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Topic: Can a man-made computer become conscious? (Read 930 times)

hero member
Activity: 994
Merit: 500
December 12, 2014, 11:49:35 AM
#19
IBM has Watson, which they describe as "A cognitive technology."  It states that the computer precesses information more like a human than a computer by understanding natural language, generating hypotheses based on evidence, and learning as it goes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xcmh1LQB9I

Watson was also on jeoperdy and did quite well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR3lOm_xhE

I think this is about as close as it gets at the moment.
legendary
Activity: 948
Merit: 1026
December 12, 2014, 11:39:39 AM
#18
Life may not be a requirement for consciousness...

"Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh" - Dr. Who.
b!z
legendary
Activity: 1582
Merit: 1010
December 12, 2014, 11:14:58 AM
#17
I think it already is conscious because the materials it is made of are conscious (atoms ). The way I see it, everything in the universe knows that it exists and that other things exist around it. Think about this:

1. Human beings are conscious
2. What makes us conscious is our brain
3. What makes us conscious is our thoughts, which basically reside in the brain
4. Our thoughts are held in neurons
5. Neurons are living ( they are cells, cells are living biological units)
6. Neurons are made of atoms
7. If the neurons are made of atoms and the neurons are alive, then I believe that it is because all of the neuron's atoms are alive as well.

The very last part does not make sense. Atoms don't live or die. They are non-living.
hero member
Activity: 728
Merit: 501
December 12, 2014, 10:10:25 AM
#16
I think it already is conscious because the materials it is made of are conscious (atoms ). The way I see it, everything in the universe knows that it exists and that other things exist around it. Think about this:

1. Human beings are conscious
2. What makes us conscious is our brain
3. What makes us conscious is our thoughts, which basically reside in the brain
4. Our thoughts are held in neurons
5. Neurons are living ( they are cells, cells are living biological units)
6. Neurons are made of atoms
7. If the neurons are made of atoms and the neurons are alive, then I believe that it is because all of the neuron's atoms are alive as well.
legendary
Activity: 2562
Merit: 1071
December 12, 2014, 10:01:31 AM
#15
I don't know if man will ever be able to create a fully "thinking" computer or not.
In order to do that I think we'd have to figure out a lot more about how we humans think in the first place.
So I don't believe any computer will ever become conscious.
As always, that's just my opinion.

You can't jump from a "we don't know enough to do it yet" to a "so it can't be done", without a middle step in there. Tongue



I dont know if man anc made a conscious computer   but if one day dat happens is not gonna be good for us
AI is not good for works too , lot of works gonna be cancelled  in the futur , for sure !
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/02/stephen-hawking-intel-communication-system-astrophysicist-software-predictive-text-type

Insofar as the progress in this area frees people from simple, repetitive (and often meaningless) work, I'd say this is to everyone's advantage - or at least it will be, as soon as we get rid of the "live to work" mentality.

As to whether or not an AI would be a threat, I think it's harder to say than what people often assume. There is no guarantee it will share most/any human values, so predicting its actions might not be possible with any degree of confidence.
legendary
Activity: 2674
Merit: 3000
Terminated.
December 12, 2014, 09:58:43 AM
#14
definition of conscience?
This. There is no valid definition of it. What makes us conscious? We don't really know.
First we have to find that out. Once we do, a computer will surely become conscious.
hero member
Activity: 840
Merit: 524
Yes!
December 12, 2014, 07:57:34 AM
#13
I don't know if man will ever be able to create a fully "thinking" computer or not.
In order to do that I think we'd have to figure out a lot more about how we humans think in the first place.
So I don't believe any computer will ever become conscious.
As always, that's just my opinion.

You are thinking I don't exist?
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
December 12, 2014, 07:53:50 AM
#12
I dont know if man anc made a conscious computer   but if one day dat happens is not gonna be good for us
AI is not good for works too , lot of works gonna be cancelled  in the futur , for sure !
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/02/stephen-hawking-intel-communication-system-astrophysicist-software-predictive-text-type
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 500
I like boobies
December 12, 2014, 01:11:19 AM
#11
how can a computer be concious if we have not managed to understand what conciousness actually is?

maybe it already is and as yet has not had the appropriate upgrades to act on its conciousness

that one hurt my brain

Unless they already are the controlling elite class. We already have the ability to program protein cells. What if the elite are already human bodies with supercomputer brains that are virtually undetectable?



What you're describing is called the Singularity. The premise is as our technology increases exponentially, there will be a point in time where human created AI will inevitably outpace our own intelligence. What does a smart AI do once it is activated? It tries to create another smarter version of itself of course! If allowed to continue over a number of generations, you're gonna have a pretty scary AI and a force to be reckoned with. I'd say this is one scenario where humans will wipe themselves out, amongst the many other doomsday scenarios we're capable of.



What if it already happened?
full member
Activity: 666
Merit: 108
December 12, 2014, 12:58:16 AM
#10
What you're describing is called the Singularity. The premise is as our technology increases exponentially, there will be a point in time where human created AI will inevitably outpace our own intelligence. What does a smart AI do once it is activated? It tries to create another smarter version of itself of course! If allowed to continue over a number of generations, you're gonna have a pretty scary AI and a force to be reckoned with. I'd say this is one scenario where humans will wipe themselves out, amongst the many other doomsday scenarios we're capable of.
legendary
Activity: 1596
Merit: 1061
Smile
December 12, 2014, 12:09:57 AM
#9
how can a computer be concious if we have not managed to understand what conciousness actually is?

maybe it already is and as yet has not had the appropriate upgrades to act on its conciousness

that one hurt my brain
full member
Activity: 882
Merit: 102
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December 11, 2014, 11:24:59 PM
#8
how can a computer be concious if we have not managed to understand what conciousness actually is?
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 251
December 11, 2014, 09:19:23 PM
#7
It already did! Ever heard of skynet, duh? Cheesy
b!z
legendary
Activity: 1582
Merit: 1010
December 11, 2014, 08:37:09 PM
#6
definition of conscience?
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 500
I like boobies
December 11, 2014, 07:19:15 PM
#5
conscious is a nondeterministic thing.
if you ask a human; "what is 5 x 4" he/she would say; 24. who knows?

but comuters are deterministic things.
if you ask a computer "what is 5x4" it'll always tell you; 20 (or whatever it was programmed for).

So, it's not gonna happen (at least not for a long time)...

They are starting to make computers/robots that learn from their mistakes now.
legendary
Activity: 1274
Merit: 1000
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December 11, 2014, 07:08:55 PM
#4
conscious is a nondeterministic thing.
if you ask a human; "what is 5 x 4" he/she would say; 24. who knows?

but comuters are deterministic things.
if you ask a computer "what is 5x4" it'll always tell you; 20 (or whatever it was programmed for).

So, it's not gonna happen (at least not for a long time)...
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 500
I like boobies
December 11, 2014, 06:57:53 PM
#3
Yes.  It will happen.  Self-aware machines do not have to be made of meat.   Grin

But they could be, since they've been programming protein cells already for decades. I remember having a discussion with some people about this back in the early 90's. I'm actually quite surprised it hasn't happened already. Perhaps it has and it's just been kept secret.
legendary
Activity: 948
Merit: 1026
December 11, 2014, 06:10:27 PM
#2
Yes.  It will happen.  Self-aware machines do not have to be made of meat.   Grin
hero member
Activity: 728
Merit: 501
December 11, 2014, 05:55:01 PM
#1
I don't know if man will ever be able to create a fully "thinking" computer or not.
In order to do that I think we'd have to figure out a lot more about how we humans think in the first place.
So I don't believe any computer will ever become conscious.
As always, that's just my opinion.
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