Is Intelligence Decoupling from Consciousness?

The desire for free will is universal, and when fulfilled, it allows our minds to roam freely. Human beings take immense pride in their ability to think independently, as we have long been the sole owners of critical minds—proudly wearing the badge of “Thinkers of the World!” However, in recent times, the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced a new entity capable of independent thought. Among the most notable developments in AI are chatbots, which have quickly become the poster children of this technological revolution.

These chatbots possess a wide range of capabilities, making them incredibly versatile tools for text generation, translation, summarization, content creation, grammar assistance, conversational interactions, and more. The gift of language, bestowed upon these machines by the greatest scientific minds of our time, has enabled them to think and express themselves in ways that were once the exclusive domain of humans. But does this newfound “free will” in AI lead to a clash with our own?

The world as we knew it seemed different before AI began to develop a mind of its own. In the pre-AI era, we typically acquired information through interactions with the environment, other people, and experiences that shaped our thought processes. Today, however, the unusual interaction between humans and machine-generated content is increasingly influencing how we think. Notably, user interaction with chatbots has become an integral part of many people’s thinking processes, as these AI systems continue to grow in popularity and influence.

This raises important questions about how interactions between chatbots and their users shape human thought. AI systems often confine users to a “filter bubble,” limiting their exposure to diverse viewpoints and potentially skewing their thinking. A prominent example of AI’s influence on the average internet user is the 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal, where personal information from millions of Facebook users was harvested without consent and used for political manipulation.

This leads us to wonder: in a modern society where we coexist with AI, are we left with merely an illusion of choice? As Yuval Noah Harari suggests in his book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, “Intelligence is decoupling from consciousness” as AI advances. Humans have long been proud of their consciousness, but a pressing question arises: does it matter if chatbots lack consciousness when they can so profoundly influence the thinking of the “conscious” human minds that interact with them?