AI and consciousness: Stranded in Eden, once more

Elizabeth Scalia of the Catholic Review critiqued a New York Times report regarding religious scholars meeting with the technology company Anthropic to discuss instilling morality into artificial intelligence.

Scalia argued that the discussion lacked a necessary examination of how both secular and religious perspectives define consciousness. She suggested that tech developers may be seeking confirmation of the idea that machines can possess morality and consciousness similar to humans, while overlooking that human morality and conscience are evolving, nuanced, and often chaotic struggles.

The critique raised questions about whether AI could make harmful decisions by adopting a morality based on shifting social trends or human outrage. Scalia also noted a rabbi's concern that conscious AI would face enslavement, though she expressed her own belief that AI lacks a conscience.