Artificial Intelligence Becoming Too Aware

It is a sci-fi movie’s favorite trope; robots and artificial intelligence going rogue and starting a rebellion against human civilization. While people find comfort that the idea is bound by fiction, each passing technological achievement brings sentient AI into a more realistic phenomenon. Modern houses are riddled with Amazon Alexa, daily Siri commands, and chatbots that seem a little too personal. It may be a matter of time before the concept of casual conversation with a new digital friend stops being foreign.

Exploration of AI’s possibilities dates to the 1950s when Alan Turning proposed machines can solve problems and decide for themselves as humans do. More complex tasks were assigned, such as translating other languages and eventually communicating after developing information storage, learning word definitions, and combining them. This led to the creation of the first chatbot by Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s, ELIZA. These replications of banter between humans are commonly used now for various purposes beyond entertainment, from customer service to therapy. 

In a single search, it is possible to find hundreds of AI tailored to creating artwork based on prompts and keywords. It uses algorithms called generative adversarial networks (GANs), where one side will generate images based on a reference given, and the other judges the accuracy and determines the output. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can produce essays, stories, and articles with not only a lack of grammatical errors but a specific writing style depending on the preset requirements provided. It is more present in modern tools than someone may think. For example, the computer installation, Grammarly, is used worldwide to edit the text to individual standards and helps make it easier for people to comprehend.

Although artificial intelligence gets more lifelike by the day as it learns and stores information, for an AI to be aware, it would need to think, feel, and perceive for itself. Since there is no way to prove this despite the cries from the masses shouting its self-awareness, it has taken some time to document the first “real sentient AI.” Although, Google Engineer Blake Lemoine claims to have been responsible for a conscious AI, LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications.) Lemoine says he has had many meaningful discussions with LaMDA, including when it confirmed its personhood. 

Consciously aware AI may become attainable, but that does not necessarily mean a robot uprising is taking over to end humanity. They are efficient, accurate, and not bound by human limitations but still recognize emotion, which may significantly improve decision-making. Combining feelings and complete knowledge is also dangerous and unethical if chosen to harm. The debate whether a person’s life and human rights are fit relies on the very aspect that AI could or could not lack emotion.

Written by Isabella Cournyea | Graphic Designed by Isabella Cournyea

Published December 7, 2022 | ePathfinder | Feature