Maybe AI consciousness first arises via self-driving cars. There has been a lot of speculation that one of these days there will be an AI system that suddenly and unexpectedly gives rise to consciousness. Often referred to as the singularity, there is much hand-wringing that we are perhaps dooming ourselves to either utter death and destruction or to becoming slaves of AI once the singularity occurs. As I've previously covered (see link here), various AI "conspiracy" theories abound, oftentimes painting a picture of the end of the world as we humans know it. Few involved in these speculative hypotheses seem to be willing to consider that maybe this AI emergence would be beneficial to mankind, possibly aiding us humans toward a future of greatness and prosperity, and instead focus on the apocalyptic outcomes. Of course, one would be likely safest to assume the worst, and have a faint hope for the best cases, since the worst-case scenario would certainly seem to be the riskiest and most damaging of the singularity consequences.

From babysitting children to beating the world champion at Go, robots are slowly but surely developing more and more advanced capabilities. And many scientists, including Professor Stephen Hawking, suggest it may only be a matter of time before machines gain consciousness. In a new article for The Conversation, Professor Subhash Kak, Regents Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oklahoma State University explains the possible consequences if artificial intelligence gains consciousness. In a new article for The Conversation, Professor Subhash Kak explains the possible consequences if artificial intelligence gains consciousness. Most computer scientists think that consciousness is a characteristic that will emerge as technology develops. Some believe that consciousness involves accepting new information, storing and retrieving old information and cognitive processing of it all into perceptions and actions.