Philosophical Considerations on the Future of Artificial Intelligence Essay

Introduction

Since the ancient times, human beings are the only species that have never been satisfied to act by their nature. In comparison with other species, it is clear that birds fly and are content with it while fishes swim and show contentment in their water habitat. On the other hand, human beings have always shown interest in the need to overcome their natural condition. Most of them have an aspiration of going beyond nature so that they can become trans-humans like their Gods. The hubris theme in the Greek mythology shows instances of stories that affirm the portrayal of human beings' foolish pride in an attempt to challenge their Gods. For example, Daedalus and his son Icarus used wax to fix wings so that they can fly. Icarus failed to heed his father's advice of flying at a middle height. Also, Icarus went close to the sun, and the wax melted. Notably, the Gods always punished them, but they never learned. The scientific and industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th century marked the start of efforts to try and transcend the humans' ability to act by their nature. Human beings invented science and technology and their power augmented to trans-human levels when they developed steam machines, electric motors, and combustion engines. Surprisingly, the inventions were never enough for humans. Different generations of people have aspired to go beyond their cognitive powers in their quest to transcend trans-humanity. Scientific researchers have wanted to augment their cognitive powers by going beyond the working of their modern mind and brain activity (Torresen, 2018).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Consequently, they initiated the information revolution. The situation entailed the invention of digital computers and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The goal of the inventors was to challenge the Gods by creating Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) and achieving immortality in the capability of uploading the mind onto silicon. Developers of AI have tried to create it with motivation from the functional capabilities of the mind (Torresen, 2018). The scientists received inspiration from Alan Turim's Computational Theory of the Mind. The theory implied that the mind is computational; hence it can be represented in a computer. The likelihood of representing a brain structure in a computer implied that the mind could also be represented in a computer. However, this implication has been prone to debates in regards to whether the mind is equal to the brain.

Trans-humanism is another powerful intellectual and social movement that has exuded an enhanced level of optimism and belief in the convergence of rapidly developing technologies. Some of the technologies include genetics, nanotechnology, robotics and computer AI. The convergence is likely to create a new and bright future where human beings will be capable of solving all economic issues, curing diseases, prolonging life and enhancing peoples' capabilities in cognitive, sensorial and physical directions. Trans-humanism has been vital in the realization of great successes in the realm of AI, hence creating room for the validation of certain radical claims propagated by proponents. Some of the commercial successes include language translation services, new aggregation and summarization, speech synthesis and recognition, face recognition, and song recognition. Presently, AI is in manufacturing industries, the field of medicine in the performance of diagnosis and development of drugs, robotics, and drones, as well as transportation via aviation. The common thread for all these applications is narrow AI. However, the Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) or intelligence at a general level whose functional capability is human-like has not been attained. The general intelligence level has been accepted as a path towards singularity and super-intelligence. However, the path from narrow AI to Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) through AGI has been accepted with implicit philosophical assumptions. Not all scientists and philosophers have agreed to the possibility of achieving super-intelligence. The philosophy of AI is a collection of all issues that express concerns in regards to the possibility of building an intelligent thinking machine (Torresen, 2018). Some of the reasons that have been given to support the doubt have based on an analogy that the quest for super-intelligence bases on metaphysical assumptions that are believed to be wrong and misleading (Bostrom, 2014). Some of the metaphysical assumptions include: equating the brain to the mind and CTM that bases on the Church-Turing thesis to imply that the mind is computational. Objections against CTM have based on mathematical representations to assert that the human mind is not a computer. An example of the mathematical objection is the Godel's incompleteness theorem. Another argument against the likelihood of attaining super intelligence from the false implication that the mind is a computer is about the functionality of consciousness in the usage of semantics and syntactic. The Chinese room supported the consciousness argument thought example. The philosophical realizations against the CTM have posed a challenge on the likelihood of attaining Cartesian Dualism in the future. Cartesian Dualism supports the belief that human consciousness can be uploaded onto a silicon chip. Notably, this paper gives a comprehensive overview of philosophical considerations on the future of AI.

General Overview of AI

Artificial intelligence means the creation of an intelligent being artificially. Philosophical arguments arise from the possibility of creating such a being. It would only be possible if developers know and are capable of explaining how the being is likely to work. The explanation regarding the mystics of the working of the intelligent being portrays a certain and remarkable aspect of mentality. Dwelling on the materialistic form implies that there are high chances of building an intelligent machine based on the fact that human beings are made up of molecular components (Torresen, 2018). Consequently, some people believe in the possibility of building molecular machines that resemble human beings. Such machines would be intelligent.

Researchers in the realm of AI have tried to devise computer programs with a goal of giving the machine the capability to do everything that is associated with intelligence. Some of the successes include solving problems, playing games, understanding and using languages, and deriving sense from an environment based on the mechanisms of perceptual input (Torresen, 2018). An assessment performed by Kurzweil proposes some of the computer-related achievements in the field of AI. Most of them are about gaming and other industrial applications.

There are two main ways through which researchers have contributed to advancements in AI. The first one is realizable in medical and biological fields in an attempt at creating models that are likely to mimic people. Researchers strive to show the possibility of simulating biological mechanisms in computers. The scenario is illustrated through the development of effective mechanism and treatment mechanisms for diseases and other disabilities. Computer scientists and researchers tend to collaborate for purposes of medical research. Examples of advancements that have been developed as a result of observing the behavior of the ear are cochlear implants (Torresen, 2018). The second aspect is in solving problems in the industrial world. The outcome entails the development of robots and airplanes.

Amidst the technological advancements, the capabilities of computers are below the abilities of human beings even though they can perform huge numbers of significant operations. Some AI researchers believe that computers can be equated to the computational working of the brain as they can execute a trillion calculations in the split of a second. It is common for business transactions to take place between virtual personality and human beings. Intelligent coursewares have also been availed as means of learning. The fact that computers are invisible even though embedded everywhere puts them in equal proportions with the computational power of human brains (Bostrom, 2014). Virtual reality enables people to do everything ranging from gestured and spoken word communication. Presently, most interactions entail simulated personalities. Vehicles on roads utilize automated driving systems. Eye and eye implants have been capable of linking human beings to the international network of computing. Perception, interpretation, information remembrance and ways of thinking have been enhanced through forms of high bandwidth direct neural networks. Computers are also capable of learning independently and storing arts and sciences that used to be embraced by human beings. Claims have also been made to assert that computers are conscious. Researchers have now directed their focus to merge the capability of human thinking with the realm of machine intelligence (Bostrom, 2014). Human beings will not be capable of identifying differences between their capabilities and the functioning of computers. Conscious entities will also lack their permanent physical identifiers. They are also likely to evade life expectancies through the creation of software-based humans.

Issues Relating to AI

First, the philosophy of AI strives to find solutions to questions regarding the capability of machines to act intelligently by solving problems, the way human beings execute through reasoning. The second issue is in regards to the existence of any resemblance between machines and human intelligence, an idea that insinuates that the brain is essentially a computer. The last issue is in regards to the capability of machines to have minds, mental states and a level of consciousness that human beings have (Manzotti & Tagliasco, 2008). It also extends to their capability to feel the state of things before deriving a solution. The three issues are a representation of concerns from philosophers, AI researchers, cognitive scientists, and linguists. The response to these issues has had an implication on the state of technology in the future. The response to the question in regards to the likelihood of creating machines that are capable of solving problems that human beings tend to work on using their intelligence gives a scope of the capability of machines in the future. It is also meant to offer direction in the performance of AI research. The ideology that aspects of learning and other features of intelligence can be expressed in ways that machines can be designed to simulate them has faced a lot of criticism. The arguments have settled on the impossibility of achieving ASI.

Alan Turing suggested that intelligent machines should be capable of responding to questions in any conversation by using words that ordinary people would. In his Turing experiment, he reduced intelligence to modern chat rooms where people interact with computer programs (Bostrom, 2014). Alan concluded that machines are intelligent based on the fact that people could not tell the difference between a human being and a computer in the chat room conversation. In a chat room scenario, machines give responses depending on the questions asked by the participants. He concluded that machines are as intelligent as human beings based on the fact that they act like human beings. Other philosophers argued in regards to the insensibility of insisting on creating machines that resemble people if the goal of AI researchers is to create machines that are super intelligent in comparison with animals.

Presently, AI researchers have defined intelligence based on intelligent agents. Agents are things that are capable of perceiving and acting by the envi...