A Collective Intelligence Research Platform for Cultivating Benevolent

A Collective Intelligence Research Platform for Cultivating Benevolent “Seed” Artificial Intelligences Mark R. Waser Digital Wisdom Group Richmond AI & Blockchain Mark. Waser@RABC. Solutions

2 Agenda Consciousness What is it? What is the minimal definition for our purposes? How to measure it Conscious AI What we want (and don’t want) How to create it

Where to Start? Do I Invite *You* to Consider an autopoietic system Greek, αὐτo- (auto-), meaning "self“ & ποίησις (poiesis), meaning "creation" “A STRANGE LOOP” 3 SEL F MORALITY suppress or regulate selfishness and make cooperative social life possible grow community by developing *others*

4 Inflammatory Statements I feel like the king’s fool – tasked, upon pain of death, to explain the coherent elephant of self, consciousness and morality to blind men The good news is that these are all relatively simple, universal concepts at heart Admittedly tremendously context-dependent in content though The bad news is that the blind men incorrectly assume themselves to be experts in consciousness and morality Worse, evolution has programmed the blind men to blindly disagree with any novel views on consciousness and morality (for efficiency & to prevent gaming) I feel, I am small and afraid

5 Disclaimers (Mercier & Sperber) I am not dogmatic about any of these points. I do have a goal/agenda. I want to make progress. These facts drive my definitions, my methods and my assertions – but I do try to stay within the envelope of consensus. My answers are explicitly meant to be one of potentially many – a possible scenario that I would like to share with you. My answers are NOT the only possible answers but I will be calling out some bad answers & leaky abstractions that are blocking progress. This presentation was overhauled last night. Any richness and diversity is yours. My goal is to explicate how consciousness, self and morality combine to create one integral self-reinforcing whole (an attractor in state space) but too little time. I am claiming that what I’ll present is the capstone of a solid extant defined arch I am small and fallible (and biased), but I believe that *together*. .

6 Consciousness is EXPENSIVE Conscious actions are much slower than automatic actions Conscious actions are much more error-prone and imprecise Consciousness must have a function/purpose Consciousness is necessary for “Rational Anomaly Handling” Consciousness is necessary for learning RAH & learning == “automated intelligence acquisition” Temporarily being a “p-zombie” is possible/common but. . . always being a p-zombie is “evolutionarily inadvisable”

we think What it *D OES* vs What it *I ^ ^ S* Functional Description (IIT) How well does it perform a specific task/operation? Is *IT* even there or does something else do its job? Property and/or Content Description (GWT) How closely does it resemble the archetype of its class? Its methods are as important as its function AST is Orthogonal 7

8 Types of Consciousness Functional Consciousness First-Person Consciousness Functional Phenomenal Epiphenomenal Interrupt Consciousness (vs Access Consciousness) Self-Awareness Intentional Self-Transformation

9 Morality Moral systems are interlocking sets of values, virtues, norms, practices, identities, institutions, technologies, and evolved psychological mechanisms that work together to suppress or regulate selfishness and make cooperative social life possible

10 Political Moralities (World “Truths”) Conservative Liberal Libertarian People are flawed &selfish inherently good farseeing and mature Morality is in-group & rule of law care for others freedom Gov’t should be small & controlling large & helpful minimum necessary Concerned with short-term medium term ultimate state selfish foolish utopian ==> foolish deontological consequentialism axiology amygdala anterior cingulate ? ? ? Vision of AI Others see them as Philosophy is Amygdala or ACC

INSTRUMENTAL GOALS AND THE EIGHT DEADLY SINS survival/reproduction happiness/pleasure murder (& abortion? ) cruelty/sadism ------------------------------------------------- selfishness Community (ETHICS) ostracism, banishment & slavery (wrath, envy) ---------------------------------------------------- acedia (sloth/despair) self-improvement slavery insanity rationality/integrity manipulation wire-heading (lust) reduce/prevent fraud/counterfeit utility lying/fraud (swear falsely/false witness) wastefulness (gluttony, sloth) efficiency (in resource acquisition & use) theft (greed, adultery, coveting) suicide (& abortion? ) masochism (pride, vanity) ------------------------- 11

CAPABILITIES APPROACH (AND QUESTIONS OF JUSTICE) • If a country’s Gross Domestic Product increases each year, but so does the percentage of its people deprived of basic education, health care, & other opportunities, is that country really making progress? • If we rely on conventional economic indicators, can we ever grasp how the world’s billions of individuals are really managing? • Have our dominant theories of development given us policies that ignore our most basic human needs for dignity and self-respect? • Are there any better questions than: What is each person actually able to do/to be? What real opportunities are available to them? 12

13 Qualia & Phenomenal Consciousness Your entire visual field is an illusion Appears static & in focus while your fovea saccades Horribly change blind Your relative times of perception are an illusion You are prone to false senses of authorship because you can’t directly sense agency You can’t correctly perceive/retrieve your reasons related to morally-fraught actions Does pain really “hurt” or does it grab attention and prevent thought/action (which is more important)? “Strange deficits of consciousness” a la Oliver Sachs are generally perceptual

Consciousness and free will are illusions: you are just a robot If consciousness is an illusion, who is being fooled?

15 Phenomenal consciousness is an illusion PHENOMENAL CONSCIOUSNESS ILLUSION = a trick of perception == something that most people would accept can happen to a machine (and clearly happens to humans) “INCORRECT ” EXPERIENCE

16 Do we see reality as it is?

If Materialism is True. . the United States is Probably Conscious 17 Eric Schwitzgebel

18 If the United States is Conscious. . 1. It is a tremendously inefficient consciousness 2. Anomaly-handling and learning really aren’t done at the national level 3. Though, it is efficient in that its focus/attention can be divided Other consciousnesses aren’t merely embedded but necessary Where is there evidence of a unitary phenomenological “sensation” of “self” It seems as if all sensations (like patriotism) are “felt”/experienced at the individual level SELF ^ There is absolutely no sign of any “UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS”

19 If I Am Conscious. . 1. It is a tremendously inefficient consciousness 2. Anomaly-handling and learning 3. Can the national consciousness *really* be divided? My “society of mind” isn’t merely embedded but necessary Where is there evidence of a unitary phenomenological “sensation” of “self” How are my declarations any different from “national pride” or “national sorrow”? There are only *disputed* reports/narratives of “UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS” I am only a self-referential process running on my brain cells *Why* isn’t a government running on humans conscious?

20 Designing Consciousness The United States behaves “as if” it is conscious We behave “as if” we are conscious We *believe* that we are conscious Without any real consensus definition of what that is Is that belief the only true difference that “makes” us conscious? What happens when we realize that the United States *is* actually conscious? What if we design an entity to believe that it is conscious?

21 Intelligence vs Consciousness Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Can be a tool or an entity Frame problem & “no free lunch” theorem The Ultimate is AIXI STATIC & unbounded in time/storage Goals (& benevolence) are orthogonal Doesn’t innately “care” about anything, derived intentionality Artificial Conscious Entity (ACE) An autopoietic entity, a “strange loop”, an identity The ultimate is some sort of self-improving sentient sapience It *cares* about itself, it is truly intentional

22 Measurable Functions of Consciousness Not Just Homeostasis but Purposeful Self-Modification to fulfill its identity, Preparation & Uncertainty Avoidance

“CLASSIC AGI” Decisions Goal(s) are the purpose(s) of existence Values are defined solely by what furthers the goal(s) Values Goal(s) Decisions are made solely according to what furthers the goal(s) BUT goals can easily be over- 23

24 Decisions Values define who you are, for your life Goals you set for short or long periods of time Goals Values (Identity) Decisions you make every day of your life Entities don’t have singular

25 Agenda Consciousness What is it? What is the minimal definition for our purposes? How to measure it Conscious AI What we want (and don’t want) How to create it

PLUTCHIK’S PSYCHO-EVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF EMOTIONS 26

The Digital Wisdom Institute is a non-profit think tank focused on the promise and challenges of ethics, artificial intelligence & advanced computing solutions. We believe that the development of ethics and artificial intelligence and equal co-existence with ethical machines is humanity's best hope https: //wisdom. digital 27