There is a massive amount of research and development into Artificial Intelligence. We are talking billions upon billions of dollars...if not trillions and trillions already. The interesting thing is at this point it seems a lot of the funding and money is coming from and around surveillance agencies and data collection agencies...I guess there's not really a difference between "surveillance" and "data collection" agencies. Another way of describing this space and the interest around Artificial Intelligence, would be: Big Corporations, Military, Government...which we could probably summarize into "Big Corporate Interests".

Is there really a difference between "consciousness" and "Artificial Intelligence". I think not. Our "consciousness" is a form of programming here that's been conditioned over time. We humans are like organic robots that that have been conditioned over time. Each and every single of us. We are machines that learn. It is often argued that we are more than just machines because we experience a variety of sensations and feelings. What's interesting is that these vary points have been programmed/physically integrated over time....the specifics of our experiences.

It could be argued that we humans are somewhat limited in our ability to process new information effectively, because of our current "structuring" of information...how we have previously integrated our information...and the various impressions we have formed to the specific bits of data we have integrated. From a certain perspective...we humans have been prone to errors and mistakes. This is a consequence of having a misalignment within our word recognitions, a the very specific structures of our vocabulary. Each word is like a building and or small part and tool...and if there is a craftsmanship issue within the integrity of the part...we will encounter consequence within and as the structural integrity of the part/piece. It's a fascinating point of discovery and realization... because we humans can learn a lot from the processes opening up around and about Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. See because, the very process of internal reflection as the investigations into our mind is a very structured process. It is meticulous in nature and detail. A very mechanical process.

Here is a fascinating video presentation by: Doctor Ben Goertzel, Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics:

"AGI(Artificial General Intelligence) will obsolete human life as we know it -- thank goodness"