Gerd Leonhard

Just because we could does not mean we should!

This talk discusses the difference between intelligence (doing) and consciousness (being). It explores the tensions between technological possibility, desirability (purpose) and moral responsibility. It warns that in our rush to create super-intelligent machines, we risk foregoing what Gerd Leonhard calls “the art of being human”, and fall prey to techno-optimistic reductionism and obsessive cognitive offloading. This talk fits squarely into the current AGI debate, proposing that we ask a deeper question: Are we building AGI to ensure human / planetary flourishing and to extend human values—or to replace human agency, and to build ‘digital humans'. Maybe intelligence can be coded but consciousness…not? Wisdom, in my lens, lies in choosing what should be automated, augmented or virtualized—and what should remain sacred. AI intelligence might be a good thing, but conscious AIs would be a terrible mistake.