INTELLIGENCE CONSCIOUSNESS INTUITION
EVAHEINSTEDT
Copyright 2024 Eva Heinstedt
Publisher:BoD –Books on Demand, Stockholm, Sweden
Print: BoD– BooksonDemand, Norderstedt,Germany
ISBN:978-91-8080-018-1
1. INTRODUCTION
Twomovements that have influenced contemporary viewsonscientificknowledge development are postmodernism anddataism.Theychallengetraditional viewsofthe world, humannature, andthe nature of knowledge. Both have potentialpitfalls,makingitcrucial to scrutinizetheir underlying assumptions,and the implications theyhave forsociety.
Postmodernism is skeptical of thetraditional wayof viewingscientificknowledge, emphasizingthe subjective andconstructed nature of knowledge. It is critical of establishedforms of knowledge, assertingthat knowledgeisconstructed by cultural,social, and linguisticfactors.Accordingtopostmodernism, knowledgeissubjective, andthereare no objective, universalfacts,onlyinterpretations.Scientific research andknowledge hold no intrinsicvalue becausethere are no objectivetruthsorfixed values.Itleads to aformof relativism,where truthdepends on cultural and individual contexts.Natural science criticizes postmodernism for disregarding objectivetruths, leading to arelativismthat pavesthe wayfor societal contempt forknowledge.
Dataismisa term popularizedbyIsraelihistorian Yuval Noah Harari.Inhis book "Homo Deus:A BriefHistory of Tomorrow"(2017),hewarns that more scientific disciplines tend to converge on an all-encompassing dogma, whichhe calls dataism. Dataismviews allliving organismsasreducible to information, data flows, and 9
algorithms.The algorithms constituting humans arenot free but make decisionseitherdeterministicallyor randomly.Everythingcan be expressedwithalgorithmic formulas, includinghuman intelligence,consciousness, andknowledge.Central to dataism is thebeliefthat all data has inherent valueand that theefficiencyand value of asystemcan be judged basedonhow well it can processdata. Dataismemphasizes everything as data andalgorithms. It viewsdatacollectionand analysis as thekeyto understandingthe world.
Dataismcan be interpretedasanattempttoobjectify the world, reducingeverythingtodatathat canbeprocessed byalgorithms.Thisleads to areductionist view of humans as mere data tools. It challenges the understandingofwhatitmeans to be humanand raises ethicaland philosophical questions,especiallyregarding privacy, personalautonomy, andthe humanroleina worlddominated bydata.
Dataismcontrasts with humanism,where humanism emphasizes theindividualand thehuman experienceas central. Dataismseesthe universe as aflowofdata, with humanexperiences beingjustpartofa larger dataset. Dataismisbecomingmoreprominent with theriseof advanced articicial intelligenceand machinelearning.If alldecision-making is delegated to algorithmsbased on vast amounts of data,these algorithmscould potentially make more informeddecisions than humans.Dataism hasbeencriticizedfor reducing humanexperiences and
societal phenomenatomeredataprocessesand algorithms.
This raises thequestionofwhether humanintelligence, consciousness, andknowledge have anyvalue that cannot be replicated bysuperiornon-conscious algorithms.The question is whether an intelligent machinecan make scientificdiscoveries whereprevious scientificgoalsare inadequateand need to be replaced byother goals.Theanswertothisquestion depends on what we mean byintelligence,consciousness, and knowledge.
PARTI
ARTIFICIALANDHUMAN INTELLIGENCE
In this section, Iaddress artificial intelligenceand human intelligence, creativity,intuition andrationalthinking, cognitivescience andkognitivdevelopment, thecerebral hemispheresdifferent characters,and differentself.
2.ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence (AI) is an umbrella term fora technology that givesa machinethe ability to display human-likebehavior, such as reasoning,learning, planning, andcreativity.AI enablestechnicalsystems to perceive theirenvironment andsolve problems in order to achievea specific goal.
ProponentsofAIargue that intelligent machines can simulate humanintelligence.They surpasshumans in terms of rational thinking anddecision-making.They follow well-definedinstructionsand strict rulestosolve problems step bystep.Intelligent machines aremuch betteratachieving well-defined goalsand do so more rationally andcompetently than ahuman can. Through theconstruction of algorithms based on some form of formallogic,calculationsand decisions canbecarried outmuchmoreefficientlyandsafelythana humancan. Humans arenot governed byformalrules forhow calculations should be performedand decisions made. Instead, we oftenmisuserational thinking, usingitto
justifyour emotions andbeliefs.Weare more loyalto emotions andbeliefs than to rationalanalysis andlogic.
Oneofthe long-term goalsofAIresearchisAGI (artificial generalintelligence).AGI refers to theability to perform "general intelligentactions." It is ahypothetical agent that possesses intelligence farsurpassing humanintellectual capabilities in almost allareas.Itcan performevery intellectualtaskthata humancan.AGIhas theabilityfor deep learning,which refers to aself-learning system basedonhow thehuman brainlearns throughpractice andfeedback. WhenAGIproduces sufficientlyintelligent software,the software canprogram andimprove itself.
ThereareAI researcherswho claimthat it is possibleto createconsciousAI systems.Thesesystems are conscious in thesense that theycanperceivetheir environment, take action,and maximize thechances of successfullyachievinggoals. Robots areprogrammedto interpretsignals from theenvironment and considered conscious.Someresearchersforesee thepossibility that AI systemscan be conscious even if they onlyexistas software andare notconnectedtosensorybodies or robots.
However, abodyisneededtoreceive signalsfromthe external worldand to convertelectromagnetic radiation into recognizablepatterns. Ourbodilyactivity,likethe brain, is importantfor interactionwiththe environment. Interactionwiththe worlddepends on thebody'sabilityto move,breathe,and speak.Thebodyisnecessaryfor perceiving theenvironment;otherwise,information is only aboutwhathappens within asystem, resembling an
unconsciousdream state. When we dream,weare unawareofthe external worldand cannot interpret signalsfromit.Thedream is onlyabout informationinthe brain.
Wecannot determineifa robot is conscious basedsolely on behavior.Ifa robotspeaksorbehaves as if it is conscious,itisnot necessarilyan indication that it is conscious.Wecannotknowifa data-driven robotistruly conscious just becauseitbehaves as if it is.Itmay performactivitiesthatwemight labelasconscious, but behavior says nothingabout what it feelsliketobe conscious.There arenoobjective criteria to know if an intelligent agenthas experiences that canbelabeledas conscious.The consciousnessthatAI describes does not explainwhy we have asense of self andsubjective experiences of smell, taste, sight,hearingorfeeling.The question of robots'abilityfor subjective experiences and self-awareness remainsopen.
RayKurzweil
RayKurzweilisanAmericaninventor andfuturist, known as theDirectorofEngineeringatGoogle. Oneofhis most famous booksis"TheSingularity Is Near:WhenHumans Transcend Biology"(2006). In hisbook, he describes the singularityasthe eventwhen accelerating technological advancementsexceedhuman intellectual capacity. He predicts that humanitywill solvethe problemofthe brain'slimitations in thedevelopment of intelligence. Research is alreadyunderwaytodevelop acloud-based synthetic cerebral cortex that cangobeyond thephysical barrier. It is onlyamatteroftimebeforea synthetic cerebral cortex is created, and we canconnecttoa
synthetic cloudservice.
Kurzweil says it is entirelypossibletocreatea hybrid of a synthetic andbiologicalneocortex. Wewill get adigital variant of theoutermost partofthe cerebral cortex,which is our Homo sapiensbrain,responsible forrationaland analytical thinking.Bydeveloping acloud-based synthetic cerebral cortex,a hybrid of biological and artificial intelligence will be created,surpassing human capability.
Ourbrainswill be directly connectedtothe cloud, andour intelligencecan continue to develop indefinitely.This will mark thebeginning of acompletelynew intelligencein synthetic form, tooadvancedfor human intelligence to understand. Humanintelligence, with thehelpofa synthetic cerebral cortex,will undergo atransformation that is unimaginable.New methods to expand intelligencewill be invented that we cannot even conceive of today. Machineintelligencewillbeinfinitely stronger than allhuman intelligence combined onceit hasreached technologicalsingularity.
It is impossibletopredict howthe development of artificial intelligence andbiotechnology will change the world. Sincenoone canunderstandthe system anymore, no onecan stop it either.IfAGI at thehuman levelcan be created, it couldtrigger an intelligence explosionthatleavesusfar behind.AGI couldresultin various scenarioswithlong-lastingeffects in thecoming millennia.
Thetechnological singularityisanunpredictableevent that couldradicallytransformordestroy ourcivilization. Thefunctions of such intelligencemay not be possibleto