Can artificial intelligence develop consciousness?

In our daily use of smartphones and the internet, we increasingly encounter artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of “generative AI”, such as in conversations with chatbots like ChatGPT or through the creation of multimedia content with a constantly growing number of technical tools.

Opportunities and risks of AI

These technical tools are becoming ever easier to use and can now produce deceptively real “deepfakes” – images, videos or audio with manipulated content of real people and objects in real environments. More and more traditional applications such as online shopping or music streaming are also being controlled by AI algorithms in the background. In online customer service, for example, people almost always communicate with a chatbot in the first instance.

The range of possible scenarios about the future of AI could hardly be greater: On the one hand, some are convinced that AI could mean the end of human civilization (e.g. Noah Harari's “AI and the Future of Humanity”). On the other hand, there is hope that AI systems are constantly improving and will eventually master all previously unsolvable problems (e.g. Vinod Khsola in his “Global Race in AI”).

These visions of the future of AI go hand in hand with the rapidly increasing capabilities of such AI systems, right up to the increasingly discussed emergence of “artificial general intelligence” (AGI). At such a stage of development, AI could display human-like cognitive abilities and develop creativity and awareness, according to the opinion.

But is the creation of a truly creative, thinking artificial intelligence even possible in principle? Technically speaking, we are still at the very beginning of the AI age. The Large Language Models behind the big chatbots such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude are not yet capable of constantly acquiring new, up-to-date knowledge. At their core, these "Foundation Models" are merely based on a sophisticated prediction of which word is most likely to follow a previous word in a given context. They are based on firmly trained fundamentals that require huge amounts of data and energy for initial training and can then be adapted to specific knowledge domains or tasks through “fine-tuning”. This means that AI systems are currently still far behind the capabilities of a human brain.

But what might that look like in the future? With the rapid development of increasingly powerful chips, many things are conceivable. What could an AI-controlled robot achieve that could process both acoustic and visual information in real time and would also be able to move and interact with its environment? In view of the technical implementations that already exist, this thought can make you feel a little queasy.

Let's now look at the topic of "conscious intelligence" from a different perspective.

How does consciousness arise?

This raises an age-old question that has been addressed by many generations of philosophers and scientists: What is human consciousness, or how does it actually come about? Without claiming to be able to even begin to explain these big questions, there seems to be a certain degree of agreement on at least one point: It has something to do with the brain. Artificial intelligence could be seen as a kind of highly simplified artificial brain, as in both cases there are networks between organic or artificial neurons. Now we can ask ourselves what would happen if such a network were to become ever larger and the interconnectedness ever more dense. Would this eventually give rise to consciousness? Does consciousness arise spontaneously as a consequence of the complexity of a neuronal network?

At least, according to Baha'i doctrines, human consciousness seems to come from another level:

The foremost degree of comprehension in the world of nature is that of the rational soul. This power and comprehension is shared in common by all men (...). In the creation of God, the rational soul of man encompasses and is distinguished above all other created things: It is by virtue of its nobility and distinction that it encompasses them all. Through the power of the rational soul, man can discover the realities of things, comprehend their properties, and penetrate the mysteries of existence. All the sciences, branches of learning, arts, inventions, institutions, undertakings, and discoveries have resulted from the comprehension of the rational soul. These were once impenetrable secrets, hidden mysteries, and unknown realities, and the rational soul gradually discovered them and brought them out of the invisible plane into the realm of the visible. This is the greatest power of comprehension in the world of nature, and the uttermost limit of its flight is to comprehend the realities, signs, and properties of contingent things.

Abdu'l Baha, Answered Questions

The secret of the human soul

As in many religious writings, the concept of the "soul" comes into play here. We thus expand the classic-scientific view of a person's abilities by an additional dimension. From a religious point of view, the emergence of consciousness and reason is attributable to the work of the "rational soul" of man and not to the result of a system of networked neurons.

The soul of a person is not within his body, but exists outside of space and time. Nevertheless, it is mysteriously connected to the body:

The rational soul, or the human spirit, does not subsist through this body by inherence—that is to say, it does not enter it; for inherence and entrance are characteristics of bodies, and the rational soul is sanctified above this. It never entered this body to begin with, that it should require, upon leaving it, some other abode. No, the connection of the spirit with the body is even as the connection of this lamp with a mirror. If the mirror is polished and perfected, the light of the lamp appears therein, and if the mirror is broken or covered with dust, the light remains concealed.

Abdu'l Baha, Answered Questions

In this view, the human brain acts like a mirror in relation to the “light” that emanates from the rational soul described here and thereby makes human thought possible in the first place. This gives us a clear distinguishing feature compared to artificial intelligence - and incidentally also a very nice illustration of the immortality of the soul: something that does not exist “in” matter does not have to pass away with it.

Amazing achievements in the animal world

So if human and artificial intelligence are not on the same level in terms of consciousness and reason, what about the intelligence and abilities of animals? Animals "function" very similar to humans in terms of their sensory perception, information processing and resulting emotional reactions. However, according to the Baha'i scripts, the animal does not seem to have a capacity to act consciously comparable to humans:

The world of nature is the kingdom of the animal. In its natural condition and plane of limitation the animal is perfect (...). They are without education or training; they have no power of abstract reasoning and intellectual ideals (...). The animal can neither recognize nor apprehend the spiritual power of man and makes no distinction between man and itself, for the reason that its susceptibilities are limited to the plane of the senses. It lives under the bondage of nature and nature’s laws.

Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace

On the other hand, some animals with their sensory and memory performance are surprisingly far superior to humans:

If we were to claim that all these effects proceed from the powers of the animal nature and the physical senses, then we see plainly and clearly that, with regard to these powers, the animals are superior to man. For example, the sight of animals is much keener than that of man, their hearing is more acute, and likewise with their powers of smell and taste. Briefly, in the powers which man and animal share in common, the animal often has the advantage. Take the power of memory: If you carry a pigeon from here to a faraway country, and there set it free, it will remember the way and return home. Take a dog from here to the heart of Asia, set it free, and it will return home without ever losing its way. And so is it with the other powers, such as hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. It is clear then that if man did not possess a power beyond the animal powers, the animal would perforce surpass man in significant discoveries and in the comprehension of realities. It follows from this argument that man is endowed with a gift, and possesses a perfection, which is not present in the animal.

Abdu'l Baha, Answered Questions

Already in the world of animal organisms, nature has created incredible masterpieces in the smallest space and with minimal energy expenditure, the research of which will certainly yield many more insights in relation to sensory, motor skills and signal processing. Perhaps at some point we will also be able to construct artificial neural networks with organic materials in order to achieve even greater progress than with the current silicon-based chips? In-depth research in this area will certainly provide many exciting breakthroughs, quite independently of a connection with a human consciousness.

Conclusion

Personally, this view of the foundations of intelligence, reason and consciousness certainly gives me a certain sense of relief! The creation of a conscious, creatively thinking and super-powerful being, which could effectively swallow us up in the form of a technological singularity is therefore in principle out of reach. Nevertheless, it would be foolhardy to underestimate the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Even without possessing consciousness or genuine creative abilities, AI systems can perform a wide range of tasks to the benefit or detriment of humanity thanks to their extensive training. As with all great inventions, the decision on the sensible and responsible use of artificial intelligence lies with us humans ourselves.

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Markus Mediger lives in Nuremberg, studied physics at RWTH Aachen and is professionally active in the technology sector.

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