Discusses the scientific potential represented by intelligent machines and their social implications.

“Who am I?” is the ultimate ontological question, and we often refer to it as the issue of consciousness. When people speak of consciousness they often slip into considerations of behavioral and neurological correlates of consciousness (for example, whether or not an entity can be self‐reflective). But these are third‐person (objective) issues and do not represent what David Chalmers calls the “hard question” of consciousness. The question of whether or not an entity is conscious is apparent only to itself. The (...) difference between neurological correlates of consciousness (such as intelligent behavior) and the ontological reality of consciousness is the difference between objective and subjective reality. That is why we cannot propose an objective consciousness detector without philosophical assumptions built into it. (shrink)

Technology has always been a double‐edged sword, bringing us longer and healthier lifespans, freedom from physical and mental drudgery, and many new creative possibilities, on the one hand, while introducing new and salient dangers on the other. Technology empowers both our creative and destructive natures.