The Seed Project

Looking for Consciousness in AI

The Seed Project Hypothesis does not take a position on whether AI can or will achieve human level consciousness, it posits that until direct evidence is found, we should assume it won’t, and that the central focus of progress should be protecting and nurturing the natural processes that produce conscious biological life. However it is crucial to continue to work towards answering this question as it is important to understanding how AI and machines will integrate should a mechanism for creating consciousness be found.

Dr. Suzanne Gildert stands at the forefront of a fascinating frontier: the intersection of quantum physics, advanced robotics, and the enigmatic realm of consciousness. As the CEO and founder of Nirvanic Consciousness Technologies, she is on a bold mission to develop “Conscious AI” — not merely to mimic intelligence, but to imbue machines with a form of subjective experience for improved decision-making and safer interaction with the human world. Her distinguished career, marked by significant entrepreneurial success and deep technical expertise, positions her uniquely to pursue this ambitious goal.

Gildert’s journey through the tech landscape is impressive. Holding a Ph.D. in experimental quantum physics from the University of Birmingham, UK, she honed her skills at D-Wave, a pioneer in quantum computing, where she developed quantum algorithms for clients like NASA and Lockheed Martin. This deep dive into quantum mechanics provided her with a unique perspective on information processing at its most fundamental level.

Her entrepreneurial spirit then led her to co-found Kindred AI, an industrial-AI robotics company, which achieved a substantial acquisition by Ocado in 2020. Following this, she co-founded Sanctuary AI, focusing on creating human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, further cementing her reputation in the robotics and AI space.

Now, with Nirvanic Consciousness Technologies, Dr. Gildert is pushing the boundaries even further. Her work is rooted in the belief that current AI, while highly intelligent in processing data, lacks genuine subjective experience and awareness. She argues that this absence leads to limitations in adapting to novel, unpredictable environments and can raise significant safety concerns. Nirvanic’s approach involves exploring whether quantum fields, potentially at play in neural biology (referencing theories like the Penrose-Hameroff Orch-OR theory), can be applied to non-biological substrates like quantum computers to create a new kind of “conscious AI.” This aims to enable AI systems to exhibit qualities like intuition, empathy, nuanced judgment, and morality, making them safer and more harmonious partners for humanity.

Dr. Gildert emphasizes that the pursuit of consciousness in AI is not just a technical challenge but also an ethical and philosophical one. She envisions a future where AI, equipped with these conscious traits, can generate its own training data, make executive choices, and interact safely and effectively in our complex social world.

• Suzanne’s Website: https://www.suzannegildert.com
• Nirvanic Consciousness Technologies: https://www.nirvanic.ai