Can AI Ever Be Truly Conscious? Johannes Niederhauser and Sean McFadden | Voices with Vervaeke

In this thought-provoking episode of Voices with Vervaeke, host John Vervaeke is joined by Johannes Niederhauser, a philosopher with a focus on Heidegger's philosophy of technology, and Sean McFadden, a physicist and neuroengineer with interests in the philosophy of mathematics, science, and technology. Together, they discuss the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence, the nature of consciousness, the ethical implications of AI development, and the potential impact of AI on society. The conversation delves into the challenges of implementing consciousness in machines, the importance of relevance realization, autopoiesis, and the role of AI in human rationality and wisdom.

Sean is teaching a course on the Philosophy of the Machine seminars for which begin May 14th. You can enrol here https://halkyonacademy.teachable.com/...


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Time-Codes:
00:00 Introduction and Guests' Backgrounds
02:34 Heidegger's Philosophy of Technology
03:43 Hopes and Fears in AI Development
09:03 Implementing Consciousness in Machines
15:15 Relevance Realization and Autopoiesis
30:06 Self-deception in AI
37:14 Trade-offs in AI Development
44:09 Rationality and Spiritual Dimensions of AI
59:11 Real Moral Agency and Cultural Matrix
1:07:00 The Morality of Building Silicon Sages
1:14:00 The Potential of Machines to Exceed Human Intelligence
1:18:00 The Virtue of Machines
1:21:00 AI Trajectory and Ethics
1:29:00 Understanding Animal Intelligence