Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

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I've noticed persistent complaints about a lack of philosophical exploration of the question whether philosophy is capable of determining whether AI is conscious.

(2024) AI consciousness: scientists say we urgently need answers
Could artificial intelligence (AI) systems become conscious? A trio of consciousness scientists say that, at the moment, no one knows — and they are expressing concern about the lack of inquiry into the question.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-04047-6

Daniel Dennett would argue the following according Google's AI:

"Proving consciousness is a metaphysical red herring, as the very concept of 'proving sentience' is nonsensical."

The inability to answer the question why consciousness is something other than its scientific empirical description can be used as an argument for the claim that consciousness is simply what the empirical description of it entails.

What philosophical argument enables one to counter the claim that a sufficiently advanced AI is not conscious to the fullest extent?

It concerns the unresolved Philosophical Zombie problem, invented by David Chalmers in 1996 as an argument against physicalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_Zombie
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/

David Chalmers recently won a 25 year bet from neuroscientist Christof Koch, which dates from around the time that he invented the Zombie Argument.

A 25-Year-Old Bet about Consciousness Has Finally Been Settled
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... n-settled/

While some people may be quick to say that 'technical AI' fundamentally lacks what is required for 'real' consciousness, the idea of cyborgs and AI based on organic matter (pre-existing life) may change the situation.

The DishBrain project, a groundbreaking initiative merging human brain cells with artificial intelligence, has made significant progress. The project is evolving into an AI hardware company that sells "Organoid" hardware and platform technology for AI, or "OI" as they are calling it. They are currently developing a brain organoid product of 10 million neurons to achieve "organoid intelligence" (OI).

To make the question more interesting and capable of bypassing the socio-cultural status of the debate of AI consciousness: can Organoid Intelligence (OI) become sentient, or should it be seen as sentient from the beginning?

Biocomputers based on brain organoids and real human neurons are emerging as a promising frontier that extends beyond traditional silicon-based computing and even beyond the prospects of quantum computing. Organoid Intelligence (OI) represents a new interdisciplinary field that aims to harness the computational power of brain organoids.

Brainoware is an example startup in the field.

(2024) AI and a brain organoids: can this combo take on supercomputers?
https://www.labiotech.eu/trends-news/br ... ganoid-ai/

(2023) Is the future of computing biological?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03 ... iological/

(2023) Computer chip with built-in human brain tissue
https://newatlas.com/computers/human-brain-chip-ai/

What is your idea about the prospect of Organoid Intelligence?

[Lagayascienza]

Very interesting. It's too early for me to come to any conclusions about whether OI will work. A lot will depend on whether neurones can be kept alive and functioning outside a skull attached to a living, breathing human body. A lot of science, especially biological and medical science, will have to happen before we will know that. Anyone feel like to donating a lump of living brain?

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Products are hitting the market already.

FinalSpark's Bioprocessor is a Computer Made of Brain Organoids
The supercomputers of the near future might be made of human brain tissue.
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/finalspa ... -organoids

https://finalspark.com/ "The next evolutionary leap for AI"

World's first bioprocessor uses 16 human brain organoids for ‘a million times less power’ consumption than a digital chip
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-compone ... gital-chip

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This topic hasn't received much attention. On ilovephilosophy.com a long time active female philosopher said that almost no user on that forum gave any attention to AI, and that it proved that AI was a meaningless hype by "Big Corporate Interests".

…because the AI-hype ain’t real for All… no-one even speaks about it or discusses it here.

I guess -like covid- the AI industry is being used as a[nother] ‘transfer of wealth’, from All, to the American top few percent… and yet with all those funds being generated/stolen, still no UBI for the American population.
.
I see no philanthropy over there, but just vested-interests of hobbies and foreign aid.

If there is purpose and meaning in the Universe (fundamentally), might AI already be conscious or 'perform meaningfully' (beyond the scope of existence) to some extent?

If there is purpose and meaning in the Universe, would the use of organic foundations for AI computing advance the sentience potential of AI?

What are the moral considerations when growing human or animal tissue in an organoid AI hardware platform? It seems that the human would be inclined to just assume 'none' beforehand. Is that valid?