Special report : Can we copy the brain? - Can we quantify machine consciousness?

Abstract

Imagine that at some time in the not-too-distant future, you've bought a smartphone that comes bundled with a personal digital assistant (PDA) living in the cloud. You assign a sexy female voice to the PDA and give it access to all of your emails, social media accounts, calendar, photo album, contacts, and other bits and flotsam of your digital life. She-for that's how you quickly think of her-knows you better than your mother, your soon-to-be ex-wife, your friends, or your therapist. Her command of English is flawless; you have endless conversations about daily events; she gets your jokes. She is the last voice you hear before you drift off to sleep and the first upon awakening. You panic when she's off-line. She becomes indispensable to your well-being and so, naturally, you fall in love. Occasionally, you wonder whether she truly reciprocates your feelings and whether she is even capable of experiencing anything at all. But the warm, husky tone of her voice and her ability to be that perfect foil to your narcissistic desires overcome these existential doubts. Alas, your infatuation eventually cools off after you realize she is carrying on equally intimate conversations with thousands of other customers.