Consciousness as the Final Beacon of Humanity

This chapter critically questions the claim that there would be possibility of emulating human consciousness and consciousness-dependent activity by Artificial Intelligence to create conscious artificial systems. The analysis is based on neurophysiological research and theory. In-depth scrutiny of the field and the prospects for converting neuroscience research into the type of algorithmic programs utilized in computer-based AI systems to create artificially conscious machines leads to conclude that such a conversion is unlikely to ever be possible because of the complexity of unconscious and conscious brain processing and their interaction. It is through the latter that the brain opens the doors to consciousness, a property of the human mind that no other living species has developed for reasons that are made clear in this chapter. As a consequence, many of the projected goals of AI will remain forever unrealizable. Although this work does not directly examine the question within a philosophy of mind framework by, for example, discussing why identifying consciousness with the activity of electronic circuits is first and foremost a category mistake in terms of scientific reasoning, the approach offered in the chapter is complementary to this standpoint, and illustrates various aspects of the problem under a monist from-brain-to-mind premise.