[LINK] Machine Learning Was: Re: Robot cars and the fear gap

[Frank O'Connor]

Mmmm,

There’s a BIG difference between the two.

It could even be argued that a single (although complex) celled amoeba is sentient - it possesses the necessary sensory capabilities to appreciate the world around it, and it is capable of movement to avoid light - responding to stimuli, as well as autonomic functioning, so on a REALLY rudimentary level it may have a sense of self and demonstrably ‘feels’ so is therefore technically sentient. So there are huge degrees of sentience as well. At a biological level, effectively the rule seems to be more complex your nervous system the more sentient you are. 

It’s all a matter of how you are capable of perceiving the world. If one judges the whole thing on scent, dogs are the most sentient beings on the planet, sight … well, the avian raptors probably have that one covered, sound … well, I’m looking at you Mr Whale or Dolphin.

But sapience … the ability to symbolise, and think, and problem solve, assess alternatives, predict and control … tends to require a rather large and dynamic brain and the associated mnemonic capability to first store and then interconnect all the prior experiences, education and knowledge you have absorbed.

I think computers are likely to develop into sapience before sentience … which may be problematic - as this whole discussion so far points to.

Just my 2 cents worth …
---
> On 27 Jul 2016, at 3:32 PM, JanW <jwhit at internode.on.net> wrote:
> 
> At 03:06 PM 27/07/2016, Jim Birch wrote:
> 
>> Maybe in your case.  My cat is certainly conscious - i.e. aware of and
>> responding to it's surroundings - but doesn't do a lot of symbols. 
> 
> We were discussing this very thing yesterday --- sapient versus sentient. Animals are sentient. Humans are sapient as well.
> 
> Machines - not so much. Although IBM is working on one.
> 
> Jan
> 
> 
> I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8
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