The Philosophy of Mind (PHIL20033)

The world has fundamentally changed with the rise of generative AI. In the last few years, powerful large language models (LLMs) have shown themselves capable of doing things that we had previously assumed only human beings could do: use language fluently, create compelling images, and even write music. So impressive are these systems that some AI engineers have proclaimed them to be conscious. A fierce debate has erupted in the public sphere about what it would take for consciousness to emerge within a machine, and whether this is in fact what has happened.

In this way, the advent of generative AI raises with increasing urgency some ancient philosophical questions about the nature of the mind. Are human beings really just sophisticated physical machines with conscious minds? If so, could an LLM (which is after all just another kind of sophisticated physical machine) have a conscious mind? If not, why not? Given that having a mind endows us with all sorts of mental capacities – we can dream, feel, imagine, know right from wrong – is it reasonable to think that an AI could do all these things, too? Is it possible for our minds to outlive our bodies? Might future technology make death optional – and if it could, would this be a good thing? And what effects are today’s technologies having on our minds right now?

These are the questions that this subject will explore. Together, we’ll investigate the nature of the mind, and of our own mental capacities, through the lens of cutting-edge developments in artificial intelligence.