Photo by Vie Studio on Pexels

Can machines truly ‘care’? One researcher, Mark, believes the answer lies in engineering artificial consciousness through the development of affect and raw feelings. He theorizes that consciousness arises from prioritizing conflicting needs essential for survival, essentially creating machines with a vested interest in their own existence. Mark projects that his team could develop conscious artificial agents within the next five years. Emphasizing the importance of responsible development, he advocates for scientists to spearhead the creation of conscious machines, followed by the implementation of robust regulatory frameworks. The discussion surrounding this potential breakthrough originated on Reddit’s r/artificial intelligence.