How to Navigate Uncertainty About AI Consciousness

如何应对关于人工智能意识的不确定性

Abstract: Given deep uncertainty about the possibility of artificial consciousness, it is unclear how we should treat potentially sentient AI. On the one hand, we could assume insentience but risk doing terrible harms to entities that deserve moral standing. On the other hand, we could assume sentience and instead risk wasting resources on insentient machines. 摘要： 鉴于人工智能是否具备意识存在极大的不确定性，我们目前尚不清楚该如何对待可能具有感知能力的人工智能。一方面，如果我们假设它们没有意识，可能会对那些理应获得道德地位的实体造成严重的伤害；另一方面，如果我们假设它们具有意识，则可能面临在无意识机器上浪费资源的风险。

The intractability of questions around AI consciousness mean that this dilemma is hard to escape. I suggest a way out of that shifts from intractable questions of AI consciousness to tractable questions of AI valence. 关于人工智能意识问题的复杂性使得这一困境难以摆脱。我提出了一种解决方案，即从难以解决的人工智能意识问题，转向可解决的人工智能“效价”（valence）问题。

Specifically, we can assess whether an AI has states that would constitute valenced experiences if it were conscious. I show how this is sufficient to ground a responsible approach to the development of potentially conscious AI. 具体而言，我们可以评估人工智能是否具备某种状态——如果它确实拥有意识，这些状态将构成具有效价的体验。我论证了这种方法足以作为负责任地开发潜在意识人工智能的基础。