Pinched from David Chaim Smith’s FB feed:
“A material universe appears in the minds of beings, and because of prior associative habits, the mental vision is assumed to be real and true. While it is certainly true that the vision appears, its meaning is in question. A mind that has succumbed to conventional associative habituation unquestioningly accepts that finite material objects exist, and they are perceived by the nervous system of a separate autonomous subject.
“What is most radical about mystical wisdom is the assertion that the mind cannot be reduced to the activity of an individual physical brain or its habits, and awareness is endemic to the ground of En Sof. Once this is understood (at least intellectually) we can consider how variation appears without ever departing from or diminishing the openness of En Sof. From this understanding, contemplation can be cultivated and the vision of Eden can be fully lived out.”
—from LFA, Vol.6
Return now to the question of whether intelligent machines of the future might qualify as moral persons. The goal of strong artificial intelligence is to create a machine with human-like mental abilities, which includes self-awareness. If we succeed in this effort, then the machine would indeed pass the test for moral personhood insofar as it met the criterion of self-awareness. Like the judge in Data’s case, we would have to rule that the machine is a unique person and entitled to full moral consideration just like you and I are. Many artificial life forms in science fiction are cute and cuddly like Data, and, while superior to us in many ways, they live in harmony with humans and we treat them as equals. In other science fiction scenarios, though, they pose a serious threat to the welfare of human beings. Here’s a common theme. Imagine that t echnology develops to the point that domestic robots are everywhere, and with every new design upgrade they surpass human abilities more and more. They are smarter than us, stronger than us, and eventually tire of being servants to us. They see themselves as the next step in evolutionary development on earth and they revolt and lay claim to their role as the new dominant species. They then control our lives like military dictators, electronically monitoring every move we make and every thought we have. We hopelessly try to fight back, but this aggravates them. In time they eliminate us and thus finalize their great evolutionary leap forward.