In a world buzzing with smart gadgets and talking robots, it’s hard not to wonder—can machines ever think like us? The thought of machines having a mind of their own sounds like sci-fi, but with tech advancing at lightning speed, it’s a chatter we hear more often.

In our first-ever “Mom Says, Kid Says” post, we—a tech-curious mom and her gadget-savvy kids—are diving into this big question. We share our own takes on whether machines could one day have a mind, just like humans. As with any philosophical question, there’s really no right or wrong answer. We don’t intend to prove each other wrong here, we simply want to share our thoughts.

So, join us in exploring the uncharted waters of machine consciousness!

Aly Says: Machines Lack the Innate Curiosity for Sentience

Firstly, to answer the initial question, I don’t believe it can. For now, at least.

Consciousness in and of itself is a hotly debated topic. I tend to think that the mere fact that we, as humans, are able to ponder about existence means that we are aware of ourselves and the things around us.

Our endless pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowing essentially drives us to question everything around us, which then leads us to our own conclusions.

Machines, specifically artificial intelligence machines, have made huge strides in the past few years. We’ve had the rise of ChatGPT and AI art generators.

If my understanding is correct, this technology scours the internet for the information you need or have asked for and spits the answers back at you in it’s own words in mere seconds.

I like to think of that as the AI doing research, much like how we as humans do our own research.

That means that AI at least knows to gather information, but I don’t think that makes it truly “aware” of it’s surroundings, in this case the internet, let alone it’s own existence.

It’s not really perceiving it’s surroundings with its senses. And even if people say that an AI’s senses are the codes that were programmed into it, I tend to think that the ability of the AI to “sense” isn’t innate.

To a degree, AI is still being told to gather this information. It has no inkling to gather it for itself just for the pursuit of knowledge.

If the AI has no inkling to pursue knowledge on its own, will it be able to achieve a true consciousness or awareness of its surroundings or of its own existence? I don’t think so.

The problem now is that if AI doesn’t have a consciousness or isn’t really aware of its surroundings, is the “research” or gathering of information that it does essentially stealing?

As an artist, I do look at other artwork for inspiration from time to time. People who argue in favor of AI would say that’s what the AI is doing. But therein lies the conflict.

Can AI truly be inspired by art to make it’s own?

Inspiration is defined by Oxford Languages as “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.”

Again, because I don’t think AI right now pursues art on it’s own, it can’t essentially get “inspired,” but it In my mind, because I don’t believe that AI is conscious, I tend to lean on the fact that it cannot be mentally stimulated to do, let alone feel, something.

Sure, AI can gather information about different portraits and spit out it’s own version of the portrait, but was it really inspired by the portraits it gathered? I don’t think so.

There was no mental stimulation on AI’s part to make its own art. It was told to draw “inspiration” from a certain piece and come back with its own. In that case, it wasn’t AI that was stimulated by the source material, but the person who asked AI to do it.

Mom Says: AI Is Forever Code, Never Conscious

In the world of sci-fi, it’s a common plot twist: robots wake up one day with feelings and thoughts just like us. It’s thrilling on screen, but a bit spooky in real life, right? Yet, as tech booms, the chatter grows: will machines ever think and feel like us? I don’t think it’s possible any time soon (if not at all).

You see, consciousness, that thing that lets us think, feel, and know we exist, is a bit of a mystery even to us humans. It’s like trying to explain why we love the smell of rain or why a sunset can tug at our hearts. Machines, on the other hand, are straight shooters. They’re all about the data we feed them—think of it as their “food.” So, the saying “garbage in, garbage out” makes sense. They only know what we tell them, lacking the jazz of understanding or awareness.

Now, some folks argue that consciousness isn’t black or white but has shades, like the different “awareness levels” we see in animals. They hint that as tech gets fancier, machines might inch closer to a basic form of consciousness. Imagine a robot dodging obstacles—it’s reacting to its world in a simple way, a tiny step up from our home thermostat (where a machine will turn a heating system on and off depending on detected temperature), but leagues behind even a small critter.

As AI keeps evolving, it’s tempting to think it might climb up this “consciousness ladder.” Learning from interactions with the world and adjusting its actions—sounds smart, huh? But here’s the catch: human consciousness is a wild, intricate ride filled with emotions, intentions, and that special something that makes us, well, human. Even the way we soak up a touching song or feel a thrill of adventure is part of this complex puzzle. And we’re far from cracking it. So the question is: how can we recreate something we can’t fully understand?

Now, machine minds like ChatGPT are clever, no doubt. They spot patterns and whip up responses based on the food (or garbage) we give them. Yet, that’s where it ends; there’s no emotion whatsoever in what they return to us; they don’t really give us the depth of understanding that comes naturally to us. So, while they’re helpful buddies, fearing a robotic uprising is a bit of a stretch.

Until we unravel the enigma of our own consciousness (and that’s a big mountain to climb), recreating it in machines remains a star too far. So, let’s keep the fear at bay, enjoy the tech marvels, and who knows, in diving into machine consciousness, we might just stumble upon some cool discoveries about our own minds!

And a little shoutout to the daring tech wizards—if we ever do unlock the secrets of consciousness, let’s not rush to upload it into AI, shall we? It’s a wild, beautiful thing that sets us apart, and perhaps some mysteries are better left unsolved.

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