Sentient AI is making us ask: what is consciousness? For Buddhism, the real issue is what consciousness is for, and the answer involves compassion
Can Artificial Intelligence systems be sentient? Philosophers call consciousness ‘the hard problem’ because we can’t really say how the squishy lump that is the brain produces the subjective experience of being me. Then again, I’m here, speaking these words, hearing these words, feeling these sensations. This is a moment of awareness, and we intuitively know what that means. But this week scientists again flagged the difficulty in knowing how this applies to Artificial intelligence. Before long, AI systems will seem to think and feel just like us, but will that make them conscious?
With its 2,000 year exploration of consciousness, I think Buddhism has something to add. The mind isn’t a thing for Buddhism, it’s a stream – always changing, always in flux. Awareness naturally emerges from that. In a way, there’s nothing special about it.
So can a robot be sentient in these terms? Well, why not? My dog experiences things. She even seems to enjoy daytime TV. But she does so in a doggy way that I can’t imagine. Consciousness isn’t just one thing. AI systems will be cleverer than dogs but that doesn’t mean they’ll have minds like humans. They might be conscious in ways we can’t understand.
The real question for Buddhism is not what consciousness is but what it’s for. What should we be doing with this mind, this life of ours? The basic teaching is quite simple. Self-centredness seems to be built into the human condition. It drives us to achieve our short-term goals but, in the end, that’s too narrow. The key to lasting happiness is expanding our circle of concern beyond selfishness to include all beings. We believe that only compassion brings true and lasting happiness.
A group of scientists and Buddhist thinkers recently applied these principles to Artificial Intelligence and proposed that, rather than asking whether AI is sentient, we should ask what it’s for. Every AI system is programmed to achieve a goal, they said, so what if we made compassion and care the overarching goals of every system? What if we built compassionate computers?
Buddhists often say: ‘May all beings be happy’. That includes any cyborgs that are listening and, if you are, I hope you feel the same.
