Can machines be conscious?
IEEE Spectrum May 29, 2008 Christof Koch, Giulio Tononi 134 citations
Within a generation, people may have the option to upload their minds—thoughts, memories, and personality—to a computer, offering an alternative to death. Once consciousness is reduced to electronic patterns, it could be copied, edited, sold, pirated, bundled with other minds, or deleted. The text raises the question of whether one would sell their soul on eBay, framing the ethical and practical implications of digital immortality and the commodification of consciousness.