Perspectives on Machine Consciousness

Perspectives on Machine Consciousness asks whether any AI systems are conscious today, whether any might be conscious in the future, how we can find out, and what the implications of machine consciousness are for us and for them.As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves in terms of performance and capabilities, these questions become increasingly important. We don't fully understand how AI systems work, and even some of the most prominent machine learning software developers say they can't say for sure that current models aren't conscious, even though many have relationships with them, sometimes even intimate ones.The book explores consciousness alongside our interactions with artificial intelligence, including the urgent need to avoid committing a mind crime by causing artificial minds to suffer, as well as considering that if and when superintelligence emerges, its enormous impact on humanity may be largely determined by whether it is conscious or not.