On 5/15/2015 9:31 PM, Bruce Kellett wrote:
meekerdb wrote:
On 5/15/2015 7:37 PM, Bruce Kellett wrote:
meekerdb wrote:
But you could turn this around and pick some arbitrary sequence/recording and say,
"Well it would be the right program to be conscious in SOME circumstance, therefore
it's conscious."
I think it goes without saying that it is a recording of brain activity of a conscious
person -- not a film of your dog chasing a ball. We have to assume a modicum of common
sense.
Fine. But then what is it about the recording of the brain activity of a conscious
person that makes it conscious? Why is it a property of just that sequence, when in
general we would attribute consciousness only to an entity that responded
intelligently/differently to different circumstances. We wouldn't attribute
consciousness based on just a short sequence of behavior such as might be evinced by
one of Disney's animitronics.
What is it about the brain activity of a conscious person that makes him conscious?
Whatever made the person conscious in the first instance is what makes the recording
recreate that conscious moment.
Unless we know what it is about the brain processes that make it conscious we can't know
what it is necessary to record.
The point here is that consciousness supervenes on the brain activity. This makes no
ontological claims -- simply an epistemological claim. This brain activity is associated
with the phenomenon we call consciousness.
So are you assuming that only a brain can instantiate consciousness? Do you not believe
that consciousness is a matter of what information processing the brain is doing, but that
it requires wetware? Bruno's idea is that he may solve the mind-body problem; but you
seem not to see any problem. Of course consciousness supervenes on brain activity - but
maybe not just any brain activity (c.f. anesthesia). The question is whether it can
supervene on something else and if so, what?
How we determine whether a person is conscious in the first place is a
different matter.
But that completely avoids the question of creating a conscious AI program, whether it's
possible, and whether it's identical with making an intelligent AI program.
Brent
Bruce
I think Bruno is right that it makes more sense to attribute consciousness, like
intelligence, to a program that can respond differently and effectively to a wide range
of inputs. And, maybe unlike Bruno, I think intelligence and consciousness is only
possible relative to an environment, one with extent in time as well as space.
Brent
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