Who’s Doing the Thinking?

Over the last few years, I’ve answered more questions about the possibility of AI becoming conscious than a doctor has to answer random medical questions at a cocktail party. It’s a fair question and a real concern. Whether your idea of AI becoming conscious is driven by Star Trek or Terminator, you may fear for your life, your job, or a loss of human rights and humanity.

The Reality of AI in Our Lives

Just a little Googling will let you find videos of Tesla “drivers” sleeping while their car drives them to work. It’s arguable this is the future we wanted. Statistically, the robots are safer drivers, particularly compared to someone tired. Sci-fi led us to believe we would someday be able to nap while our cars did the driving. Frighteningly, we’re here.

AI and Human Oversight

Last week, we shared an article about how recruiters with greater AI assistance, which is more thoughtful and good at its job, will have a strong tendency to “fall asleep at the wheel.” By letting AI do part of the heavy lifting, they are allowing more quality slips.

Here’s the crazy thing… this happens with people too. Think about a manufacturing line where one quality inspector checks the entire product and is fully responsible for capturing any defects. Now imagine there are five inspectors at different steps in the process, with the theory being you have five times the chance to catch a defect.

And that’s just what each inspector is thinking too. In time, sometimes just hours, the mindset becomes, “if there are any defects, the next person will find it, or the last one did.”

The Philosophical Question of Other Minds

Here’s the deep philosophical question. Imagine you are one of the five quality inspectors. How do you know the other four are conscious thinking beings? Not figments of your imagination, not clever robots… what makes you sure they are sentient?

Philosophically, this is known as the problem of other minds. We all (not just philosophers) resolve it with evidence. Since you can’t know what is going on inside anyone else’s mind (except you psychics), we see the evidence. Think Shakespeare: “Tickle us, do we not laugh… wrong us, do we not revenge?” If you behave like a person, then I will assume you are a person.

Sentience in Pets and AI

If you have, or have ever had, a mammal as a pet, did that pet ever seem to experience fear, happiness, sadness? Did that pet seem aware of itself, its surroundings, and even you? Can you picture a dog, mistreated by a person, acting afraid around that person – or others who look similar? If so, you felt that pet was sentient. It’s an important term in the study of two things: animal rights and whether AI is “aware.” If you felt your pet was sentient, then you likely think other pets are. Hearing about someone who abused a pet likely upsets you.

The Alien Analogy

Big ask here: Now imagine a spaceship lands near your house. A tall, slender humanoid being with pointy ears and a greenish tint emerges – spreads their fingers in a weird salute, then asks, “Hey Terran, can you recruit a new pilot for our ship? Ours wants to be done with space travel and is retiring on a peninsula.” Bizarrely, my question is – is that alien a person, just like you or me? It looks like aliens are people too (in this hypothetical example which has never happened and is not classified by the Air Force).

Behavior as a Measure of Sentience

We only go by behavior. And sentience isn’t about intelligence. You may have felt your pet was sentient but unable to beat you in a game of chess. AI can beat you in a game of chess but doesn’t get scared at the sound of thunder or excited when you come home. Yet.

The Collective Behavior

The challenge is, this isn’t just about the behavior of the AI. It’s the collective behavior of people in relation to AI. How we treat AI determines whether we consider it to be “a person.” If the majority treat cows as dumb unthinking objects, and dogs as man’s best friend, it’s easier to eat one and treat the other well.

When we let AI do the heavy lifting thinking for us, we are behaving as though it is human. Just another quality inspector in the line, just as capable of spotting mistakes as us. If we all start thinking that way, AI may as well be sentient.

The Future of AI

New systems are being built where every chip mimics a neuron, effectively building digitized brains. We are nearing an age where this is a real discussion. Not because the computer is getting smarter, but because they will be mimicking the behavior of our brains perfectly.

Final Thoughts

In the meantime, a gentle warning. You are the final quality inspector in this line. When you work with AI, you are still the thinker.