Consciousness Beyond Evolving Technology (AI): The Advaita Insights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrjiks.2025.v2.n2.022Keywords:
AI, industrial revolution, AI literate, Machine consciousness, Human consciousness, Upanishadic Consciousness, bioethicsAbstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way we do things, how we relate to others, and what we know about ourselves. Many of our mental abilities can be duplicated by AI. The article examines whether there is anything that the human brain can accomplish that an AI will never be able to? This article in its introduction covers what AI is, who an AI literate, its history, the reasons to study, and its implications. It mainly focuses on the difference between human consciousness and AI consciousness by a way of relating it to the Advaitic concept of Consciousness. It also discusses a set of AI bioethics principles in the closing remarks. In conclusion, it affirms that an AI cannot replicate the human mind's capacity to generate subjective experiences and the consciousness that is the substratum of creation that Advaita posits. While Artificial Intelligence may be common, artificial consciousness cannot be the same as human consciousness. It is a mistake to have sufficient knowledge of consciousness to form an educated opinion on the potential of conscious AI.
References
Bellman, R. E. (1978). An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Can Computers Think? Boyd & Fraser Publishing Company, San Francisco.
Bengio, Yoshua and Eric Elmoznin. Science. 11 Sep 2025. Vol 389, Issue 6765 pp. 1090-1091. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn4935
Berger T. W. et al., “Restoring Lost Cognitive Function,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 30–44, Sep. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511498
Bickle, John (2003). Philosophy and Neuroscience. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2023-06-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0237-0
Birch, Jonathan (July 2024). "Large Language Models and the Gaming Problem". The Edge of Sentience. Oxford University Press. pp. 313–322. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/9780191966729.003.0017
Block, Ned (2010). "On a Confusion about a Function of Consciousness". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 18 (2): 227–247. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00038188
Block, Ned (1978). "Troubles for Functionalism". Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science: 261–325.
Buttazzo, G. (2001). "Artificial consciousness: Utopia or Real Possibility?". Computer. 34 (7): 24–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/2.933500
Charniak, E. and McDermott, D. (1985). Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Addison Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.
Chittka, L. and C. Wilson. “Expanding Consciousness,” American Science. 2019. Vol. 107. 364–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1511/2019.107.6.364
Chrisley, Ron (October 2008). "Philosophical Foundations of Artificial Consciousness". Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. 44 (2): 119–137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artmed.2008.07.011
Gosseries O. et al., “Assessing Consciousness in Coma and Related States Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Electroencephalography,” Annales Françaises d’Anesthésie et de Réanimation, Vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 65–71, Feb. 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annfar.2013.11.002
Graziano, Michael (2013). Consciousness and the Social Brain. Oxford University Press.
Haikonen, Pentti O. A. “On Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness” Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness. March 2020. 07(01):73-82 DOI:10.1142/S2705078520500046
Haugeland, J., editor (1985). Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hildt, Elisabeth. “Artificial Intelligence: Does Consciousness Matter?” Frontiers in Psychology. Vol. 10. July 2019. Article 1535. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01535
Johnson, Arthur T. IEEE Pulse: A Magazine of IEEE EMBS. March 19, 2024.
Kirk-Giannini, Cameron Domenico; Goldstein, Simon (2023-10-16). "AI is Closer than Ever to Passing the Turing Test for 'Intelligence'. What Happens When It Does?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
Kurzweil, R. (1990). The Age of Intelligent Machines. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Li, Deyi, Wen He, & Yike Guo. “Why AI Still Doesn’t Have Consciousness?” First published: 31 March 2021. https://doi.org/10.1049/cit2.12035 Open Access. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1049/cit2.12035
Loeb G. E. and R. Davoodi, “The Functional Reanimation of Paralyzed Limbs,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 45–51, Sep./Oct. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511499
Luger, G. F. and Stubblefield, W. A. (1993). Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving. Benjamin/Cummings, Redwood City, California, second edition.
McDermott, Drew. “Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness”. Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, and Evan Thompson (eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness (Chapter 6). Cambridge University Press, 2007. 117–150.
Meissner, Gunter. “Artificial Intelligence: Consciousness and Conscience”. Open Forum. Published: 25 February 2019. Volume 35. Pp.225–235, (2020). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-019-00880-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-019-00880-4
Montupil J. et al., “The Nature of Consciousness in Anaesthesia,” BJA Open, Vol. 26, No. 8, Sep. 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjao.2023.100224
Pentti O. A. Haikonen. “On Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness”. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness. Vol. 07, No. 01. 2020. 73-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/S2705078520500046
Putnam, Hilary (1967). “The Nature of Mental States.” Capitan and Merrill. (eds.) Art, Mind and Religion. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Rich, E. and Knight, K. (1991). Artificial Intelligence. McGrawHill, New York, second edition.
Rodger D. C. and Y.-C. Tai, “Microelectronic packaging for retinal prostheses,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 52–57, Sep./Oct. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511500
Schalkoff, R. I. (1990). Artificial Intelligence: An Engineering Approach. McGrawHill, New York.
Schneider S. (2019). Artificial You. Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton Univ. Press.
Schlagel, R. H. (1999). "Why not Artificial Consciousness or Thought?". Minds and Machines. 9 (1): 3–28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008374714117
Searle, J. R. (1980). "Minds, Brains, and Programs" (PDF). Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 3 (3): 417–457. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00005756
Stieglitz, T., M. Schuetter, and K. P. Koch, “Implantable Biomedical Microsystems for Neural Prostheses,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 58–65, Sep./Oct. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511501
Swade, D. D. (1993). “Redeeming Charles Babbage's mechanical computer.” Scientific American,268(2):8691. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0293-86
Véliz, Carissa (2016-04-14). "The Challenge of Determining Whether an A.I. Is Sentient" (https://slate.com/technology/2016/04/the-challenge-of-determining-whether-an-a-i-is-sentient.html)
Victor Argonov (2014). "Experimental Methods for Unraveling the Mind-body Problem: The Phenomenal Judgment Approach". Journal of Mind and Behavior. 35: 51–70.
Wah Ng, Gee and Wang Chi Leung. “Strong Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness”. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness. Vol. 07, No. 01, pp. 63-72 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/S2705078520300042
Weiland J. D. and M. S. Humayun, “A Biomimetic Retinal Stimulating Array,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 14–21, Sep. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511496
Winston, P. H. (1992). Artificial Intelligence. Addison Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, third edition.
Wise, K. D. “Silicon Microsystems for Neuroscience and Neural Prostheses,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 22–29, Sep./Oct. 2005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMB.2005.1511497
Web Sources:
https://www.google.com/search?q=articles+on+Artificial+Intelligence&gs_lcrp
