​"Can AI Meditate?" – Prof. Sharf on Consciousness and Anātman at DDM

Will humans be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI)? Is it possible for AI to develop into a "sentient" or even "conscious" being? On the afternoon of June 24^th, 2024, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA)'s Department of Buddhist Studies and the Preparatory Office for the Chinese Chan Research Center (漢傳禪學研究中心籌備處) jointly invited Prof. Robert Sharf, the Chair of the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, to deliver a speech entitled "Can AI meditate? Why does it matter?" More than 50 faculty members and students at DILA attended the speech to explore the concepts of consciousness and anātman (no-self). 

Prof. Sharf examined the current trends in AI from the historical, technical and philosophical perspectives. He indicated that several famous scientific experiments of the 20th century, such as the Miller-Urey Experiment and String Theory, were initially deemed to bring about significant changes yet ultimately failed to deliver their intended goals. Therefore, we should be prudent about our expectations of AI.



Prof. Sharf pointed out that AI lacks a deictic center – a unique perspective grounded in embodiment – which means it cannot truly meditate or experience consciousness in the same way that humans can. He argued that the success of AI being able to imitate human conversation is based on massive data access and pattern recognition, rather than "understanding or consciousness in its true sense." He drew from the Buddhist theory of anātman to argue against computationalism's oversimplified notion of equating consciousness with information processing. In contrast, it is consciousness, sentience, and the first-person perspective that distinguishes humans from AI.


Renowned Buddhist scholars, including Prof. Bernard Faure, Kao Professor Emeritus of Japanese Religion at Columbia University; Prof. Paul Swanson, Professor Emeritus of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Japan; and Prof. Thomas Doctor, Principal of the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, were also invited to the public speaking. Their participation sparked many interesting dialogues and inspirations. Despite their different stances, the openness, tolerance, and humor these scholars displayed throughout their conversation served as a valuable lesson to the students.


   
Original Chinese text written / Venerable Yan Wen (演穩法師)
Photos / Li, Jia-chun (李佳純)
Translation / Li, Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL