Scientists Endeavouring To Build Conscious Robots

News Desk

Columbia University Creative Machines Lab Incharge Hod Lipson is creating a machine that will have “consciousness on par with a human,” eclipsing “everything else we’ve done”.Lipson believes that conscious robots may even be able to cure cancer.

Lipson describes consciousness in his own words as the capacity to “imagine yourself in the future”.

One of the most contentious issues in artificial intelligence is consciousness, but aside from the technological challenge of accomplishing this aim, the concept of consciousness itself is philosophically vague and subjectively defined.

Scientists are working to link awareness to particular brain functions but their research always comes to an inconclusive conclusion.

Mechanical Engineer Hod has worked to build adaptable machines with generalised intelligence that can learn to evolve by machine-learned natural selection and respond to changing environments and errors or injuries within the mechanical body.

Machines won’t just learn and correct themselves; they will also be able to imagine how they can better evolve.

While humans anthropomorphise human traits onto non-humans, especially machines, researchers hope that robots will be able to adopt human traits and qualities, projecting humanity onto conscious machines.