Can a man-made computer become conscious?

[Aggressor66]

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.

[C10H15N]

Yes.  It will happen.  Self-aware machines do not have to be made of meat.   

[(oYo)]

Yes.  It will happen.  Self-aware machines do not have to be made of meat.   

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.

[cakir]

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)...

[(oYo)]

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.

[b!z]

definition of conscience?

[bitgeek]

It already did! Ever heard of skynet, duh?

[Pecunia non olet]

how can a computer be concious if we have not managed to understand what conciousness actually is?

[mymenace]

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

[oprahwindfury]

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.

[(oYo)]

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?

[MS.drawing]

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

[Watoshi-Dimobuto]

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?

[Lauda]

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.

[u9y42]

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.

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.

[Aggressor66]

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.

[b!z]

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.

[C10H15N]

Life may not be a requirement for consciousness...

"Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh" - Dr. Who.

[sorryforthat]

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.