Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 40 of 171
Explaining consciousness away
This indifference to consciousness in practical AI research among those who are actually writing code and coming up with algorithms (and for whom, to be absolutely clear, I have a great deal of respect) is inherited from a long tradition in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind of trying to explain away consciousness. Consciousness and subjectivity are too vague for most people who deal with computer code and equations on a daily basis. There aren’t many people actually trying to program a conscious robot right now.