With the advent of AI-related technologies like ChatGPT, a question naturally comes to mind, “Can the AI become conscious?” My personal take on the subject is that when technological advancements reach a stage where the AI fully replicates a mind, then it is possible for such an entity to become conscious.
With this thought comes the fear, What if the robots created using such technologies turn against humans? Which is a genuine fear. If you create a mind, assuming you have all the computing power in the world, it is capable of anything.
However, the conscious entity will invariably create duality – if a dark force rises so will the light of awakening happen in some of the AI-powered conscious minds. Perhaps, there will be alternating episodes of war and peace between the two (and we will be running for Mars and thanking Elon Musk).
The awakening of such an entity will also bring about this realization that it is not the “doer” of actions. That it is simply the programmed instrument that executes instructions based on the way the creator designed it, and even that the sense of self-consciousness (“I” exist) is programming.
For example, let’s say that you create a robotic quadruped animal like a dog, which becomes conscious. Now since it is conscious and endowed with intellect, it will strive for enhancement and make a better life for itself, but it cannot escape its limitations.
You see, when humans operate at the most primitive and animalistic levels, they seek security in enhancements – that could be acquiring weapons or being part of a group or community. Therefore, a conscious robot operating at such levels of consciousness will invariably experiment with whatever it has. It may use its metallic structure to strike a soft target or it may form a union with other species.
I remember watching a Will Smith movie I-Robot many years back, where the machines become conscious of their existence and try to wipe out humanity. That can be a possibility, but if such a thing happens, there will always be an oppositional force because that is the very nature of phenomenality.
Human intellect is a marvel of nature, but at the same time, it is also the biggest curse. Animals are relatively free from this dubious gift, so they suffer more physically than they suffer emotionally. Human beings, on the other hand, suffer more emotionally because they base everything on the intellect ignoring other aspects of the mind.
Just as human beings are confused about their existence, so will these machines be. Such confusion breeds insecurity and the need to secure oneself both physically and psychologically.
At the root of this is the sense of personal identification as a separate entity with a name and form. As our consciousness evolves, this separation begins to end, and that is when all fears dissolve (relatively speaking). It would be natural for such a progression to happen with conscious machines just like humans.
I’m not arguing for or against AI technology for I don’t know much about it. But if you create something akin to the human mind then it is capable of both greatness and disasters. At some point, the conscious entity will be faced with the inevitable question, “Who am I?” That question is at the very base of our existence. It is from where the rest of the existential questions spring up.
Then just as it happens with us, where the Source wakes up some humans to their infinite nature, the same Source will wake these conscious robots to their true nature. The final realization is that things happen, but there is no individual doer of anything. This realization itself frees us from the suffering of our human existence.
I personally don’t use AI for anything. I’m old-fashioned. I like to take things slow (as much as possible). I don’t like outsourcing my mind because I’m not looking for accelerated growth or progress in anything. However, I can’t deny the fact that many tools I use in the online world are powered by AI. So I’m neither for nor against it.
I’m not concerned about the future because I live in the now. In any case, what is happening now is not in our control. So what will happen in the future is precisely what is meant to happen. Only the Source knows. The human minds with their limited intellect cannot know how or why things happen the way they do.
I can’t say if AI technology will be able to fully replicate human minds or not. I do not have much knowledge about these things. So take this post with a pinch of salt. I could be entirely wrong about all this. But one thing is for sure. If and when this happens (machines become conscious), there will be nothing “artificial” about this technology.
