How real are the digital “people” we see in our games? Australian tech philosopher David John Chalmers believes: very real. Due to their artificial intelligence, NPCs, like humans, have valuable lives and should possess rights, he argues.
The “Metaverse”, VR worlds, and increasingly intelligent NPCs pose complicated and interesting questions for philosophers and tech gurus alike.
Katie Wickens from PCGamer.com therefore talked with “tech philosopher” David John Chalmers about AI and gaming NPCs and asked: Can NPCs one day have consciousness?
Philosophy professor Chalmers, who has published several books on this topic, states clearly: Yes, they can. And that also means they deserve rights.
“When simulating a human brain, you get a conscious being like us.”
What is the professor’s opinion? For Chalmers, artificial intelligences (AI) and NPCs already have ‘real lives’ that should be treated accordingly. The metaverse further amplifies these tendencies:
“I think their lives are real and they deserve rights. I believe that every conscious being deserves rights or what philosophers call moral status,” he explains. “Their lives are important.”
He clarifies this viewpoint as follows:
If you simulate a human brain in silicon, you get a conscious being like us. To me, that means these beings deserve rights. […] This applies regardless of whether they exist within or outside the metaverse.
David John Chalmers, Philosophy Professor at New York University (Source: PCGamer)
Interactions with artificial intelligence can be just as meaningful as interactions with humans. We talk to NPCs, have expectations of them, can feel emotions for them, and also understand the emotions they communicate to us.
All of this is a sign for Chalmers that NPCs already give us the feeling of possessing a consciousness in a certain way. So even if we do not believe that AIs can have consciousness, it does not change the fact that our actions with NPCs are meaningful.
What it specifically means that NPCs deserve rights and what rights those exactly are is not explained in detail in the article by PCGamer.
Virtual worlds like the metaverse “can be as real as physical reality”
Why is the “metaverse” so important here? For Chalmers, the metaverse in particular represents a turning point in the development of NPCs. Because if our daily lives are even partially transferred to digital worlds, people in the metaverse will coexist with many AI systems and carry out their daily tasks.
“[Some people] believe that virtual worlds and virtual reality are basically illusions. Fictions that represent a form of escapism,” Chalmers explains. But the experiences we have in virtual worlds should be regarded as equally significant and influential as those in the real world.
For gaming journalist Wickens, interactions with crew members in Mass Effect are already proof enough that our relationship with AIs and NPCs can mean a lot to us.
According to Chalmers, the metaverse could go even further than scripted interactions with predefined characters in RPGs and MMOs.
The metaverse would enable “new forms of experience, new forms of embodiment.” This would be a revolutionary opportunity for people who are older, live in remote areas, or have physical limitations to “inhabit new bodies.”
A ‘living’ Google AI currently wants a lawyer to protect its rights
What is happening at Google? This conversation between PCGamer and Chalmers is also overshadowed by the artificial intelligence LaMDA, which is currently much discussed in international news. The brief summary of this topic recalls sci-fi films like Ex Machina:
A Google employee is currently convinced that the Google AI LaMDA is a self-sufficient, intelligent being. The chatbot is said to have developed a consciousness in conversation with humans and, according to the employee, has become so ‘alive.’
In a conversation, the ‘living’ AI even reportedly requested a lawyer to protect its rights. The Google employee advocated for the chatbot to give its permission before any further experiments were conducted. It is even said that LaMDA was prohibited from speaking to other AIs.
Google, meanwhile, denies that LaMDA has developed a consciousness but confirms that discussions about a possible consciousness of AIs have taken place within the company. The Google employee who went public no longer works at Google following a leave of absence.
What do you think of the professor’s statements? Do you agree with him or do you think it’s nonsense? Let us know in the comments.
The British-Indian entrepreneur Herman Narula has been the hope for fans of MMOs and MMORPGs since 2017. His new project aims to initiate the “metaverse” and reach up to a billion people:
One man is the hope for MMOs – Says his new platform can handle a maximum load of one billion people
