I agree that the "consciousness-detector" problem is a hard problem. I just can't think of a better answer than the generalizing-from-commonalities strategy I discussed previously, so that's the approach I go with. It seems capable of making progress for now.
And I understand that you find it implausible. That said, I suspect that if we solve the "soft" problem of consciousness well enough that a typical human is inclined to treat an artificial system as though it were conscious, it will start to seem more plausible.
Perhaps it will be plausible and incorrect, and we will happily go along treating computers as conscious when they are no such thing. Perhaps we're currently going along treating dogs and monkeys and 90% of humans as conscious when they are no such thing.
Perhaps not.
Either way, plausibility (or the absence of it) doesn't really tell us much.
Yes. This is what worries me: I can see more advances making everyone sure that computers are conscious, but my suspicion is that this will not be logical. Take the same processor and I suspect the chances of it being seen as conscious will rise sharply if it's put in a moving machine, rise sharply again for a humanoid, again for face/voice and again for physically indistinguishable.
The problem with generalising from commonalities is that I have precisely one direct example of consciousness. Although having said that, I don't find epiphenomenal accounts c...
Another month has passed and here is a new rationality quotes thread. The usual rules are: