Does AI Represent Authentic Intelligence, or an Artificial Identity?

Jeremy Horne

Does AI represent authentic intelligence, or an artificial identity? What if intelligence were replaced with identity—how would the implications change? At stake is the meaning of artificial itself, but most importantly, the focus here is the question: What constitutes authentic identity? If the objective of AI is, at least in part, to replicate human beings, then we must first ask: Who are we? Must this not be established before replication is possible? Even if we believe we know, how do we verify such knowledge? The Authentic Systems identity probe answers this question and further exemplifies a method that might challenge AI–s ability to replicate us. Our Universe, our context, may not be as it seems. It may range from cold and indifferent to nurturing, from infernal to heavenly—or it may not be material at all. The universe could be fundamentally abstract, perhaps even mathematical in nature. This realization destabilizes many assumptions about reality itself. Such questions return us to philosophy, recalling those “naïve” yet enduring inquiries posed by beginning students: Who are we? Why are we here? These questions, once smiled at, now bear urgent weight. Geoffrey Hinton, often described as the “godfather of AI,” has warned that the very systems he helped pioneer may become instruments of humanity–s self-extinction. What was once a classroom provocation has become a pressing global concern. This presentation will explore the notion of authentic identity in this context, framed also by recent discourse such as the viral video “Michio Kaku”s Terrifying Warning: Quantum AI Just Made a Godlike Discovery.” While the video falsely attributes such a warning to Kaku, it nevertheless articulates disturbing possibilities that resonate with ongoing research into consciousness, identity, and the future of humanity. We may ultimately be very different from who we think we are.

Methodological note – My role here is as a philosopher and working in its subset, logic. Having a full technical knowledge would be ideal, but I do not claim to have such. However, what a logician can do is arrange various peer-reviewed assertions within a philosophical framework (here,authentic human identity) and draw the appropriate conclusion as to what I think our destiny very well may be. My 2023 book, Managing Complexity Through Social Intelligence provides the larger context for what follows.

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