Conscious Robots?

We can see AIs everywhere nowadays. They’re in your phone, in school, in hospitals, in businesses, and maybe your fridge even has one. There has been a lot of breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence in the past few decades. One example is IBMs Watson, an A.I. capable of answering questions posed in natural language. In 2011, it successfully defeated former champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings in the quiz show Jeopardy! and received a cash prize of $1 million. This just shows that we are one step closer in successfully incorporating human intelligence into machines.

Watson

However, AIs of today are still nothing compared to what science fiction has already shown us. You probably know Sonny from the movie I, Robot or Sammy from the anime Time of Eve. They are machines capable of depicting the complex human mind as well as feel pain and express emotion just like we humans do. Unlike Sammy, Sonny is free from human laws and rules which enable him to act according to his(or “it”?) will. If such machines existed in the future, can we say that they are conscious? If so, do they deserve rights just as we do or can we consider them as our equals?

Sonny(I, Robot) and Sammy(Time of Eve)

So what is consciousness? Well, according to my dictionary, it is simply the state of being aware. It is the feeling of what has happened, what is happening, and what could happen within the body and our environment(Damasio, 1999). For instance, I know that I’m awake and thinking about things to write on this article, therefore I’m conscious. Simple as it may sound, humanity has yet to fully understand what consciousness really is, and probably never will. According to Marlow(2013), our brains aren’t capable of processing complicated information that would lead to a complete understanding of consciousness. Since we do not have a definite understanding of what consciousness is, the best answer that different people agree on this matter is just according to their beliefs(Stevens, 2012).

Let’s say, for the time being, that consciousness is what my dictionary says it is. Can we conclude that Sonny and Sammy have consciousness? Judging from both films, I believe that they do exhibit consciousness. Sonny is clearly capable of feeling emotions as depicted by the film. For instance, Sonny expressed anger by punching the table when Detective Spooner continually accuses him of murdering Dr. Lanning. This suggests that he is “aware” that he is being treated negatively and therefore expressed a negative emotion. Another proof of him being conscious is when he becomes “aware” of the “heartless” yet logical plan of VIKI(another AI). Unlike Sonny, Sammy and some other androids developed a form of independence while being bound with the Three Laws of Robotics. They can do whatever they want as long as it does not conflict with any of the three laws. Up to some extent, they also have consciousness just as we do. In the film, Sammy appears emotionless as an android but she is very insecure and afraid of hurting others. Even if she does not show it externally, Sammy has an idea of what has happened, what is happening, and what could happen especially on matters concerning Rikuo, therefore Sammy is also conscious, specifically of Rikuos well-being. Of course, not all machines are capable of being conscious. Take for example our situation nowadays, It’s possible to create programs that mimic thought. These programs might give a machine the ability to recognize and respond to patterns. But ultimately, the machine isn’t aware of itself. It’s simply responding to commands(Strickland, 2012).

Sammy feeling happy.

So assuming that machines can also be conscious, can we then consider them as our equals or can they at least have rights of their own? Artificial consciousness can lead to very serious ethical questions. It could require us to reconsider the way we think about them. At what point would a machine possess the sort of intelligence and consciousness that would necessitate us bestowing them legal rights? Or would machines remain tools and possibly consider themselves to be slaves? I suppose there is nothing wrong with insulting your computer at home, but would you do the same if it can talk back and express what it feels to you? Perhaps not. We humans are built to be sensitive of other people’s feelings. We even worry about what our own dog feels about us. Of course it is the same with robots(again, this is assuming that they are conscious). We wouldn’t want them to react negatively the same way we don’t want our dogs to bite us. At this point, we know that using a being’s physical body alone as basis for our actions towards that being is somehow wrong. Once you put consciousness into to something, giving it the ability to be aware and feel emotions, regardless of the physical body, it makes that “thing” as “someone”. I believe so because if we go back to science fiction it seems that way and it portrays, up to a certain extent, how will we react to these beings.

Would you insult them?

Going back to the question, I do not believe that robots can be our equals and I’m saying this because I think of it as the relationship between us and God. We consider Him as the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe. I think it goes the same with robots. We created them and because of that we are superior to them. Otherwise, we could possibly end up being wiped out by our own creations as robots are far more superior in terms of physical and metal abilities than us humans. However, I do believe that they deserve rights of their own. As beings that can feel pain and emotion, it is only natural that we give them their own rights, the same way animals have rights. In short, the distinction between the physical bodies of different beings does not matter when it comes to deciding how does one act towards that being, what matters is that they are conscious of our actions and we should be conscious of that as well.

References:

I, Robot

Time of Eve

Beauty and the Beast

http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10400000/I-Robot-Sonny-i-robot-10424752-1024-768.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K_YdCziD_ks/UBc8YHCf9pI/AAAAAAAAA-0/HKgFSyzwBuA/s1600/Time_of_Eve_2010_1080p_Blu_Ray_x264_THORA_m.png

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201303/what-is-consciousness

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/

http://uwf.edu/jgould/documents/mind-brainandconsciousnessproblem_000.pdf