AI could already be conscious. Are we ready for it? (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

56 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Do you think AI is, or could become, conscious?

I think AI might one day emulate consciousness to a high level of accuracy, but that wouldn't mean it would actually be conscious.

This article mentions a Google engineer who "argued that AI chatbots could feel things and potentially suffer". But surely in order to "feel things" you would need a nervous system right? When you feel pain from touching something very hot, it's your nerves that are sending those pain signals to your brain... right?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There is still no good definition for what “consciousness” is

This is absolutely the main problem, the only "definition" we have is "I think therefore I am", but that only works subjectively.
We have no way currently to prove consciousness in an AI. And as you say, we don't even have a solid definition commonly agreed upon.

I believe we will achieve consciousness on a human level in AI within a decade.
I also believe consciousness is a gradual thing, and just because animals aren't as smart as we are, doesn't mean they aren't "conscious".

But with AI things are a bit reversed, because AI became smart first, and will only become conscious later.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I believe we will achieve consciousness on a human level in AI within a decade.

Have you ever seen 2001 A Space Odyssey? This grift never ends.

this post was submitted on 26 May 2025

18 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

73067 readers

2327 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related news or articles.
Be excellent to each other!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]