The people who think AI might become conscious

The people who think AI might become conscious 11 hours ago Share Save Pallab Ghosh • @BBCPallab Science correspondent Share Save BBC Listen to this article. I step into the booth with some trepidation. I am about to be subjected to strobe lighting while music plays – as part of a research project trying to understand what makes us truly human. It's an experience that brings to mind the test in the science fiction film Bladerunner, designed to distinguish humans from artificially created beings posing as humans. Could I be a robot from the future and not know it? Would I pass the test? The researchers assure me that this is not actually what this experiment is about. The device that they call the "Dreamachine" is designed to study how the human brain generates our conscious experiences of the world. As the strobing begins, and even though my eyes are closed, I see swirling two-dimensional geometric patterns. It's like jumping into a kaleidoscope, with constantly shifting triangles, ... Read full article.