I think so. Maybe not in my lifetime, but quite possiby in the lifetime of some younger forum readers.
I think that Eugene Izikevich with the Brain Corporation (also curator of Scholarpedia) is on the right track. And there are already robots that can learn in various rudimentary situations in which they have been programmed to learn.
I think that reverse enginerring the biological neurological model is the way to go. I think that making robots that have multi-sensory faculties are the way to go.
I think that, for the development of consciousness, robots will require the ability to integrate multi sensory faculties.
And ultimately (for the development of sophisticated consciousness) I think that robots will need to be able to learn how to learn, in general, but especially to learn how to learn verbal behavior. And this would require, I believe, that robots become social creatures, i.e., coming under the influence of general reinforcement and punishment by others, but also learning through social reinforcement and punishment.
I think that they will also need some sort of analog of mirror neurons.
I think so.I also think it is possible in principle, and also think that they become conscious by learning in a similar way we do. Consciousness will not be simply programmed by implementing 'consciousness algorithms'. It will arise from low level learning procedures, like it is done in massive parallel processing with back propagating algorithms and so. Not for nothing also known as neural networks. I do not think we will ever be able to build a conscious robot with exact predictable behaviour, exactly because of the reason you give:
that robots become social creatures, i.e., coming under the influence of general reinforcement and punishment by others, but also learning through social reinforcement and punishmentSo they will also be culturally formed individuals. And they will have free will.. :-P But I think we will never reach that. We will have killed ourselves already before technology has advanced that far... So literally taken, my answer to your question is 'no', but only for practical reasons.
I think that they will also need some sort of analog of mirror neurons.I imagine they will need pretty much everything we have.
I think that’s a bit of a trick question. I’ll paraphrase a quote from Daniel Dennett:
Consider a human being who, from birth, was completely separated from the rest of humanity. This person would never have a chance to learn how to bond, how to talk, how to add, and a host of other skills. Because this human would have no way to communicate and lacks virtually all of the thinking skills that most people learn from others, we probably would not consider this human to be conscious.
Is there a rigorous definition of being “conscious” or is it more of a social definition?
I think that's a bit of a trick question. I'll paraphrase a quote from Daniel Dennett: Consider a human being who, from birth, was completely separated from the rest of humanity. This person would never have a chance to learn how to bond, how to talk, how to add, and a host of other skills. Because this human would have no way to communicate and lacks virtually all of the thinking skills that most people learn from others, we probably would not consider this human to be conscious. Is there a rigorous definition of being "conscious" or is it more of a social definition?For what I suggested as "sophisticated consciousness", I think that a robot would have to go though a developmental learning process, as do humans, to become fully conscious, e.g. developing self awareness, language, acute awareness of others, learning to interpret subtle social cues, rules of social behavior, etc.
I think so.I also think it is possible in principle, and also think that they become conscious by learning in a similar way we do. Consciousness will not be simply programmed by implementing 'consciousness algorithms'. It will arise from low level learning procedures, like it is done in massive parallel processing with back propagating algorithms and so. Not for nothing also known as neural networks. I do not think we will ever be able to build a conscious robot with exact predictable behaviour, exactly because of the reason you give:
that robots become social creatures, i.e., coming under the influence of general reinforcement and punishment by others, but also learning through social reinforcement and punishmentSo they will also be culturally formed individuals. And they will have free will.. :-P But I think we will never reach that. We will have killed ourselves already before technology has advanced that far... So literally taken, my answer to your question is 'no', but only for practical reasons. I am more optimistic, in that I think it could happen within this century, if advancements in our technologies continue unabated at the current (or quite possibly an increasing) rate.
I think that they will also need some sort of analog of mirror neurons.I imagine they will need pretty much everything we have. Right.
I agree, and that will almost certainly include motivation and desires such as the desire to continue existence and protect against possible threats. And there goes humanity. 
Occam
I’ll answer your question with a question: What’s the difference between a conscious robot and a human? Answer: technology. This thread presupposes technology on a par with current day computers, maybe extrapolated out a bit. What will “robot building” technology look like 2 thousand years from now? I bet it’ll resemble the stuff we’re made of…neurons, chemical-based communication, etc. i.e. more “meat” than “metal”. And maybe the manufacturing process will resemble evolution, perhaps on another planet or moon used for the purpose. See where I’m heading…?
I was thinking more in the near term, as within some of our lifetimes.
I agree, and that will almost certainly include motivation and desires such as the desire to continue existence and protect against possible threats. And there goes humanity. :) OccamIf there are ever a large number of concsious robots, some of them would likely be insane. We might need to check with Isaac Asimov for some sort of safeguard.
You asked: Will there ever be a conscious robot?
My response: Wouldn’t really surprise me. In a roundabout way, some here would argue that we’re conscious robots, albit based on organic molocules rather then artificial microprocessors.
How will we know it’s happen?
When Robbie the Robot asks “What’s in it for me?” and means it.
You asked: Will there ever be a conscious robot? My response: Wouldn't really surprise me. In a roundabout way, some here would argue that we're conscious robots, albit based on organic molocules rather then artificial microprocessors. How will we know it's happen?...Ok, I see what you're saying. That may be a question for the philosophy section. Although there are various ways that psychologists might propose to answer the question. But for practical purposes, it may be when enough of us humans accept that the robots actually are independent sentient beings, e.g. they are granted certain civil rights.
I was thinking more in the near term, as within some of our lifetimes.I know ;) But my idea is more fun. As for your original question, how would we know the robot was conscious? For that matter how do we know any animal (including humans) is conscious? This whole thread really *does* boil down to philosophy. Star Trek Next Gen had a great episode on this very topic, regarding Data. One researcher wanted to dismantle Data to study "this incredible machine". The others on the Enterprise objected since they considered Data conscious.
Your idea may be fun, but of course I think mine is more fun. Because I think that the reality (not just philosophy) of developing robots that will become increasingly functional is already in its infancy and that the practical applications will be extraordinarily far-reaching.
I think that's a bit of a trick question. I'll paraphrase a quote from Daniel Dennett: Consider a human being who, from birth, was completely separated from the rest of humanity. This person would never have a chance to learn how to bond, how to talk, how to add, and a host of other skills. Because this human would have no way to communicate and lacks virtually all of the thinking skills that most people learn from others, we probably would not consider this human to be conscious. Is there a rigorous definition of being "conscious" or is it more of a social definition?For what I suggested as "sophisticated consciousness", I think that a robot would have to go though a developmental learning process, as do humans, to become fully conscious, e.g. developing self awareness, language, acute awareness of others, learning to interpret subtle social cues, rules of social behavior, etc. Ah, in that case, probably yes. Although, I think that it's more likely that first we'll see a large increase in augmented human intelligence thanks to cyborg-like tech.
I think that's a bit of a trick question. I'll paraphrase a quote from Daniel Dennett: Consider a human being who, from birth, was completely separated from the rest of humanity. This person would never have a chance to learn how to bond, how to talk, how to add, and a host of other skills. Because this human would have no way to communicate and lacks virtually all of the thinking skills that most people learn from others, we probably would not consider this human to be conscious. Is there a rigorous definition of being "conscious" or is it more of a social definition?For what I suggested as "sophisticated consciousness", I think that a robot would have to go though a developmental learning process, as do humans, to become fully conscious, e.g. developing self awareness, language, acute awareness of others, learning to interpret subtle social cues, rules of social behavior, etc. Ah, in that case, probably yes. Although, I think that it's more likely that first we'll see a large increase in augmented human intelligence thanks to cyborg-like tech. Quite possibly so. If the Brain Mapping Project bears fruit, e.g., I can envision helmet-like devices that would give one a virtual telepathic/kinetic control of devices that are essentially operated by our thoughts. We could potentially operate, in the same manner, surrogate and/or augmentary devices which provide us with enhanced sensory abilities, such as immediately available telescopic and microscpic vision as well as vision in spectrums beyond our typical capability. Perhaps we could even have devices that allow for virtual telepathic communication with others. Of course,the Brain Mapping Project could bear fruit way beyond such gadgets. For instance we may be able to finally get an idea of what is actually going on with mental illnesses and thus more readily discover effective treatments.
I’m interested in the idea of group consciousness. For example, often behaviours of government can be modelled by thinking of various departments as personalities.
Another example: I change my behaviour based on who I am talking to. If I’m talking to my sister I am one person, but if I’m talking to an old friend I am another person. If I’m chatting on the internet I am yet another person.
Maybe someday we won’t think of ourselves as individuals. From an atheist viewpoint we humans are “conscious” robots as a side effect of the structure of our bodies. If we could slice a human in half and keep him alive, then he would become two individuals. Of if we could tightly interconnect two brains then we would turn two people into one person.
We won’t know until we get one.