Abstract:
To optimise research efforts concerning conscious AI and anthropomorphism, the importance and distinction between perceptions of machine consciousness and real artificial consciousness should be advanced. The discourse surrounding the creation and perception of artificial consciousness is expanding beyond merely philosophical inquiry. Various fields of research are taking seriously the practical, ethical, and existential issues surrounding seemingly human-like AI. Discussions of artificial consciousness have mostly been philosophical, due to the general lack of understanding of consciousness and the lack of real-world systems that could display signs of consciousness. However, since rapid improvements to the human-like capabilities of AI, increasing signs of consciousness in future systems are expected. Particularly since the ChatGPT spectacle, the insurgence of such human-like AI presents an imperative to address the consequences of implementing these systems. The purpose of this article is to outline the two distinct research directions concerned with what I term the Conscious AI Predicament. These directions are distinguished by whether they focus on understanding perceptions of consciousness or real artificial consciousness. Each focus has distinct and important practical, ethical, and existential consequences. This work expands recent discussion from Seth (2024), providing a preliminary map of the Conscious AI Predicament and evaluation of its two research directions and consequences.