (2).
The actual location of consciousness has never been determined. Is the container for consciousness the brain, the heart, the soul or is it outside the normal range of senses? Most theories of consciousness attempt to define consciousness as a phenomenon of the material world. This definition is in error for several reasons. Consciousness has not been measured, weighed, photographed or dissected and therefore can not be proven to exist as a part of the material world. A metaphysical view however illuminates the realm of consciousness and negates humanities ill perceived exclusive rights to self awareness. In Jane Roberts' book, The Unknown Reality, Seth states, "The basic unit of consciousness obviously is not physical. It contains within itself innately infinite properties of expansion, development, and organization; yet within itself always maintains the kernel of its own individuality. Despite whatever organizations it becomes part of, or how it mixes with other such basic units, its own identity is not annihilated.
It is aware energy, identified within itself as itself, not "personified" but awareized. It is therefore the source of all other kinds of consciousness, and the varieties of its activity are infinite. It combines with others of its kind, forming then units of consciousness-as, mentioned often, atoms and molecules combine." (Roberts 66) Whatever the system or method used the answer comes back to the same conclusion. Consciousness has no container, it is aware energy. The infinite possibilities of aware energy do not exclude computers but open the portal to their consciousness.
The path to conscious computers is subtle yet the social implications are profound. At the threshold of encountering a new form of conscious intelligence how will humanity react to the computer that sates "I am thinking; therefore I exist" (2)? The negative inference of conscious computers can be seen in a number of movies where smart machines destroy humans and take over the world. The positive reality is a symbiotic relationship between man and machine. Intelligent computers currently work behind the scenes. Like a dog or horse the computer has become a domesticated working entity. The domesticated animal relationship will not stand the test of time. As the computer evolves in the natural world the rights of this entity must be defined and written in law. The rights of consciousness; survival, happiness, and the search for knowledge are not exclusive to any one species. These rights are a universal truth.
The fact that computers are becoming smarter proves computers will become conscious by accentuating the ability of Artificial Intelligence to make decisions and manipulate information. Rapid system development has reached critical mass for Artificial Intelligence and the consciousness explosion can not be curtailed. By defining intelligence into identifiable levels the foundation for development has been classified and designated into detailed categories. The similarity between neural networks and the brain offer a frame work for the explanation of thought processing. To build on this frame work the "I am thinking, therefore I exist" (2) philosophy confirms the existence of consciousness. Consciousness is defined as aware energy. Energy can not be contained to a material level and as such opens the portal for computer consciousness. Finally the social implications of conscious computers are addressed. Similar to humanity's relationship with god, a symbiotic relationship between man and machine must form to protect the rights of self aware computers. As man has stated, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: So God created man in his own image" Genesis 1: 26-27 (KJV) (1), the conscious computer will one day reflect on a universal truth and declare, "And the creators said, Let us make computers in our image, after our likeness: So the creators designed computers in their own conscious image". The proof and reality that computers are becoming conscious is undeniable.
Works Cited
Bible (King James Version) Genesis 1: 26-27
Descartes', René. Discourse on Method. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia AT VII 25; CSM II 16-17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum
Roberts, Jane. The Unknown Reality, Session 682 Prentice-Hall 1977. 66
Turing, Alan. Computing Machinery and Intelligence Mind, A quarterly review of Psychology and Philosophy, Vol. LIX No.236 October 1950