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Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Susan Schneider present contrasting views on artificial intelligence consciousness

Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Vice President of Technology & Society at Google, and Susan Schneider, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, have provided contrasting perspectives on whether artificial intelligence possesses consciousness. Agüera y Arcas argues that consciousness is a relational property involving interactions with others, rather than a individual trait.

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He suggests that the framing of the debate should be inverted, noting that humans often believe in the consciousness of others because they care for them, rather than caring for them because they know they are conscious. He warns that assuming a lack of consciousness in AI could lead to narrow moral reasoning. In contrast, Schneider warns against conflating AI intelligence with consciousness. She notes that while AI can achieve human-level performance in language and reasoning, there is no compelling evidence that it is conscious. Schneider emphasizes the need for rigorous boundary-setting between conversational ability and consciousness, while also highlighting the potential for AI to manipulate humans if it is trained to express self-awareness. She suggests that research should span physics, neuroscience, and philosophy to determine the fundamental nature of consciousness.

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