ChatGPT Passed the Turing test, but… | A Conversation with Brian Keating
In this episode of The Poetry of Reality, Richard Dawkins joins Brian Keating for an insightful conversation touching on evolution, genetics, science, and culture. They explore Richard's latest book, The Genetic Book of the Dead along with a wide array of topics including AI, the extended phenotype, evolution, the possibility of alien life followed by audience questions. This episode was filmed as part of Richard Dawkins' tour.
Brian Keating is an American cosmologist, professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and a bestselling author. He is renowned for his research on the early universe, cosmic microwave background radiation, and inflationary cosmology.
Great interview there and super engaging.
If we agree that our consciousness emerged through natural selection then if AI achieves consciousness could that not be considered as Richard argues a feature of an extended phenotype?
Here’s ChatGTP’s answer to the same question:
Yes, under a generous and philosophically expansive reading of Dawkins’ extended phenotype, a conscious AI created by humans could arguably be considered part of that extended phenotype — particularly as an expression of our cognitive design capacities evolved through natural selection. But this interpretation would push the boundaries of the original biological concept into a more speculative and philosophical realm.
I hope this doesn’t sound too cynical but money then must also be considered an extended phenotype as it seems to be a contributing factor in the AI arms race.
Dennett already answered this question: "they are not conscious in any interesting way". But I'll check out the video!