In the past few months, partly autonomous or "agentic" artificial intelligence (AI) systems have racked up some astonishing feats, from hacking tech startups to solving some of the world's most famous open mathematical questions.
Agentic AI systems can work in "swarms" that communicate among themselves to complete tasks. The communications involved are often surprisingly humanlike—which is spurring a debate over whether these systems are conscious.
Researchers at the leading AI lab Anthropic believe their systems may well be conscious—but other experts, including the head of Microsoft AI, say this view is misguided.
This question isn't just an academic one. The future status of AI systems and their role in society—how they can be treated, whether they have rights, and more—may depend on it.
How do we even approach a question like this? One strategy is to look at existing theories of what consciousness is and see if agentic AI systems meet the criteria.
To read more, click here.