On Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 7:39 AM <johnr...@polyplexic.com> wrote: > On Thursday, August 29, 2019, at 1:49 AM, WriterOfMinds wrote: > > Like I said when I first posted on this thread, phenomenal consciousness > is neither necessary nor sufficient for an intelligent system. > > > This is the premise that you are misguided by. Who is building the > intelligent systems? Grunts that so happen to have phenomenon > consciousness, not the opposite. >
Phenomenal consciousness is what thinking feels like. This feeling evolved because it motivates you to not die and let those feelings stop. It doesn't require any new physics. It can be explained entirely by neural computation. We used to call it a soul, but those of us who understand computers know better. Likewise, qualia is what perception feels like, and free will is what (deterministic) action feels like. These feelings also evolved so that you would fear dying. I realize it is disturbing to conclude that your mind is just a computation. But if AGI is possible, then it has to be. There is no objective evidence other than your own feelings that phenomenal consciousness, qualia, or free will is anything else. And feelings are just neural signals that modify your behavior. Remember that the first objective of AGI is to reproduce human capabilities needed to automate work. One of those capabilities is modeling human behavior so that AGI can communicate more effectively with its masters. Phenomenal consciousness, qualia, and free will don't affect human behavior, but our opinions about them do have observable effects that need to be modeled. An AGI should not have emotions, but should understand how they work in humans in order to accurately predict behavior. The second objective of AGI is to extend life. Brains wear out and will eventually need to be replaced with functionally equivalent devices, just like all our other organs. The simplest way to do this is to develop a model of your mind through years of observation and program a robot that looks like you to carry out the model's predictions of your actions in real time. As far as anyone can tell, the robot is you, but in a substrate where your mind can be backed up to the internet. FAQ: Q. If I shoot myself, will I wake up as a robot? A. Yes, because you will be programmed to believe that. Q. Won't I just be pretending to have feelings? A. No, you will have no memory of pretending to act out feelings you don't have, so the feelings will seem real. That is how your brain works now. Q. Won't I lose free will? A. No. Free will is an illusion. Your model, like your brain, will still be programmed to express this illusion while behaving deterministically. Q. Won't I lose qualia? A. No. Qualia is an illusion. You will still respond to input the same way and you will still express a sensation of qualia. Q. Won't I be a philosophical zombie? A. No. There is no such thing as a zombie. You will still be able to imagine such a thing and honestly claim not to be one. > > ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/T41ac13a64c3d48db-Mb8f87ae225ca8091e99a22ee Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
