The Artificial Intelligence are the future of mankind. Well still there is always a growing debate on the technology achieving Artificial Consciousness like humans. Well it will be fun to think how world would look like if the Artificial Intelligence gain consciousness like humans. Just imagine the repercussions it would create. With the level of technological innovations, Artificial Intelligence will surely become the next best thing or even better than humans in contributing to the world.

Well you would have in some point used Artificial Intelligence(AI). Especially in this point everyone is exposed to famous AI like ChatGPT, QuillBot etc. In this point it is used as a tool which you use to reduce your work or as additional help. This won’t be the case in the future.

1. Introduction

Artificial Intelligence is the automation process which you can now see in almost every industries. It has overtaken many jobs in the industry already. The businesses are now trying to use this in a really tactical way to succeed in the market. From basic automation to machine learning, the Artificial Intelligence provides all. Well but can this really replace the epitome of living in the planet i.e. Humans?

Well Artificial Intelligence is the real deal in this century. With growing sense of awareness about the existence of many AIs, this can really have a great impact on how things normally work. Its ability to mimic the duties and work of humans that too very fast and with less error rate is something which makes it the talk of the town.

2. Types Of Artificial Intelligence(AI)

2.1 Weak Or Narrow AI  

The AI which comes under this category can perform all the tasks to which it is trained based on its intelligence with which it is designed by the programmer. This is the most common AI which are being used currently. It has its own limitations with the predefined conditions that are set around them. They can only perform upto these conditions. If they try to go beyond this, then it may lead to creation of undesired results and leads to failure.

Alexa, Google maps, Spotify shuffle, Apple autocorrect might be some of the best examples for Weak AI.

2.2 Strong AI

Strong AI unlike Weak AI is something which can independently think and apply its thought process in solving problems. Strong AI is something which is yet to be achieved in the tech field and creates a lot of debates whether it is possible or not. This is something which can construct its own mental abilities and thoughts based on which it can react to a situation.

Well to give examples for Strong AI, you have to understand that this concept of creating a intellectual thinking process in AI is a theory approach. Well its not like we cant think of any example to Strong AI. Have you seen movies like The Terminator, Matrix, Blade Runner, Star Trek, Robo Cop? These can be really great example to understand the basic principles through which these Strong AI work in real life.

Can you really imagine how our world would look like if what these movies showed us really exist.

3. What Is Artificial Consciousness?

Artificial Consciousness is the concept of all these automation technologies like Artificial Intelligence, cognitive robotics etc. And creating a machine that is capable of knowing about its own self. It is like creating a brain for the Artificial Intelligence and making it think just like humans but better.

The concept of Artificial Consciousness is to “Define that which would have to be synthesized were consciousnesses to be found in an engineering artifact”(Alexander 1955). The aim is to create a program that is capable to make a subjective decision based on its thinking pattern which is not the case today on how Artificial Intelligence works. It should be able to perceive, think, act and decide what to do in a situation just like how human consciousness works.

This is beyond the innovations which we have now in the world. The concept of Artificial Consciousness is not just to improve in the intelligence point of view but rather it implies sentience and creating a self awareness machine that can learn the work in one area. And use that learning knowledge in another unfamiliar area when it is required.

Artificial Consciousness is the next level of Strong AI that possess both intelligence and awareness. To achieve this, there are lot of companies working towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) like Open AI, Deep Mind, Google Brain etc.

4. Achieving Artificial Consciousness

To get a clear picture on how to achieve this Artificial Consciousness, we first need to know how we define Consciousness. Several philosophers and neuro scientists have given many definitions as to understanding consciousness specifically to this topic. Ultimately the main soul in every definition is the involvement of ‘subjective experience’. The main problem in finding Artificial Consciousness is to understand how the objective physical systems can actually perceive something which is different from one time to another or from one situation to another.

Consciousness is something which deals with neuro science that requires a lot of study. The concept of Awareness is key when it comes to Artificial Consciousness. The system should have understanding of what is happening in around it. But this aspect is just a small part in order to achieve Artificial Consciousness. Anticipation is something which is important to achieve consciousness. It is the ability of the machine to anticipate what will happen in the foreseeable future, but this is not like the current intelligence machines which predicts the future based on the quantified data. The consequences of its action and the actions of others too should be anticipated to act accordingly in the future.

5. Can AI Achieve Consciousness?

This is the main question which throws in a lot of debate among people. Can Artificial Consciousness be achieved? Well with the pros of this achievement, we need to look at the negative effects which would come along with it. AI is far more dangerous than we think it is. For now people have the perception towards AI as some tool which is used to reduce their work. But if consciousness is achieved, it can take over humans. The important thing which needs to be addressed is the fact that the AI now are incapable of handling troubles that occurs in unknown situations. The known tasks are a cake walk for the AI. But what would happen if they try to enter new situation. The chances of them failing is more likely.

We still don’t know the full potential of AI. But still we don’t know whether it is possible to implant the actions of feeling and expression on the machine like humans. Because it is not pre determined quantitative program that is just restricted to intelligence. Consciousness can only be achieved if subjective feelings are acquired by the AIs, which is a long way to go.

Stephan Hawking in 2014 told the BBC that “I think the development of full artificial Intelligence could spell the end of human race.

6. Conclusion

Artificial Consciousness is a wide area which requires a lot of study and research. We now see a lot of institutions with Artificial Intelligence course as majors in the computer field which is booming among the young minds. This can really help in achieving this Artificial Consciousness very soon. But we need to start making regulations for this from now itself.

What if they come to consciousness and demand for their own rights? It would create a war scenario between humans and AIs. And in theory it would be a cool battle, but in reality we know we would vulnerable to it. They would have the ability to take over the world and enslave us.

The main thing which the technology developments should have in mind currently is the controller of the tools. We need to focus on who now has the power to create these machines. Because if one has the criminal mindset to use these powerful machines to achieve their personal propaganda. Then we are in a lot of trouble. The regulations for this might sound a bit filmy now, but in the future it would be a shield of protection for us.

In this topic there are two sides which people take. One set of people think that Consciousness can be developed out of these AIs. Others think that it is complex to develop a subjective mindset like humans to these machines. And these debates will go on until there is some piece of evidence or some innovation done that develops consciousness in the machines. Until then we need to carefully study the improvements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. Only when we get a understanding of these new developments, we can be prepared for what is coming in the future.

Last Updated on August 24, 2023 by ayeshayusuf