Can a machine think and have consciousness? These are the conjectures that hover the possibilities of human-machine relations nowadays.
The philosophy of artificial intelligence is concerned with characteristics like actions, emotions, and even free will possessed by a machine.
It is basically the emergence of “Artificial People.” With the progress of AI that has taken place over the years, the day is not far where a machine will be built that can create, be cruel, laugh, and even have the power of persuasion.
In the research- lab all around the world, there are machines being made which can have common sense alike humans or more in some cases Consciousness means to have a sense of uniqueness combined with the awareness of what’s happening around you.
“If a machine behaves as intelligently as a human being, then it is as intelligent as a human being.”- Alan Turing
For a machine to be self-conscious, it must have the ability to be:
- Aware
- Have memory
- Capacity to learn
- Ability to anticipate
Alan Turing, known as the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence, conducted the Turing test in 1950. He tested the ability of a machine on the basis of intelligence.
His main argument was that the machines could think. Although his anticipation of Self Conscious AI was subjected to mockery, his argument has come to light again these days.
So what exactly is self-thinking AI?
Neuroscientists have explained that AI consciousness id the ability to quantify and do the analysis like a human brain and integrate and interpret sensory data.
But in some cases, AI does not possess the ability compared to that of human brains. Complex AI systems need lots of algorithms to communicate; a mechanism called deep learning.
This is somehow similar to how our brain works, where our brain sends information across various neurons similarly. Deep learning enables AI to identify and interpret things.
But laying all the algorithms for an AI to perform is still a human task. Conscious AI would mean that the neural network is doing all the work on its own.
Machines will be considered conscious when they make their own choices and set their own targets and work according to them.
There are particularly three stages to design self- thinking AI:-
STAGE “CO”: This refers to the calculations that a human brain does unconsciously. People aren’t aware of this phase while the brain is trying to recognize the voice and face. Most machines do not work beyond this stage.
STAGE “C1”: The second stage involves brain processing the information and making an informed decision to respond in a meaningful way. The scientist has estimated that by interpreting the neural networks of the brain, they can code the machines accordingly.
STAGE “C2”: Successfully recognizes the unknown and corrects the mistake. There is an emergence of self-awareness. Robots have learned how to correct their problems according to the recent discovery of scientists.
It is suggested that human consciousness arrives from a certain computation which can be implied to the machines.
The argument that the machines have the ability to think has been going around for a long time. It comes from the idea of putting a catalyst inside a robot.
Scientists have discovered that what AI needs is a deep set of communication skills that can replicate the cognitive ability of a human.
This proposal made by Alan Turing to understand whether the machines can think or are too incoherent to understand anything. Turing stated that the machines must imitate the consciousness of a child and not an adult.
Turing describes a simple game having three players, where player A is a person, player 2 is a machine, and player 3 an interrogator, a human.
The main objective of the game is for player C is to identify who is the machine and who is a player, while the player’s A and B are tricking player C into believing that they’re the opposites of their actual self. Alan Turing raised the question “can the machines think?” through this test.
The argument was published by John Searle in 1980, which reciprocated the Turing test.
He proved that the test Alan Turing performed was inadequate as he concluded that the machine does not have an understanding and capability of that of a human mind.
He knew nothing about Chinese yet he laid down various characters in the language by simply following a program and set of symbols & numerals.
Making others believe that he actually knew Chinese. The conclusion was that it might seem like that a computer understands everything, but in reality, it doesn’t understand the gist of languages, thus proving that the Turing test isn’t a sufficient guide to prove whether or not an AI is self-aware.
Till now, the capability of the robots was limited to playing chess better than humans, creating pictures through Google.
In a new experiment, a neo robot has solved a classic riddle and passed the self-awareness test. This test was called the “ultimate sifter” as only a human could pass this test.
The test was derived from the example of the “wise men” puzzle. The premise of the riddle was that an imaginary king calls out three wise men; one of them who wins the contest will be the advisor.
The men have to work out which color of hat they are wearing. In a similar way, the robots are programmed to believe that they have been given a “dumb pill” after which they won’t be able to speak. Two of the robots received the pill by a tap on their heads.
The robots were then questioned; what kind of pill have they received? To which the only one was able to say, “I don’t know.” Upon hearing its own answer, it changed its reply after a silence to “Sorry, I know now.”
This exhibited the “self-awareness” that it had, as the robot must have understood the rules and was aware of its own voice and was able to recognize that he was different from the other two robots.
Artificial Intelligence has continuously grown into solving various complex problems and is predicted to reach a stage of emotional intelligence by 2029.
Though machine intelligence continues to grow currently, we are still nowhere near machines achieving intelligence. Improving, expansion, and transparency are the few set goals of AI developers.
Hod Lipson, a roboticist investigated a robot arm that used deep learning to simulate itself. According to Lipson self-awareness means self-simulation.
He made a robot arm that could do specific things like writing with a marker & without any direction. The robot also remodeled its body in response to the damage that was performed on its component.
Some researchers predict that a super-intelligent AI can become extremely harmful if it possesses the ability and emotions of a human mind.
Though it can be used for something devastating or for a good cause it somewhere depends on the one who devised it.
There are various new technological innovations that are transforming the way we live, self-thinking AI offers the most thrilling one.
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