Humans are self-aware animals, I was told as an undergraduate psychology student. We not only perceive our surroundings, but can also reflect on the beauty of a sunset — or wonder whether our senses are being fooled by illusions or magic tricks. We not only make high-stakes financial or medical decisions; we consider whether those decisions are good or bad.
It is one thing to be conscious, but to know that we are conscious and to be able to think about our own minds — that’s when my head began to spin.
Now consider robots. Ever since Alan Turing devised blueprints for the first universal computer in the 1930s, the singularity of our intelligence has become more precarious. In many arenas, humans have now been comprehensively outclassed — even in traditional tests of intellect and ingenuity such as Go, chess and computer games.