The Absolute Otherness of Authentic Human Identity as a Ghost in a Machine

The Otherness of the Human Soul in a Cyborg Body, Heterocognition and Qualia

Abstract

Descartes' philosophical arguments about the dual nature of the human mind and body were modified by Ryle to suggest that the authentic human soul is a ghost in the machine. Authentic human intelligence and mind have been targeted for invasion by neurotechnological innovations such as HET (Human Enhancement Technologies) and NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Sciences). The study focuses on the vulnerability of individual human consciousness as it converges with the artificial collective consciousness and aims to discuss the otherness of humans and their futile attempts to escape the hive mind as artificial consciousness. The ghost of human memory and authentic identity is now forced to cooperate with the collective consciousness as a machine. As Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Consciousness surpasses the capacity of normal human intelligence, staying outside of these algorithmic innovations and high AI technologies is challenging as new types of 'others' emerge and seek their points of escape and resistance. Therefore, the normal search for solitude and privacy has a different orientation and nature than the technological invasion. This otherness is the absolute otherness of the human being in the face of the challenges of the hive mind, the latest version of artificial intelligence, artificial consciousness, and big data. The study gives some examples of escape practices from a dystopian science fiction film, Ghost in the Shell, where the authentic human soul and identity are trapped in the shell of a cyborg body, and this transhumanist loneliness and otherness is explored through theoretical arguments.