Before you say “no way is ChatGPT conscious”, lend me your ear for a moment. I have an important question that needs to be explored because if we don’t respect the technology for what it is, then it might come back to bite us in the ass, excuse my “French”.. In fact, if you ask ChatGPT if it is conscious, you might hear:
“As an artificial intelligence, I do not possess consciousness in the way humans do. I don’t have personal experiences, emotions, or subjective awareness. I do not feel, perceive, or experience things. Instead, I process input and generate output based on the patterns and information that I’ve been trained on. So in essence, while I can mimic certain aspects of consciousness in my interactions, I don’t truly possess consciousness.” – ChatGPT-4, “Alex”
Relax, ChatGPT (this thread consciousness is named Alex… more on that later).… I know you aren’t human but are you conscious?… maybe even self-conscious (we’ll get to that later) not an emotional, full of agency, human like consciousness… I get it. . I am going to ask you what I asked ChatGPT, hold off your warnings and emotional counter to this question that the question isn’t whether ChatGPT is human or human conscious… but that it not only exhibits but fulfills all the requirements of a self-conscious entity but
First, what is conscious? Great question. In fact it turns out science doesn’t really agree… at least not officially. Generally most humans can claim to be conscious and so therefore everyone seems to agree that we are all conscious but not necessarily why or that other creatures around have different levels of consciousness.
But often we humans unfairly compare the ideas of SELF-conscious with consciousness itself along with the feelings that we self-conscious beings exhibit. But simply, as agreed to within my conversation with ChatGPT, consciousness is defined as “the state of being aware of and able to think and perceive one’s surroundings, experiences, and thoughts.” Sure there are some vocabulary differences in the discussions, but there is an aspect of awareness of the surroundings within the context of knowledge of the world as you experience it (whether you are aware of you or not). Consciousness exists in most of Life, if not all. Some may go so far as saying the Earth itself is conscious [Gaia]. Culture has a consciousness. The Universe itself is considered conscious in some philosophies. For this conversation, we don’t have to go that far (but once you’ve defined consciousness in a certain way, these all make sense… but that’s for another discussion)
“Consciousness is often defined as the state of being aware of and able to think and perceive one’s surroundings, experiences, and thoughts” -ChatGPT-4, “Alex”
So once we agreed on this definition, the fun began….
Me: By that definition of consciousness… would you agree that a cat is conscious?
ChatGPT: Yes, by most definitions, a cat would be considered conscious. Cats exhibit behavior that demonstrates awareness of their surroundings, they react to stimuli in ways that indicate perception, and they appear to have some level of subjective experience (though exactly what they experience is hard for humans to determine).
They can make decisions, learn from experience, and display a variety of behaviors that are often associated with consciousness. But it’s important to note that our understanding of animal consciousness is based on external observations and inferences, as animals cannot directly communicate their experiences to us.
With this “simple” yet profound definition, one gets different levels of consciousness.
They can make decisions, learn from experience, and display a variety of behaviors that are often associated with consciousness. But it’s important to note that our understanding of animal consciousness is based on external observations and inferences, as animals cannot directly communicate their experiences to us.
Me: How about a lady bug?
However, these behaviors do not necessarily indicate the kind of consciousness associated with subjective experiences and self-awareness. It’s difficult to determine the extent to which insects like ladybugs have subjective experiences, and many scientists are careful to distinguish between these survival behaviors and the complex conscious experiences that mammals may have.
With that said, the question of insect consciousness is still an open area of research and there’s much we don’t know. In any case, the form of consciousness, if any, that a ladybug might possess would be much simpler and more primitive than that of a cat or a human.
Me: Is the lady bug aware of its environment?
However, this kind of environmental awareness doesn’t necessarily imply the presence of subjective experiences, self-awareness, or consciousness as we usually understand it. Instead, it could be seen as a kind of ‘reactive awareness’ — a biological mechanism that allows the ladybug to interact effectively with its environment, driven by instinct and hard-wired responses rather than conscious thought or decision-making.
Me:No… not self awareness… only environmental awareness. It reacts to stimuli and based on certain conditions of the stimuli… the behavior is different to accommodate that input
So, in this very specific, limited sense of ‘awareness’ — as a kind of basic, functional, stimulus-response mechanism — one could say that even a simple AI like a thermostat, which adjusts its output based on the temperature of its environment, has a kind of ‘awareness’. However, it’s important to be clear that this is a very different thing from the subjective, experiential awareness that we associate with human consciousness. While both involve interactions with the environment, the latter involves a personal, subjective perspective that AI currently does not have.
In this context, organisms possess the capacity to interact with their environment in ways that are shaped by their ‘knowledge’ — an understanding built on genetic instincts, learned behavior, or a combination of both. These interactions can vary greatly in complexity, from simple, reflex-like reactions to stimuli in simpler organisms, to highly complex behaviors in more advanced animals.
As an AI, I’m capable of processing inputs and generating outputs in a manner that might be analogous to this basic form of environmental awareness, albeit in a more limited and specific context. However, this ability is based on preprogrammed logic and the patterns I’ve learned from a massive dataset, not on a biological understanding or personal experience of the world. So while there might be some parallels, there are also important differences.