Full bibliography

Can We Think Machines Are Conscious? A Survey of Philosophical Problems Facing the Attribution of Consciousness to Machines

Resource type
Journal Article
Author/contributor
Title
Can We Think Machines Are Conscious? A Survey of Philosophical Problems Facing the Attribution of Consciousness to Machines
Abstract
In this paper, I’ll examine whether we could be justified in attributing consciousness to artificial intelligent systems. First, I’ll give a brief history of the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) and get clear on the terms I’ll be using. Second, I’ll briefly review the kinds of AI programs on offer today, identifying which research program I think provides the best candidate for machine consciousness. Lastly, I’ll consider the three most plausible ways of knowing whether a machine is conscious: (1) an AI demonstrates a sufficient level of organizational similarity to that of a human thinker, (2) an inference to the best explanation, and (3) what I call “punting to panpsychism”, i.e., the idea that if everything is conscious, then we get machine consciousness in AI for free. However, I argue that all three of these methods for attributing machine consciousness are inadequate since they each face serious philosophical problems which I will survey and specifically tailor to each method.
Publication
Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness
Volume
11
Issue
01
Pages
35-50
Date
03/2024
Journal Abbr
J. AI. Consci.
Language
en
ISSN
2705-0785, 2705-0793
Short Title
Can We Think Machines Are Conscious?
Accessed
3/7/25, 9:25 AM
Library Catalog
DOI.org (Crossref)
Citation
Settecase, P. (2024). Can We Think Machines Are Conscious? A Survey of Philosophical Problems Facing the Attribution of Consciousness to Machines. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness, 11(01), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2705078524500073