What makes humans different from machines? (2024)

GIn the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, machine learning, quantum computing, and many other advanced computing developments many critics point to AI as the biggest to human kind, much bigger than climate change. While on the other hand, proponents of AI point that machines can never really replace us humans but only compliment our ability.

What does being a human entail?

It is in this context that we know what being human actually means. Basic essence of human beings is morality, which in turn flows from conscience among other things. Morality is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. It is guided by ethics, and results in empathy, compassion, tolerance, humility, charity and most profoundly love.

Empathy allows humans to step into other’s shoes and feel the pain of others. It is one of most basic human virtues. A simple example of this is the fact that an image of a Alan Kurdi (a 3 year old Syrian child who dies while seeking refuge) shocked the whole world. It create a wave of movements across EU and world at large.

The above example highlights the specifically human quality of ‘caring’, caring for some one other than one-self. In other words, self-lessness.

Another quality of humans is conscience. It is that internal voice at the back of our heads which keeps us from doing something wrong or pushes us to do something good. It might not be ethically correct all the time, but more often than not it is. Though the evolutionary significance and utility of conscience and mind have still not been established; they play a significant role in our lives.

Free will, is one of the basic tenets of ethical principles and corner stones of human civilization. It is enshrined in UN Declaration of Human Rights and finds its place in most constitutions. What it means is that humans take decisions according to their own understanding and voluntarily. The decisions can be right or wrong, but they are taken free of any compulsion.

Another quality of human beings is presence of flaw, diversity in character, difference of opinion and imagination. Basically, humans are not one and the same, they are different, more often than not wrong and morally imperfect. But this is what gives meaning to life.

Lets discuss humans vs machines

In simple terms, machines as envisaged by current technological trends will be AI driven, independent decision making machines with actual physical forms. They will be a physical form of Google Assistant or Siri or Alexa with much more fine tuned intelligence and motor functions.

It might as well have a chip for simulating emotions as reactions to situations. But this is where it ends. They won’t probably have the ability to imagine bizzare things, put somebody else in place of self, empathy, diversity and other human specific traits.

Lets take the trolley problem.

“You see a runaway trolley moving toward five tied-up people lying on the tracks. You are standing next to a lever that controls a switch. If you pull the lever, the trolley will be redirected onto a side track and the five people on the main track will be saved. However, there is a single person lying on the side track. You have two options:

1. Do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on the main track.
2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.”

This is a classic ethics problem which a human has trouble deciding because there are lives being lost on both side even if it is just one. But for a robot, its a cost benefit analysis and surely pull the lever (option 2). And the robot will probably justify its actions.

Another issue with robots is “meaning of life”. Although there is no meaning of life in true sense of the word because Earth (and humans) are just a tiny blip in the universe, which just so happened to be survivable due to sheer force of luck. But still humans try to find meaning in life through work, spirituality, religion, charity, family etc. It all flows down from religion.

Robots don’t have the concept of meaning of life. For them the whole concept of religion and meaning is irrational and hence useless. This gives them no sense of purpose or the will to do something.

What will be the aim of a robot as an independent entity? Currently they are made to serve humans and specific tasks. But what when they are recognized as independent citizens (as Saudi Arabia granted to ‘Sophia’)? These are the impertinent questions which will trouble people in the coming decades.