Why consciousness isn't intelligence

Life is a journey from the unknown to the unknown. We only try to hold on to the visible middle part we consider 'alive' tightly and focus on making it as comfortable as we can, in all possible ways. Man’s latest discovery of 'Artificial Intelligence' appears to be a magic wand ready to grant all our wishes and solve our material problems one click at a time.

Artificial intelligence, the brainchild of humans, does come at a high cost and can displace significant parts of a human workforce. It can produce profitable businesses with very few people and with unprecedented speed and efficiency.
These days, when I open the morning newspaper, I find at least one article on “AI” that describes the versatile roles in different fields of life. Magical toys made with AI chatbots are the new companions for children, or it also can play the role of a doctor and can even advise in emergencies. Not only that, in remote village schools, it can transform itself with a traditional Indian sari and play the role of a teacher, ready to answer all queries of students without being tired or angry. Whether it be the field of healthcare, education or agriculture, it has proved to be a great help through remarkable productivity. Also, translations across multiple languages, or writing a poem or an essay, it connects human beings in new and interesting ways. An always-on AI poet doesn't need to waste time staring at a starry sky or monsoon clouds to gain inspiration. AI seems to be capable of uplifting the human spirit at the ready.

It has only one drawback. And that is, it has to be fed with human-produced data continuously. And if the quality of that data is poor, or biased, or violent, or racist, then “AI” does not have its own ethical or moral compass to course correct - it is comprised of the 'stuff' that we create at large.  It seems incredible because it can produce results with unprecedented speed and polish, but it is a train whose tracks are laid down by us and not a separate intelligence that can guide humanity. In fact, should the collective human race start moving towards war, division amongst people and the more negative traits, then an AI-powered collective consciousness will speed up the destructive potential of a situation where the likelihood of conflict and strife will increase dramatically.

God given human intelligence has the ability to change the course, and to rethink perspectives beyond those previously stated, to a problem, which “AI” doesn’t have because it is dependent on our content to drive its intelligence. Pointing out this problem, Albert Einstein rightly said, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and a rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift “

Our creator has fixed invisible safety valves in every human brain, which cannot be replicated nor can be found by dissection, which can be realised only by the seekers of truth. We might refer to facets of this as consciousness,  Inspiration, or Intuition. It works in every human life, and when we want to hear that inner voice, we find it in silence, and it guides us in the right direction. That inner voice inspired Prince Siddharth to leave his kingdom behind to be a Buddha, and Christ to utter his last forgiving words to those who crucified him. These moments of divine consciousness present as a spark waiting to ignite every life cannot be captured in the analysis of words or actions and certainly not in their aggregate. It is in the realm of the superconsciousness that humanity's potential for evolution exists. In every living being, that divine spark is present, but as we get too busy to satisfy our life’s desires, that divine spark remains undiscovered under the debris of desires. Let us not let the means become the end.