--- title: "Scientists Say They’re Now Actively Trying to Build Conscious Robots" description: "Consciousness is one of the biggest questions within the field of artificial intelligence. To some it's science fiction; to others, it's a goal." date: "2023-01-08" modified: "2023-01-08" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/scientists-actively-trying-to-build-conscious-robots" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "artificial general intelligence" - "artificial intelligence" - "robots" - "sentience" --- # Scientists Say They’re Now Actively Trying to Build Conscious Robots ![Consciousness is one of the biggest questions within the field of artificial intelligence. To some it's science fiction; to others, it's a goal.]() *CGI figures. Robot acquires knowledge by reading from book* 2022 was a banner year for artificial intelligence, and particularly taking into account the launch of [OpenAI's incredibly impressive ChatGPT](), the industry is showing no sign of stopping. But for some industry leaders, chatbots and [image-generators]() are far from the final robotic frontier. Next up? Consciousness. "This topic was taboo," Hod Lipson, the mechanical engineer in charge of the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University, [told *The New York Times*](). "We were almost forbidden from talking about it — 'Don't talk about the c-word; you won't get tenure' — so in the beginning I had to disguise it, like it was something else." Consciousness is one of the longest standing, and [most divisive](), questions in the field of artificial intelligence. And while to some it's science fiction — and indeed has been the plot of countless sci-fi books, comics, and films — to others, like Lipson, it's a goal, one that would undoubtedly change human life as we know it for good. "This is not just another research question that we’re working on — this is *the* question," the researcher continued. "This is bigger than curing cancer." "If we can create a machine that will have consciousness on par with a human, this will eclipse everything else we've done," he added. "That machine itself can cure cancer." Of course, the biggest issue that the industry runs into with the question of consciousness — you know, other than the technological challenge that it would undoubtedly be — is the fact that, well, concept itself doesn't really have a firm definition, in the field or beyond it. Philosophically, consciousness is vague and debatable. And scientifically, as the *NYT* notes, efforts to tidily nail consciousness down to specific brain functions or otherwise signifiers tends to fall flat. There are also a number of deeply ethical questions that arise with just the concept of machine consciousness, particularly related to machine labor. For his part, Lipson has his own definition of consciousness, that being the capacity to "imagine yourself in the future," as explained by the *NYT*. Thus, the engineer has focused a great deal of his career on working to build adaptable machines — generalized intelligence that can learn to evolve by machine-learned natural selection, responding in kind to changing environments and errors or injury within the mechanical body. In other words: a machine with the ability to not only learn more and correct responsively, as machines do now, but a machine with the ability to *imagine* how it might be better, and evolving to suit that vision. It's a slight distinction, but an important one. Even so, considering that consciousness has no set definition, it's hard to cosign any particular one. It's also impossible to ignore the fact that humans really, really like to anthropomorphize just about anything we can, from toasters to pets to vegetables and more. Such a tendency is [exceedingly present]() in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, where those building machines constantly project human features, both physical and intellectual, onto the devices that they create. And to that end, it's always worth asking whether those machines actually possess the qualities that researchers like Lipson imagine they one day will, or whether scientists, as a result of their own very human urges, are [projecting humanity]() — or nature, or consciousness, or whatever you want to call it — onto very much not conscious machines, reflecting back [what they hope to see](), rather than what is. "There's the hubris of wanting to create life," Lipson told the *NYT*. "It's the ultimate challenge, like going to the moon." **READ MORE:** *['Consciousness' in Robots Was Once Taboo. Now It’s the Last Word.]()* \[*The New York Times*\] **More on AI:** *[OpenAI Was Founded to Counter Bad Ai, Now worth Billions as It Does the Opposite]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()