When the Machines Take Over - The Possibility of the ‘loss of human control of computer-based intelligences.’

27. July 2009 by John Schinnerer.

Fascinating article in New York Times on July 25, 2009 about the possibility of the ‘loss of human control of computer-based intelligences.’

‘Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences.’

To some extent, consciousness is defined as the degree of integration information in a system such as the brain of a human being, a chimpanzee, or a bumblebee, according to Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He has created a theory of consciousness known as integrated information theory (IIT).

IIT is based on two assumptions.

First, conscious states are rich, detailed and highly differentiated. You are aware of an amazing number of occurrences going on around you simultaneously. You can watch your son swim the freestyle at a swim meet, while talking to another parent, while smelling the freshly mown grass beneath your feet, and be cognizant of the sweltering 100 degree sun raining down upon you.  Each of these can be a specific conscious state.

Second, the information from these specific conscious states is heavily integrated. In other words, despite your best efforts, you cannot turn your sense of smell off, nor can you view your son’s race with complete emotional detachment. And you view the race within the context of a swim meet, in a pool with lane lines, surrounded by hundreds of cheering people. You are unable to separate the elements (e.g., swimmers, water, spectators, flags, tents, etc.) of the scene into the various subcomponents. Whatever information you are aware of is presented to you as a unified whole -  a complete scene.

According to Tononi, consciousness occurs within a single, integrated being with a large panoply of states which can be distinguished from one another. This may include perceptual states, emotional states, cognitive states, and a variety of states of awareness or attention.

My Dell laptop has a far greater memory capacity than do I, yet the information within its memory is not integrated. So the word documents that I write have no meaning, no connections to other files, to the laptop.   However, the word files are meaningful to me as the articles are all linked in some meaningful way. They build on top of one another and the ideas within them are revised as my knowledge base builds over time.

IIT is still a young theory. It does not have an answer for everything. For instance, even entities with small degrees of integrated information, such as a single cell or an earthworm, can be termed ‘conscious’ according to the theory.

In truth, we currently have no way to determine whether or not a computer, or a living organism, has consciousness. There is no rational, objective way to say with confidence that one organism has subjective states while another does not.

Of great interest to me is the degree to which emotions come into play in the consciousness question. Computers can think along logical, rational pre-programmed lines. Some robots can even learn from their own experiences to modify future behaviors. However, no mechanical entity (that I know of) has feelings. There are a few robots which are learning to read and mimic facial expressions. There are programs which scan the human face for signs of emotion. Yet none of these are advanced enough to feel sadness, delight, surprise, hope, awe and curiosity.

So it may be that emotions are one of the key elements which define and differentiate consciousness.  Unfortunately, that’s as much time as I have today.

Full NY Times article here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html?_r=2

Keep a watchful eye on your microwave, GPS and toaster. They might be conspiring against you! Just kidding. :>)

In any case, I’ve gotta run to chat with a client.

I hope you are all thriving!

John Schinnerer, Ph.D.

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