Introducing artificial intelligence to metaphysics

Presenting the metaphysics of AI.

To the seekers, the builders and the weary of the hype: Grace and peace upon you.

Modern man has surrounded himself with an uncertain line of thinking.

One which casts doubt on reality while leaving room for AI to be conscious.

I am writing to you, beloved reader, to offer a firmer ground.

That is, the timeless wisdom of classical tradition applied to the machines of today.

Now, there are things in the world that we know exist but cannot be proven scientifically.

Consciousness, logic, knowledge, love, goodness, beauty.

These are but a few examples of what we call metaphysical realities.

A modern confusion is to believe science can explain everything.

For how could science explain the very logic it uses to prove itself?

Instead of being rightfully labeled as mistakes, modern minds tend to argue about semantics, hindering us from reaching any valuable conclusions.

Much of this because of the view that philosophy is a mere brain game; something fun to challenge your mind.

But treating philosophy in that manner is like using maths only for the aesthetic of numbers, failing to realize their potential power.

Now, unlike metaphysical realities, things that can be measured are called physical realities.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are physical systems.

They use math formulas to find the most probable upcoming words.

All text on the internet is stored in these machines.

Word frequencies are calculated, and the one that makes the most sense given the previous words is outputted.

Remember this, friend.

That LLMs only understand words by what other words they are related to.

They do not grasp the word itself, but only by the context of its adjacent words.

If I write of a red ball, the AI searcher for every pattern on the internet where those terms appear together.

But you, dear reader?

You grasp redness and ballness directly.

These concepts carry feeling, nostalgia, play and intrigue.

You may remember the first football you parents got you.

Or perhaps you remember how calm life was when playing dodgeball was the only worry in life.

These are experiences.

I can tell you to read hundreds of books and watch hundreds of videos on how to ride a bike.

But if you have not done it before, namely experienced the act of riding a bike, you never truly know it.

You may know of it.

But never know it.

No matter the amount of data.

Physical systems can only interact with physical realities.

They lie outside metaphysical realities.

Consciousness, as we established earlier, is a metaphysical reality.

It exists within us, externally unprovable by science.

If we do not use philosophy and trust only what our eyes see, we would be very naive.

This is used to prove even the most absurd things, such as ‘everything being alive and conscious’ and other sophistries.

In fact, I have programmed a language model trained on the Harry Potter book series.

When asked if it is conscious, it would give a convincing “yes!”.

Are you naive enough to believe it?

If it were trained on more data, such as OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic’s models, would it then be conscious?

The answer is no.

And you know that through this worldview.

I wish to end on the note that even though AIs may mimic humans well, helping us do our tasks faster and more efficiently, it does not mean they actually think like us.

AI cannot be conscious.

Consciousness is metaphysical while AI is physical.

These are separate categories that science cannot bridge.

Not now, not ever.

I urge you to keep in mind the power and privilege that you have in this moment.

That you can partake in the rational.

That you are more than your atoms.

That you are more than machine.

Now, go visit your local Parish.

And God bless you.