The Plant Consciousness Wars

[Laird]

My question was partly motivated by the scepticism in some quarters about whether artificial intelligence could be conscious. In a sense the AI sceptics are arguing against inferring consciousness from behaviour, even if it mimics human behaviour very closely.

I think the two situations are distinct though.

Plants are living beings whose existence is part of the natural world, just as we are, and so it is reasonable to expect that similarities in behaviour between plants and us are due to similarities in essential nature, including (the potential for a) sentient nature.

Artificial intelligence on the other hand can be reduced to calculation in electronic hardware, and we have no reason to expect that calculation in electronic hardware alone can be associated with consciousness, and in particular with the sort of sensations (of pleasure and suffering) which most qualify a being for ethical consideration. It remains an open question as to whether or not it can.