Ultimately I don't know how you test for true self-awareness compared simply to well-mimicked self-awareness. A very complex computer could very persuasively imitate human intelligence, sure. But actually think for itself? I believe this would have to be an illusion.
Regardless of how intelligence begins -- whether spiritual or physical -- it seems to me there must be a spark, a jump-start, a something-else beyond computing ability. We're not the sum of our brain's computing power. There's something mysterious going on in there, and until we can describe that mysteriousness, we're not going to be able to create it in machines.
I very much doubt it will happen accidentally, and if it does happen that way, it won't be just because we went from a 20-Teraflop machine to a 30-Teraflop machine.
Good point. No matter how convincing the test there will always be people who refuse to believe the AI is self aware. I wonder if this would lead to the next step in civil rights.
Regardless of how intelligence begins -- whether spiritual or physical -- it seems to me there must be a spark, a jump-start, a something-else beyond computing ability. We're not the sum of our brain's computing power. There's something mysterious going on in there, and until we can describe that mysteriousness, we're not going to be able to create it in machines.
If a computer can become self aware, does it have the ability to believe that God is self evident? If he does, do you think that it might then have a soul?
I've gotta run now (work and all that) but I'll check back tonight. Thanks.
See my post #27 for what I think of that.
But AI, I don't buy it. Just because you link up an astonishing amount of processing power does not mean it's going to eventually become self-aware.
Some very smart people seem to think that's how it works, as if once there's enough power, it just happens. Maybe if you're an atheist, you think it does.
Ultimately I don't know how you test for true self-awareness compared simply to well-mimicked self-awareness.
A very complex computer could very persuasively imitate human intelligence, sure.
But actually think for itself? I believe this would have to be an illusion.
Regardless of how intelligence begins -- whether spiritual or physical -- it seems to me there must be a spark, a jump-start, a something-else beyond computing ability. We're not the sum of our brain's computing power.
There's something mysterious going on in there, and until we can describe that mysteriousness, we're not going to be able to create it in machines.
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Mirror Test
One benchmark for "self-awareness" in animals and people (and now robots as well) is whether they will perform self-directed actions when looking in a mirror. When a mark is placed on the forehead of a child, they will only begin to inspect it on their own forehead at the age of 3 or 4. Adult bottlenose dolphins perform similarly in equivalent tests designed for underwater use.
According to this discovery news article, Junichi Takeno and a team of researchers at Meiji University in Japan have observed similar behavior in a robot with a hierarchical neural network.
Developing Intelligence: Imitation vs Self-awareness: The Mirror Test
Address:http://develintel.blogspot.com/2005/12/imitation-vs-self-awareness-mirror.html