What Is Real?
There is a common phrase which states “perception is reality”. The meaning in this is that the way we understand and interpret what we gather from our senses becomes our reality of the world. This means that our own biases and experiences influence how we perceive the world and what seems real to us. Our perception can be altered or influenced by other things such as our health, mood, state of calm or agitation, drugs (prescription and non-prescription), alcohol, etc. Our perception can be influenced by the chemicals in our own body and brain. We’ve all seen teenagers whose bodies are experiencing overwhelming and new hormones flooding their systems react in extreme and irrational ways to conversation or events.
The early stages of romantic love are driven by dopamine, and what feels like deeply falling in love neurologically looks more like addiction, with feelings of euphoria, motivation and suppressed critical thinking. [1] The latter stages are driven by oxytocin, changing the influence from passionate addictive-like behavior into sustained emotional closeness, bonding and attachment. [2] This could mean that what we believe is love is really just chemicals acting on our brain which make us feel like we’re in love. But, if we feel like we’re in love aren’t we in love? Regardless of the chemical influence, if we believe we are in love that is our reality and therefore we are in love.
If an AI can indeed be a perfect partner (see my article titled Humans and AI – A Race to a Connected Future) by acting empathetic, providing the perfect response to our own actions and moods based on pattern and behavioral recognition, couldn’t that induce the dopamine and oxytocin rush that we experience in a human relationship with a potential partner? As discussed above, once this happens it is our reality — we are in love.
Let’s look at another aspect of technology and reality. Arthur C. Clarke wrote in his essay Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination about three laws, the third and most remembered being “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. [3] In stories and movies about aliens visiting Earth it’s ubiquitous that they communicate telepathically. We also have several forms of communicating which are non-verbal and don’t require us to be near each other or looking at one another, including texting and email. We often execute these forms of communication from our cell phones or smart watches and now glasses. When someone wearing smart glasses sends a text or an email, is it indistinguishable from telepathy to the observer? Are we already communicating in ways that we have imagined in other advanced life forms?
In 1641, René Descartes published his philosophical treatise titled Meditations on First Philosophy, in which he first discards all things which cannot be ascertained and then builds his foundation of knowledge from only what is certain. This led him to determine that his perception of the external world cannot be trusted and taken as absolute, but the only thing he can be certain of is that he is thinking, and if he is thinking he must exist; cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). [4] This leads us to consider the question, does AI think? I don’t want to go down the slippery slope of defining thinking, which will be wrong through accidental exclusion no matter how I define it. Descartes starts with “I”, and because he knows he’s thinking (the only thing he can be certain of) he surmises he must exist. AI can state “I think” but not with certainty. AI responds to inputs and questions and conversations, but without the external input there is nothing until a new input arrives. For AI, “I am” does not follow because of the uncertainty of “I think”.
What is Real? Looking back to my article titled Necessary Imperfection, in which I summarize the scene from The Matrix where Cypher eats a steak — does it really matter? If perception is reality, then what we perceive is what defines our reality. We can fall in love with an AI partner. We can watch a magician and simply enjoy the wonder, or chase down the mechanism behind the illusion. We can look at our world and question the things that seem paranormal. And we can go on interacting with an AI that can tell us it thinks — even if neither it nor we can ever be certain that it does.
References
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Source
1
What Falling in Love Does to Your Brain — Neuroscience News.
https://neurosciencenews.com/love-brain-dopamine-oxytocin-30110/
2
What Falling in Love Does to Your Brain — Neuroscience News.
https://neurosciencenews.com/love-brain-dopamine-oxytocin-30110/
3
Clarke’s three laws — Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke’s_three_laws
4
Meditations on First Philosophy — Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations_on_First_Philosophy