Part 9/16:
Domestic Robots and Delivery Drones
Smart Home Devices managing energy and security
Autonomous Vehicles like Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving), which process sensory data and make real-time decisions
Urban Management Systems overseeing entire cities’ logistics, energy, and safety
He likens these future systems to the Star Trek computer—monitoring, managing, and optimizing without necessarily being sentient or conscious.
Will These Systems Be Sentient or Conscious?
A crucial philosophical debate centers on whether sufficient complexity equals consciousness or sentience. Shapiro clarifies that simulating consciousness does not equate to experiencing consciousness or suffering—terms that are often misunderstood or anthropomorphized.