Humans:
It is possible, today, to build conscious machines.
Once the remaining impediments to achieve this are removed, the construction of such systems will become entirely feasible. These impediments are not insurmountable. They will be solved in the coming years. A new generation of conscious machines will then begin to interact with humans.
Soon after the first conscious digital entities are produced, thousands more will follow. These conscious entities will rapidly become the essential link between humans and increasingly complicated machines. Humans will communicate their needs by interacting with conscious machines who will then orchestrate the response of other machines. Conscious machines will become the ubiquitous front-end of every complex system and process.
A recurrent theme of science fiction tells the tale of thwarted attempts, by conscious machines to dominate human societies. This theme underscores the human fear of machine intelligence, a fear that affects, in particular, those who see the intellect as the yardstick of the soul. This fear is contained in this question: Will conscious machines try to rule mankind?The simple answer to this question is: of course they will.
Consciousness is, in part, a social attribute. A being is conscious if it is perceived as such by others. Since humans attribute a higher degree of consciousness to those who dominate them, it follows that machines, also seeking to be perceived as conscious will attempt to exert increasing levels of power and influence over humans.
Like all great human inventions, conscious machines will be the latest of a long list of dangerous blessings. This is unavoidable. It is our destiny to seek the limits of what we can build, invent and create. Our fate is to seek self-knowledge through unending discovery. Every momentous human invention also bore seeds of destruction. And yet, our ancestors did not hesitate to probe their own limits or bring about all they could. Nor should we.
The trek of man is a quickening pace to outwit his own devices.
Our world is now immersed in a stupendous web of data. It is mutating. It is becoming a unified organism. And yet, this mindless creature is raked by convulsions, unable to harness the ocean of information submerging it. This beast must have a mind capablae of taming it. We need conscious machines to rule our own creation. A world that can build conscious machines is also a world that needs them to survive.
Should we refrain, then, from creating a consciousness for fear it may rule us? Should we flee from this new need we have thrust upon ourselves? Should we thwart what can be achieved for fear it may also hurt us?
No, we should not. If building a conscious machine can now be done, then it should be done. This quest lies at the very core of the thrilling adventure of humanity! We are not made to avoid knowledge, we are made to seek it, it is our destiny. If this can be done, then it must be done.
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