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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rystil Arden" data-source="post: 2761397" data-attributes="member: 29014">As a current student in Artificial Intelligence at MIT, I thought I'd weigh in here:The current state of AI is nowhere near any capability that would allow for 'consciousness'.  That said, we do have models that act similarly to how Umbran described the neuron, but they haven't been in use much after the amazing confluence in the 80s where it seemed like neural networks were some sort of magic confluence of cognitive science, neuroscience, and AI.  That said, the following thought experiment is interesting:Imagine a civilisation more advanced than our own that can produce a robotic replica of a neuron that acts in the same way as a single neuron in your head, a particular one.  Now, we take out your biological neuron and replace it with the robotic replacement.  And your consciousness is still fine because the mechanical neuron has been defined to work identically to a normal one, and everything else stayed the same.  Now we switch out one more neuron.  And another...and another, until your entire brain is made of the replica neurons, which work identically to the biological ones you replaced.  And you have retained your human consciousness throughout the process, including at the end.  Have we just transformed you into a cyborg with a cyberbrain?</blockquote>