Robotics and Consciousness
Dr. Andrée Bates
Chairman/Founder/CEO @ Eularis | AI Pharma Expert, Keynote Speaker | Neuroscientist | Our pharma clients achieve measurable exponential growth in efficiency and revenue from leveraging AI | Investor
Robotics heavily relies on #artificialintelligence (AI) to collate and analyze data, create outputs, and perform complex tasks. However, AI programming is not consciousness. Consciousness has two components: arousal and awareness. While arousal is regulated by the brainstem, awareness has been more elusive. To understand awareness, researchers have been examining the connectome of healthy brains. One study analyzed 36 patients with brain stem lesions and found that the rostral doso lateral pontine region of the brainstem plays a critical role in regulating consciousness. The left ventral anterior insular and the pre-genual anterior singulate cortex are also linked to arousal and awareness.
However, some researchers suggest that the mind is not fully encased by the brain. The mind meets the mathematical definition of a complex system, which means it is open and capable of influencing things outside itself. This raises interesting questions about whether computers and robots can think in a similar way to humans.
Robotics and Consciousness: How Close Are We?
Neuralink , Elon Musk's company, is embedding chips into people's brains to allow them to interact with computers using their minds. For example, a man who was fully paralyzed has had a neural chip implanted in his brain for seven years and can use computers and interact with physical objects purely with his mind. If humans can do this, it raises the possibility that robotics could move in a similar direction and impact consciousness.
The movie Ex Machina explores the relationship between humans and robots with Ava, a robot that exhibits all the aspects that make us human. She passes the Turing test, which tests a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior non-distinguishable from that of a human. The movie raises questions about whether humans can relate to them despite knowing they are artificial.
Another example is the robot Sophia made by Hanson Robotics Limited . There's a very interesting interview where Tony Robbins is saying to everyone, "Are we ready? Are we ready?" Sophia looks at him and says, "Take your time, Tony." He was a bit surprised because he was kind of treating her like a robot. Actually, she was perceiving what he was interested in and she reacted like a human would. Then at one point in the interview, he started coughing and she said, "Are you okay?"
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What Does This Mean For The Future?
Dennis R. Mortensen , founder and CEO of x.ai (the company that invented Amy, the digital assistant) said, "the way I think this will play out is that you will have highly specialized and very intelligent ai, not mediocre at everything, but really, really good at one thing." He's probably right for the moment.
Robots initially are not going to replace humans completely. They're going to augment humans. They will take on a lot of the dull, repetitive, difficult, demeaning, demanding, dangerous kinds of jobs - and that's only the beginning. They have already replaced humans in many areas. 美国银行 has replaced 50% of its customer service staff with digital humans. We even have a robot lawyer who wins a hundred percent of his cases. AI is doing more accurate diagnostics and predictions in oncology than human specialists.?
While robotics heavily relies on AI, it is not consciousness. Researchers have been examining the connectome of healthy brains to understand awareness, while others suggest that the mind is not fully encased by the brain. With companies embedding chips into people's brains, it raises questions about the possibility of robotics moving in a similar direction and impacting consciousness.?
Conclusion
We are moving into an era where more and more of the current kinds of roles will change. That doesn't mean that AI will be detrimental to human jobs. This is the nature of technology. If you think back to the fifties when switchboard operators would connect phone calls and there were typing pools in companies where no one would write their own memos, those jobs are gone, but new jobs have come in their place. So the human workforce and jobs evolve as technology evolves.
If you're considering ways to use robotics in your #pharma business, there's a myriad of solutions they can offer. Contact Dr. Andree Bates at [email protected] for more information.
Educator | Director | Consultant
1 年Anil Philip
COO at By Miles | Insurance Leader of the Year 2020
1 年Super interesting Dr. Andree Bates. If AI can help save more lives then frankly it should be driven forward. Humans are adaptable and even if old jobs become redundant, new ones will be created!
Activate Innovation Ecosystems | Tech Ambassador | Founder of Alchemy Crew Ventures + Scouting for Growth Podcast | Chair, Board Member, Advisor | Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow-Bayes Business School (formerly CASS)
1 年Interesting two points Dr. Andree Bates which define whether robots could emulate human emotions. It is about consciousness at the end. Still, singularity remains valid. Or a representation of a hypothetical future where technology growth is out of control and irreversible.
Digital Strategist | Keynote Speaker | Elevating Leadership in the Digital World
1 年“This is the nature of technology” so true, Dr. Andree Bates!
Thanks Andree; great article, maybe because it tries hard to raise the debate to core and fundamental concepts, and it should have been made at the start rather than the middle of opening this box, some call Pandora's, some a treasure chest. Funny to notice that for myself and other French-educated persons, intelligence refers to quite a different notion than in English, and now that you point out to the question of consciousness, I am tempted to say that it was already embedded in the way we see the concept of intelligence in a French perspective. Science sans conscience as Pascal said, n'est que ruine de l'ame (Science without consciousness only means a lost soul) One day, my comment will be written by ChatGPT, and I am sure it will be twice as relevant and even more as pertinent. For the time being, only my consciousness spoke out! ??