Artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved from a futuristic concept to an everyday reality, but how close are we to creating truly conscious or reasoning machines? In a fascinating episode of Google DeepMind: The Podcast, host Professor Hannah Fry dives deep into these questions with guest Murray Shanahan — Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind.
In this episode titled “Consciousness, Reasoning and the Philosophy of AI,” Shanahan brings a thoughtful perspective to the philosophical dimensions surrounding AI development. He discusses fundamental topics such as consciousness, metacognition in animals, symbolic AI, neural networks, and the challenges of developing systems that don’t just mimic intelligence but may one day experience it.
Shanahan also reflects on his consulting role for the acclaimed film Ex Machina, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is portrayed in media and why anthropomorphizing machines can lead to serious misunderstandings about what AI really is — and isn’t.
The conversation moves into the practical side of AI too, examining how current systems engage in reasoning, process information, and make decisions. The discussion highlights the difference between human-like reasoning and the statistical pattern recognition that most AI systems use today, pointing to the ongoing gap between human consciousness and machine intelligence.
If you’re curious about where AI is headed and what it might mean for the future of technology — and even humanity — this episode offers a thought-provoking exploration you won’t want to miss.
You can listen to the full episode here: Consciousness, Reasoning and the Philosophy of AI – Google DeepMind: The Podcast
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