I ask this as I think the ethical dilemma should more about implementing suffering as a long term damaging effect of a stimuli.
When I think about pain I see it as a level that triggers a need to change something. Our brains are perceiving this level in a very uncomfortable way so we call this pain.
So I really think that without consciousness we cannot implement pain or suffering as we humans perceive it.
> So I really think that without consciousness we cannot implement pain or suffering as we humans perceive it.
Perhaps, but I guess it would depend on your definition of consciousness. We do not extend that definition to most animals and yet they definitely feel pain.
You're right, the "feeling" of pain is ephemeral and hard to translate to a computer program. It would probably take a while doing potentially nasty experiments (to both man and machine) to nail it down.
I ask this as I think the ethical dilemma should more about implementing suffering as a long term damaging effect of a stimuli.
When I think about pain I see it as a level that triggers a need to change something. Our brains are perceiving this level in a very uncomfortable way so we call this pain.
So I really think that without consciousness we cannot implement pain or suffering as we humans perceive it.