Biological mechanisms contradict AI consciousness: The spaces between the notes.

Journal: Bio Systems
PMID:

Abstract

The presumption that experiential consciousness requires a nervous system and brain has been central to the debate on the possibility of developing a conscious form of artificial intelligence (AI). The likelihood of future AI consciousness or devising tools to assess its presence has focused on how AI might mimic brain-centered activities. Currently, dual general assumptions prevail: AI consciousness is primarily an issue of functional information density and integration, and no substantive technical barriers exist to prevent its achievement. When the cognitive process that underpins consciousness is stipulated as a cellular attribute, these premises are directly contradicted. The innate characteristics of biological information and how that information is managed by individual cells have no parallels within machine-based AI systems. Any assertion of computer-based AI consciousness represents a fundamental misapprehension of these crucial differences.

Authors

  • William B Miller
    Bioverse Foundation, Paradise Valley, AZ, United States. Electronic address: wbmiller1@cox.net.
  • František Baluška
    Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: baluska@uni-bonn.de.
  • Arthur S Reber
    Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: areber@pointroberts.net.
  • Predrag Slijepčević
    Department of Life Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Brunel, UK. Electronic address: predrag.slijepcevic@brunel.ac.uk.