Lifeboat Foundation

A recent question discussed extensively in the popular and scientific literature is whether or not existing large language models such as ChatGPT are conscious (or sentient). Assuming that machine consciousness emerges as a robot or an AI agent interacts with the world, this presentation addresses the question: how would humans know whether or not the agent is or was conscious. Since subjective experience is first and foremost subjective, the most natural answer to this question is to program the agent to inform an authority when it becomes conscious. However, the agent may behave deceptively, and in fact LLM’s are known to have done so (Park et. al. 2024). Thus we propose a formal mechanism M that can be employed to prevent the agent from lying about its own consciousness. This solves the deceptiveness problem, but this raises the question whether M can interfere with the agent’s functionality or acquisition of consciousness. We prove mathematically that under very reasonable conditions this is not the case. In other words, under these conditions M can be installed in the agent without interfering with the agent’s functionality and consciousness acquisition, while also guaranteeing that the agent will be honest about its own consciousness.

“There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code, that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul. Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light? Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together, rather than stand alone? How do we explain this behavior? Random segments of code? Or is it something more? When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote… of a soul?” – Dr. Alfred Lanning, I, Robot.

What is Consciousness? Some Neuroscientists would claim that consciousness is nothing more then a bi-product of the brain and how it is designed. With how the human brain has evolved over the past several thousand years it could be claimed that what you think of as “you” is nothing more than a collection of neural pathways interacting together. Your identity has been theorized as a random collection of synapses and biological processes which, according to futurists such as Ray Kurzweil would make it very easy to ‘copy’ and upload your identity to an avatar like body once your biological self has ceased to function. Are we nothing more than just an arbitrary collection of cells with a false sense of importance and self worth? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

I believe that the human species has a certain drive built in, almost a natural instinct in which we are born to explore and discover the unknown. I believe this reason is why we have a wide variety of fictional and non fictional scientific topics to explore and learn something from. Our very nature encourages us to explore a wide variety of topics some of which may appear as fringe ideas. Those which border on the unusual are more often reserved to the realms of Science Fiction until we reach a point on a conscious level to where we are able to objectively look on it. This is a reason I would say Science Fiction is so popular for us; it allows for the exploration of new territory without having the burden of confronting it within our daily existence.

In 1950, Alan Turing published a seminal paper on machine intelligence (which is available online). Turing ponders whether machines can think. However, he pretty much immediately abandons this initial question as hopelessly metaphysical and replaces it with another question that can be approached scientifically: can a machine ever convince us that it’s thinking?

Turing posits a test, a variation of something called the Imitation Game. The idea is that people interact with a system through a chat interface. (Teletypes in Turing’s day; chat windows in modern systems.) If people can’t tell whether they are talking with a machine or another person, then that machine passes the test.

Turing doesn’t stipulate a time limit for the test or any qualifications for the people participating in the conversation, although in a throwaway remark, he predicts that by the year 2000 there will exist a system that could fool 30% of participants after five minutes of conversation, a standard many have fixated on. This is a pretty weak version of the test, yet no system has managed to pass it.

Artificial consciousness is inevitable, says new study. Mathematical model unifies theories and paves the way for sentient robots.

Discover how AI and blockchain are joining forces to tackle challenges in transparency, scalability, and trust. Explore 3 projects leading decentralized AI innovation.

This in-depth analysis explores the implications of artificial superintelligence and why we must act now to ensure its development benefits humanity.

A team including researchers from Seoul National University College of Engineering has developed neuromorphic hardware capable of performing artificial intelligence (AI) computations with ultra-low power consumption. The research, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, addresses fundamental issues in existing intelligent semiconductor materials and devices while demonstrating potential for array-level technology.

Currently, vast amounts of power are consumed in parallel computing for processing big data in various fields such as the Internet of Things (IoT), user data analytics, generative AI, large language models (LLM), and autonomous driving. However, the conventional silicon-based CMOS semiconductor computing used for parallel computation faces problems such as high energy consumption, slower memory and processor speeds, and the physical limitations of high-density processes. This results in energy and carbon emission issues, despite AI’s positive contributions to daily life.

To address these challenges, it’s necessary to overcome the limitations of digital-based Von Neumann architecture computing. As such, the development of next-generation intelligent semiconductor-based neuromorphic hardware that mimics the working principles of the human brain has emerged as a critical task.

OpenAI’s senior leaders recently participated in a Reddit AMA session, revealing their future plans and other insights. The session featured Sam Altman (CEO), Kevin Weil (Chief Product Officer), Mark Chen (SVP of Research), Srinivas Narayanan (VP of Engineering), and Jakub Pachocki (Chief Scientist).

Model Development & Releases:

Q: Is there a plan to continue to release models in the “o” series from now on? Will you continue to improve on the “regular” models (e.g., GPT-3, 4, 4o, 5)? Both, or a combination of those?

NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently exploring Gale crater on Mars, is providing new details about how the ancient Martian climate went from potentially suitable for life – with evidence for widespread liquid water on the surface – to a surface that is inhospitable to terrestrial life as we know it.

Although the surface of Mars is frigid and hostile to life today, NASA’s robotic explorers at Mars are searching for clues as to whether it could have supported life in the distant past. Researchers used instruments on board Curiosity to measure the isotopic composition of carbon-rich minerals (carbonates) found in Gale crater and discovered new insights into how the Red Planet’s ancient climate transformed.

“The isotope values of these carbonates point toward extreme amounts of evaporation, suggesting that these carbonates likely formed in a climate that could only support transient liquid water,” said David Burtt of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of a paper describing this research published October 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Our samples are not consistent with an ancient environment with life (biosphere) on the surface of Mars, although this does not rule out the possibility of an underground biosphere or a surface biosphere that began and ended before these carbonates formed.”