Mikhailov, Igor Felixovich D.Sc. in Philosophy, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Methodology for Interdisciplinary Human Studies, RAS Institute of Philosophy, Moscow, Russia ifmikhailov@gmail.com
Abstract Today the course of the development of Artificial Intelligence in a natural way leads to the idea of making not only just intellectual but rather in some sense conscious devices – devices, which could make more effective decisions grounding among others on the faculty of reflection and which would fit better within human communication. The very technological possibility of making artificial conscious devices as expected has both pragmatic and scientific significance. The former is obvious: conscious devices will be more effective in searching and making optimal decisions. Moreover, the scope of their application will expand significantly: these can be the areas of services, care, education, the implementation of bureaucratic formalities, etc., as well as defense and security. There is a reason to believe that we are close to the scientific revolution, when – in Thomas Kuhn’s terms – one or a small number of intensively proliferating and developing empirical theories of consciousness will win the competition to become paradigmatic and the successive period of “normal science” will lead to the occurrence of pursued technologies. Ignoring these perspectives and tendencies by philosophers would be an inexcusable error because it would cut our discipline from the possible technological breakthrough and the worldview revolution connected with it. Such a goal means the actualization of philosophical and scientific problems regarding the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We, people, grounding on the introspection and interpersonal empathy (known as a “theory of mind”) traditionally judge from the fact that consciousness plays a critical role in the searching and making optimal decisions. And it is natural to think that artificial intelligence devices, once turned conscious, will be more effective in some relations thereby. But as the very term “consciousness” has historically fallen victim to various confusions and puzzles, in our opinion, scrupulous conceptual and methodological – i.e. philosophical – analysis must precede the related scientific research and technological development of conscious devices. As we expect, in the course of realization of the project answers to the following questions will be founded and justified: Are intellectual operations in the absence of awareness possible? Is awareness without qualitatively unique features of the subjective world (qualia) possible? Is the computational approach to the consciousness justified? How do “Artificial Consciousness” (AC), “Artificial Intelligence” (AI), “Artificial Life” (AL), “Artificial Emotions” (AE), and “Artificial Society” (AS) mutually relate? What type of algorithms is the most relevant for creating Artificial Consciousness?