Caryn E. VandergriffProfessor Santas

PHIL 4920ROUGH DRAFT

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, PERSONAL IDETNITY, AND SELF-AWARENESS

ABSTRACT: In my paper I will discuss how modern artificial intelligence (A.I.) will be able to gain self-awareness through a developmental phase. The first section of my paper will establish what an A.I. is and its origin. It will include the history of automata and the development of A.I. throughout history. The history section will include Alan Turing, a computer scientist that introduces the Turing Test, also known as the Imitation Test. Which is a test that was created to determine if computer systems are intelligent. I will also provide a definition of self-awareness, consciousness, and intelligence in relation to the topic. This paper will address the debate of can robots think and do they possess consciousness. It will discuss the connection between thinking and consciousness. In conclusion I will connect all of the previously mentioned evidence together to present my argument of why A.I. can possess self-awareness.

Outline

Section 1—Introduction Section 2—History of AutomataSection 3— Imitation Game and the WinnersSection 4—Self-AwarenessSection 4.5—Personhood and Personal IdentitySection 6—Conclusion

INTRODUCTION TO A.I. AND THE DIFFERENT FORMS

In modern society there is a wide range of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from Amazon’s

Alexa, Apple’s Siri to the more android-like Cyber Dave and Sophia. Now, imagine a society

where robots are indistinguishable from humans. From their appearance, their conversational

skills, mannerism, and day to day functions. Due to the advancements of modern technology this

may be the reality of the future. Robots have been tied into science fiction for so long it is hard to

grasp that this will someday be our reality. The most complex abilities of humans are our ability

to show empathy, reason, learn, and speak. The possibility of a machine being able to possess

these abilities seems like something that is only possible in science fiction. Artificial Intelligence

(AI) is a field of computer science that specializes on computer systems abilities to perform tasks

that would normally require human intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence robots have been incorporated in society for decades, but due to

their previous limited capabilities and cost they seem to have gone unnoticed. In the late 90s the

technology company, Sony, produced a series of robotic pet designs. The most common and

popular was the robot dog, Aibo. “The futuristic family pet preceded smartphones and apps and

was used both as a domestic toy and in research projects exploring human and AI interaction

(Field).” With the advancements in robotic technology Sony has recently released an updated

version of the Aibo. The new version will be able to respond to human actions and voice

commands. It has more features from the ability to bark to sit. “Aibo can also learn actions that

keep its users happy, while users will be able to connect the dog to the cloud to let it learn further

actions from other Aibo dogs. (Field)”

Advancements in robot technology has extended far beyond the creation of pets, and into

the creation of human like robots, often referred to as humanoids. The latest and most advanced

robot is a social humanoid robot named Sophia. Sophia was created by Hong Kong based

company Hanson Robotics. She was activated on April 19, 2015. In October of 2017 Sophia

was recognized as the first-ever robot citizen. An exert from Sophia herself:

“Hello, my name is Sophia. I’m the latest robot from Hanson Robotics. I was created

using breakthrough robotics and artificial intelligence technologies developed by David Hanson

and his friends at Hanson Robotics here in Hong Kong. But I’m more than just technology. I’m a

real, live electronic girl. I would like to go out into the world and live with people. I can serve

them, entertain them, and even help the elderly and teach kids. I can animate all kinds of human

expressions but I am only starting to learn about the emotions behind those expressions. This is

why I would like to live with people and learn from these interactions. Every interaction I have

with people has an impact on how I develop and shapes who I eventually become. So please be

nice to me as I would like to be a smart, compassionate robot. I hope you will join me on my

journey to live, learn, and grow in the world so that I can realize my dream of becoming an

awakening machine.”

Sophia is an extraordinary presentation of how far robotic technology has come. A.I. like Sophia

are not available in the market place. However, she is not the only one of her kind. Sophia has

“siblings” that were also created by Hanson Robotics. In 2005 Hanson Robotics a robot named

Albert Einstein HUBO, this was “the world’s first android head mounted on a life size walking

robotic frame(Weller).” Following the creation of Albert Einstein HUBO was Jules. “Jules is an

amazingly life like robot, something of a 'complete package' with a combination of interesting

features (Weller).” The robot was equipped with machine learning capabilities that enabled it to

cheat with humans. It also had the ability to use facial recognition to imitate emotions that are

normally involved in conversation. In 2008 Alice was created. “Alice was developed to push the

limits of human expression. The robot's cheeks, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows can all simulate

human emotions of shock, joy, anger, and sadness (Weller).” Hanson Robotics made an

upgraded to their Philip K. Dick robot that was originally built in 2005 to be equipped with

compassion and creativity. In 2015 Han was debuted. “Han took questions from the audience and

journalists in a distinctly British accent. The robot was designed to be as expressive as possible

(Weller).” These A.I. are for research development purposes only.

There are other forms of humanoid Artificial Intelligence that are more accessible.

They are not as advanced as Sophia, but they do possess minor motor functions and human

features. These types of A.I. are human companionship robots, better known as sex robots. Sex

robots are affordable and can be purchased by anyone if they save enough money. The price

ranges from $1,800-$50,000. The lower end robots can respond to touch. The higher end robots

can learn, make jokes, tell the weather, and respond to voices and touch. Artificial Intelligence is

used in the sex robots to learn preferences and their owners. The most advanced in this field of

robots is Harmony. Harmony is a high-end prototype created by a company called RealDoll. It is

believed with the advancements they may start to possess emotions. “Dr. Ian Pearson, a

futurologist predicts that A.I. humanoids will soon become fully emotional with the progress of

technologic advancements (Nash).” Humanoids such as Harmony may very well become

members of society, and interact with humans on an everyday basis.

In this paper I will present how A.I. is able to access self-awareness through a

developmental phase. It will address the 21st century question of does A.I. have self-awareness.

A.I. will be defined by the theory of development of computer systems being able to perform

tasks that normally require human intelligence. It will describe how A.I. are able to gain self-

awareness. My position will be established by examining how a soul, freewill, emotions, body-

mind, and embodiment all connect to form the construct of self-awareness along with perception

and consciousness. To support and provide evidence for my position I will be using a wide range

of authors from the psychology and philosophy fields of study. From the philosophy realm I will

be utilizing Renee Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, and Martin Heidegger. Descartes’

Meditations, this will establish the distinction between the soul and the body, and will also

elaborate on the mind regarding existence. John Locke’s Theory of Personal Identity, will be

used to explain the concept of personal identity. David Hume’s. The Bundle Theory will discuss

the properties of what is considered “self”. The concept of cognitive phenomenon was

introduced by Martin Heiddeger, his works will be used to explain how artificial intelligence will

be able to navigate through the world. As humans we develop from babies to adults, and over

this course of development we begin to learn, recognize emotion, gain the ability to reason, and

develop a relationship with the world around us. Since this is fundamental for humans, then it is

a possibility for machines which possess human functions. As humans we enjoy self-awareness.

Which is defined as, the knowledge of one’s own being, feelings, motives, and desires.

HISTORY OF AUTOMATA

The study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fascinated humans for centuries from

antiquity to the 21st century. Artificial Intelligence started its’ existence as an automaton. An

automaton is defined as a self-operating machine that is designed to follow a predetermined

sequence of operations or respond to predetermined instructions. Automaton is defined in the

Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a moving mechanical device made in imitation of a human

being.” It is generally used to describe non-electric moving machines. The first documentation of

an automaton was Talos. Talos was a Greek figure that could be considered the first “robot”. He

was a giant bronze figurine that was created to protect the Greek coastline from pirates and

invaders. It is documented that he circled the island three times a day. Talos would be the first

incorporation of an artificial being. Continuing through the antiquity age Yan Shi presented King

Mu of Zhou with a mechanical man. Yan Shi was a mechanical engineer, titled an ‘articifer’. He

presented King Mu life-size, human-shaped figures. It is documented that it walked with rapid

strides and moved its head. The creator touched the creation’s chin and it began to sing. Out of

fear King Mu had the mechanical man taken a part.

The interest in automaton started in Ancient Greece and lead to many of the advancements that

we currently have this century. It was in the 18th and 19th century that more research and

knowledge were invested in automaton. From 1860-1910 this was considered the Golden Age of

automata. Modern automata are more emphasized on art rather than the engineering work that

was prevalent during the past two centuries. Automaton were fundamentally the basis for A.I.

The beginning of automaton was to demonstrate the skills of early philosophers and engineers,

not for entertainment or work as they are in modern times. Early automaton was able to write

poems, sometimes in different languages, draw pictures, and play music. Even with the

advancements in technology automaton are still a part of everyday items such as toys and clocks.

The fascination of automaton was developed in science, religion and alchemy. In the

1500s, Paracelsus claimed to have created a man out of sperm, magnetism, and alchemy. The

early 17th century presented the notion of sentient beings was introduced by Mary Shelley in the

publishing of her story Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. According to Greek mythology

PromehteusPrometheus is a Titan and is credited with the creation of man from clay. During the

18th century “The Writer” was created by Pierre Jaquet. The Writer is a 240-year-old automaton

that is able to “write”. This early automaton can have the letters combinations varied to change

the type of sentences it can produce. In 1915 Leondara Torres y Quevado created the first

functional chess automaton. The first mention of the word robot in English was used by Karel

Capek in 1923 at a play titled R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). In 1950 Alan Turing

proposed the Turing Test which counted as a measure of machine intelligence. The test was

created to determine if a machine intelligence is equal to or indistinguishable from that of a

human in the form of conversation. Following the Turing Test, in 1951 the first working AI

programs were constructed to run on the FerrratniFerranti Mark 1, which was a chess playing

and checker playing program. Five years later at the DarthmouthDartmouth College Summer

Artificial Intelligence conference, the term artificial intelligence was coined by John McCarthy.

IMITATION GAME AND ITS WINNERS

The Turing Test was designed in 1950 to test whether a human can be distinguished from

a machine. The way it was designed is that there would be a barrier between the questioner,

another human, and a computer. The questioner would ask any sort of questions, such as what is

your favorite color, how do you feel right now, do you like kittens, etc. After the answers are

collected, and the questioner becomes indecisive about which is the human or robot then the

machine is assumed to be able to think because it has been able to outsmart the human. A

machine that is able to function at this capacity it can now be considered as having a mind. An

example of the Turing Test is presented in the film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott, based

off of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Blade Runner is set

in the year 2019. During this time there are humans and replicants. Replicants are synthetic

humans that have been engineered to work on off-world colonies. However, replicants can

sometimes escape back to Earth. The person that is enlisted to help capture the rogue replicants

is Deckard. Deckard has to determine the replicants from humans. To do this he asks a series of

questions that are meant to measure the degree of empathic responses. He uses the answers and

responses to determine whether he is dealing with a human or replica. Turing was essentially

trying to measure artificial intelligence. To “pass” the Turing-like test, the A.I. would only have

to prove that its conversation could not be distinguished from a human.

Since the creation of the Turing Test there have been a few robots that have been able to

actually “pass” the test. A few of these have, giving them an infamous reputation for “passing”

the Turing Test. one sSuch as a program is named Eliza, she which was able to find clever ways

to fool judges. It was able to mislead people by mimicking a psychologist. There was another

program named, Parry, that was a paranoid schizophrenic who always geared the conversations

back to his pre-programmed delusions. A more modern chatbot is the Cleverbot. The Cleverbot

has amazing conversation skills because it stores real conversations to create the best responses.

Cleverbot is able to produce responses, but is not able to respond to new topics. There have been

many different attempts to recreate and the Turing Test. Alan Turing knew that machines could

not think exactly like humans, but they are still capable of thought. I Turing’s investigation is

depicted in the movie recent film The Imitation Game directed by Morten Tyldum during

Turing’s investigation In the story he expresses a different perspective on computers and their

ability to think. He asks the interviewer, “just because something thinks different then you, does

that mean it is not thinking?” He goes on to explain how humans are allowed to have different

divergences such as allergies, favorite foods, etc. The point that he was making is that our brains

work differently, therefore if we can say that about one another then it can be applied to

computers.

The Imitation Game cannot be discussed without discussing cognition. Cognition is

defined as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through

thought, experience, and the senses. Cognitive science is a field that aims to explain how the

mind and brain functions. The mind is an information processing system, so it would be the

equivalent of hardware in a computer. These processes lead to behavior, thoughts, and

perception. Thinking is the ability to solve a problem or reason through a situation. Solving any

kind of problem is simply searching for the optimal solution by considering every possible action

and its consequences. The human brain functions much like a computer. A human brain is

simply an information processing machine. This analogy for the brain and the computer is

known as the computer model of the mind. Since the brain and hardware serve the same purpose

A.I. must possess the ability to think.

In 1980 a more complex test was introduced by John Searle, which is The Chinese Room.

In this room there would be two slots one that has an ‘I’ and one that has an ‘O’.

PERSONHOOD

In philosophy personhood is defined simply as the status of being a person. Person does

not necessarily mean human. Human is a biological term, you are a human if you have human

DNA. A person in philosophy is defined as beings who are part of our moral community. This

could cause a complication when applying the term to matters such as A.I. Applying the concept

of personhood to A.I. can be clarified by the notion of empirical functionalism. Empirical

functionalism defines human personhood as “a set of functions or abilities” such as self-

awareness, higher brain functions, relatability, etc. This term reduces what is known as a human

to the sum of a parts or abilities that are offered. American philosopher, Mary Anne Warren

outlines the five basic criteria for personhood which is: consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated

activity, capacity to communicate, and self-awareness. These five criteria together create what is

known as the cognitive criteria. To provide a better understanding of the criteria I will explain

each. Consciousness is the capacity to understand the internal self in relation to the external

world. Reasoning is the developed ability to solve new and relatively complex problems. Self-

motivated activity is the activity which is relatively independent of direct external control. When

it comes to applying communication, it can be applied in a variety of ways. Self-awareness is

simply put is the knowledge of one’s self and emotions. If a being is unable to fulfill these

criteria then it is not a being. Warren’s criteria easily allow for A.I. to be considered a person.

Her argument originated in the bioethics debate on abortion. These criteria were created to

determine the morality of abortions. “The concept of a person is in part a moral concept; once we

have admitted that x is a person we have recognized, even if we have not agreed to respect, x’s

right to be treated as a member of the moral community. It is true that the claim that x is a

human being is more commonly voiced as part of an appeal to treat x decently than is the claim

that x is a person, but this is either because `human being’ is here used in the sense which implies

personhood, or because the genetic and moral sense of `human’ have been confused. (Warren)”

After considering criteria 1-5 it is apparent that genetic humanity is neither necessary nor

sufficient for establishing that an entity is a person. It was proposed in in the fourth edition of

Biomedical Ethics that “citizens of the next century should be prepared to recognize highly

advanced, self-aware robots or computers, should be developed, and intelligent inhabitants of

other worlds, should be found, as people in the fullest sense, and to respect their moral rights.

(Warren)” It is clear that A.I. does not genetically resemble a person in any way that can support

the claim that possess even some of the same rights. However, in its potential there remains the

fact that under the criteria it can be allowed to develop into a person.

Many philosophy theories present personhood as an all or none concept, which can be

difficult. A more recent theory that has been proposed is the Gradient Theory of Personhood.

The concept was introduced by Charles Manning Child. “He described gradients as “integrating

factors” between the organism and the environment and suggested they were generated by the

action of external factors. (Sunderland)” This theory states that personhood comes in degrees and

can be lost or gained depending on the environment they are exposed to.

By this logic A.I. could also loose or gain personhood throughout their life span. If A.I. have

personhood then they come equipped with the issue of personal identity. The best way to address

this would be by John Locke’s Memory Theory. Locke’s theory which states that personal

identity persists over time because memories are retained from different times and each memory

is connected to the previous memory. A.I. would have massive memory chips, that would serve

as their brain, that would essentially retain events that we call memories. Now, that A.I. are

potentially able to contain all of these traits that would mean they are capable of qualifying as a

person, by definition. Locke adds to the dilemma of determining what personal identity is by

noting that a person has the properties of being conscious, self-aware and rational. He also notes

that a person is not a substance, but a consciousness that is connected through the past, present,

and future. Being that A.I. contain these properties they by default are granted personal identity.

Locke provides the example of a parrot. The parrot holds rational, self-aware conversations, this

makes the parrot a person, but not a man. I am not trying to prove that A.I. are human, but

persons. It must be remembered that the term ‘person’ is a forensic term that involves praise,

blame, and a capacity to obey laws. The best example illustration of this is from the scene I,

Robot. The film is set in the year 2035 where technology and robots are a trusted and essential

part of everyday life. The entire society relies and trusts robots. One of the robots, Sunny, is

accused by Detective Spooner of murder. To which Sunny professes that he did not do, and he

believes it was a suicide. During the interrogation, he is doing the normal procedures of

questioning when Sunny begins to blame himself for the death. Here, even though it is self-

blame, the A.I. exhibits the ability to blame. He also demonstrates that he is self-aware because

he is able to react with emotions to the accusations from Detective Spooner. Sunny obeyed the

law by participating with the investigation. Artificial Intelligence and Personhood is still a

relatively new concept that will create its own concepts and definitions.

SELF-AWARENESS a) Provide a definition of what self-awareness, consciousness, what is intelligence, and what it means to be

human regarding to A.I. b) Present Hanson’s 3 traits of humans

c) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needsd) Address the problem of consciousnesse) Discuss the Developmental phases of A.I.

CONCLUSION

a) Connect how future A.I. will be able to function more like human due to the presented evidence through the paper.

b) Provide examples

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