The Realizability of Strong AI: A Deeper Look From an Islamic Perspective

Abstract

The field of artificial intelligence has been advancing rapidly in the past decade. New technologies are able to perform functions with ease that people once thought could only be accomplished by humans. Autonomous vehicles are able to take inputs with high dimensional features to navigate complex terrains. Healthcare diagnostics tools are able to make inferences based off massive amounts of data to perform diagnoses with accuracy similar to doctors. And chatbots can simulate human conversation to the point that it becomes difficult to distinguish between humans and machines. Increasingly, the line between human and machine activity has become blurred. With the advent of these new technologies and the rapid pace of technological development, the question arises of whether machines will ever be able to possess the intelligence of humans. And the possibility of machines with qualities of humans raises serious ethical, moral, and practical implications. If computers can be constructed with consciousness, then what rights does it have? Is it subject to the same ethical rules as other living creatures like humans or animals? If machines can do all of the tasks that humans can, then what will happen to employment? Some believe that certain occupations that require a certain degree of creativity like the arts or music would be safe from such a threat, but even now, artificial intelligence has been used to create award-winning art or music. The concept of programs which actually possess human mental capabilities rather than merely mimic them has been dubbed Strong AI. The goal of this project was to survey the various beliefs that are held regarding the view of Strong AI and its future possibility. Theories of the mind and human consciousness have long been discussed, but in the context of contemporary literature, there is yet to be much progress made by way of definitive conclusions about the mind and consciousness. As such, this project seeks to take a look at the realizability of Strong AI from an Islamic perspective, by grounding its analysis in the theology and metaphysics of the religion. Such a perspective, rooted in an Abrahamic faith tradition, seeks to offer additional contributions to the discussion of Strong AI from a nonsecular approach, of which very little has been written on the matter. The idea of consciousness is not a matter that has been discussed very much in Islamic literature, but by examining views of the soul and the intellect, conclusions can be drawn regarding the possibility of Strong AI from an Islamic perspective. While many scholars espouse beliefs resulting in the claim that Strong AI is not achievable, there are certainly scholars whose conceptions of the soul or the intellect are not necessarily at odds with Strong AI.