AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Philosophy For Our Times
The consciousness test | Yoshua Bengio, Sabine Hossenfelder, Nick Lane, and Hilary Lawson
Mar 4, 2025
Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award-winning AI expert, shares insights alongside philosopher Hilary Lawson, physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, and evolutionary biochemist Nick Lane. They tackle the intriguing question of machine consciousness. The conversation critiques the Turing test and explores the complexities of replicating human thought in AI. They delve into the evolutionary significance of consciousness, the limitations of materialist views, and the moral implications of potentially conscious machines, ultimately questioning what it means to truly understand consciousness.
50:19
Episode guests
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Determining AI consciousness requires examining cognitive processes rather than relying solely on behavioral outputs like the Turing test.
- The ethical implications of potential AI consciousness highlight the need for careful consideration of moral rights and societal impacts.
Deep dives
Understanding Consciousness in AI
Determining whether artificial intelligence possesses consciousness requires examining the inner workings of the system, as mere behavioral outputs are insufficient. Critics argue that the Turing test, which suggests that if a machine can imitate human responses, it is thinking, lacks validity since it does not account for true understanding or intent. Instead, proponents of consciousness suggest that machines might achieve a form of consciousness through complex computations and internal states analogous to human experiences. This perspective emphasizes the need for a deeper exploration of the cognitive processes within AI systems, rather than merely assessing their ability to produce human-like outputs.
Get the Snipd
podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any
moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share
& Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode