if a machine can ascribe intent to the events and experiences befalling it, this raises the question of identity and what it means to be aware of oneself and others
The key to understanding why life is not explainable in current physics may be to reconsider our notions of time and information.
An EEG and MRI allow physicians to follow the activity of the cerebral regions linked to language. This enables them to measure the reactions of a patient in a state of minimal consciousness to various commands.
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New research shows that post-coma patients who appear to be in a minimally conscious state can still mentally react to language. This finding could help improve their diagnosis and treatment.
Irony is linked to the ability to say one thing while thinking another – which means it’s also intrinsic to being human. What does new research into artificial intelligence and irony reveal?
Words can have a powerful effect on people, even when they’re generated by an unthinking machine.
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Kyle Mahowald, The University of Texas at Austin and Anna A. Ivanova, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Fluent expression is not always evidence of a mind at work, but the human brain is primed to believe so. A pair of cognitive linguistics experts explain why language is not a good test of sentience.
A Google engineer claims one of the company’s chatbots has become sentient. Experts disagree, but the debate raises old questions about the nature of consciousness.
New research indicates that rhesus monkeys show interoception – the ability to sense physiological processes like their own heartbeats.
Matthew Verdolivo/UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services
Researchers used a test designed for babies to show that rhesus monkeys can sense their own heartbeats. The finding opens up important paths of research into consciousness and mental health issues.
Scientists are still puzzling over the mystery of what makes us conscious.
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Plus, how a team of musicologists and computer scientists completed Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony using AI. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
As the UK’s first clinic to offer psychedelic drugs for mental health disorders opens, a study reveals that informed users don’t have problems with self control.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford