Roman Yampolskiy

In this episode I talk to Roman Yampolskiy. Roman is a Tenured Associate Professor in the department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville. He is the founding and current director of the Cyber Security Lab and an author of many books and papers on AI security and ethics, including Artificial Superintelligence: a Futuristic Approach. We talk about how you might test for machine consciousness and the first steps towards a science of AI welfare.

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Show Notes

0:00 – Introduction
2:30 – Artificial minds versus Artificial Intelligence
6:35 – Why talk about machine consciousness now when it seems far-fetched?
8:55 – What is phenomenal consciousness?
11:04 – Illusions as an insight into phenomenal consciousness
18:22 – How to create an illusion-based test for machine consciousness
23:58 – Challenges with operationalising the test
31:42 – Does AI already have a minimal form of consciousness?
34:08 – Objections to the proposed test and next steps
37:12 – Towards a science of AI welfare
40:30 – How do we currently test for animal and human welfare
44:10 – Dealing with the problem of deception
47:00 – How could we test for welfare in AI?
52:39 – If an AI can suffer, do we have a duty not to create it?
56:48 – Do people take these ideas seriously in computer science?
58:08 – What next?

Relevant Links

Roman’s homepage
‘Detecting Qualia in Natural and Artificial Agents‘ by Roman
‘Towards AI Welfare Science and Policies‘ by Soenke Ziesche and Roman Yampolskiy
The Hard Problem of Consciousness
25 famous optical illusions
Could AI get depressed and have hallucinations?

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Audiobook) Mark Manson

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