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Intelligence is conventionally defined in terms of goal-achieving, [1] problem-solving, [2] or pattern-recognizing [3] capability. Recent development in machine learning gives rise to systems that can attempt to emulate those intelligent behaviours. AlphaGo, a machine learning system developed by DeepMind, became the first computer program to win a Go game against a human professional player. [4] [5]
One major Buddhist goal is to remove suffering for all sentient beings, also known as the Bodhisattva vow. [6] One question for Buddhist analysis of AI may concern how to relate principles to artificial systems that have been deemed sentient beings or how to develop such systems in ways that relate to Buddhist concepts. [1]
Scholars Somparn Promta and Kenneth Einar Himma have said that, for Buddhists, the advancement of artificial intelligence can only be instrumentally good, not good a priori. [7] Perhaps, then, the main tasks of AI designers and developers may be two-fold: to set ethical and pragmatic goals for AI systems, and to fulfil the goals with AI in morally permissible manners. Promta and Himma say that applying Buddhist principles to accomplish these tasks may be possible and practical.
Prompta and Himmar say there are two prima-facie goals for creating artificially intelligent systems. The first goal is to create these systems, in such a way that maximally fulfils our crude sensory desires and worldly instincts of survival, just as we did for designing other tools in general. S. Promta et al. maintains that, it is possible that the majority of AI developers implicitly pursue this goal when they design AI machines, as can be observed by their over-scrutiny of superficial technicalities of these machines, instead of their wider functionalities. [8] The second goal, on the other hand, is to transcend these desires and instincts. According to Buddhism, this goal is more worth pursuing than the former one. In Brahmajāla Sutta , the Buddha holds that sensuality, as well as the beliefs and instincts they induce, are what confines beings to suffering. [9] Expounding his four noble truths (Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) in minor Malunkya Sutta, the Buddha also takes eliminating suffering to be the first priority of human life. [10] [8] The Buddhists then conclude that we can not only reduce, but also eliminate all suffering by transcending and overcoming our instincts of survival, and S. Promta et al. see the potential of how artificial intelligence can help us achieving this. [8]
Inspired by the Bodhisattva vow, Thomas Doctor, Olaf Witkowski, Elizaveta Solomonova, Bill Duane, and Michael Levin proposed the slogan ''intelligence as care'' to try revising the current convention of defining intelligence. [1] It then follows that, one proposal for improving the current AI system design is to use Bodhisattva vow as a guiding principle for setting AI design goals. Generally, Bodhisattva vow has four components; upon taking the vow, one makes a strong commitment (Pali: Adhiṭṭhāna ) to achieve the following:
In essence, T. Doctor et al. defined the Bodhisattva vow as a formal commitment to exercise infinite Care, to alleviate all stress, suffering, or Duḥkha, for all sentient beings: "for the sake of all sentient life, I shall achieve awakening." [1]
Generally, some believe that, from the nonviolence principle of Buddhism, artificial intelligence should not be used to cause harm. [11]
While exploring the possibilities of realizing spiritual figures digitally, P. Pataranutaporn et al. implemented a chatbot, named ''Buddha bot'', as an AI embodiment of the Buddha. It allows users to ask it questions and have conversations with it. It uses machine learning concepts to process languages and give responses. [12] [13]
In 2017, a funeral service began using '' Pepper", a semi-humanoid robot that was created by Japanese manufacturer Softbank Robotics. Notable for its capability of discerning human emotions and recognizing facial expressions, it mainly provides funeral services and preaches Buddhist teachings to people. [14] [15]
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained nirvana at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached parinirvana.
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
The Noble Eightfold Path or Eight Right Paths is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana.
Sentience is the simplest or most primitive form of cognition, consisting of a conscious awareness of stimuli without association or interpretation. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin sentiens (feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to think (reason).
In Buddhism, Buddha is a title for those who are spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the supreme goal of Buddhism, variously described as pristine awareness, nirvana, awakening, enlightenment, and liberation or vimutti. A Buddha is also someone who has fully understood the Dharma, the true nature of things or the universal law of phenomena. Buddhahood is the condition and state of a buddha. This highest spiritual state of being is also termed sammā-sambodhi and is interpreted in many different ways across schools of Buddhism.
Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda tradition, the Chinese Buddhist Canon used in East Asian Buddhist tradition, and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon used in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
Bhaiṣajyaguru, or Bhaishajyaguru, formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja, is the Buddha of healing and medicine in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Commonly referred to as the "Medicine Buddha", he is described as a doctor who cures suffering using the medicine of his teachings.
Karuṇā is generally translated as compassion or mercy and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. It is a significant spiritual concept in the Indic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhicitta,, is the mind (citta) that is aimed at awakening (bodhi), with wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings. Bodhicitta is the defining quality of the Mahayana bodhisattva and the act of giving rise to bodhicitta (bodhicittotpāda) is what makes a bodhisattva a bodhisattva. The Daśabhūmika Sūtra explains that the arising of bodhicitta is the first step in the bodhisattva's career.
Samantabhadra is a great bodhisattva in Buddhism associated with practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, he forms the Shakyamuni Triad in Mahayana Buddhism. He is the patron of the Lotus Sutra and, according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, made the ten great vows which are the basis of a bodhisattva. In Chinese Buddhism, Samantabhadra is known as Pǔxián and is associated with action, whereas Mañjuśrī is associated with prajñā. In Japan, this bodhisattva is known as Fugen, and is often venerated in Tendai and Shingon Buddhism.
Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā and jhāna/dhyāna.
Upāsaka (masculine) or Upāsikā (feminine) are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows. In modern times they have a connotation of dedicated piety that is best suggested by terms such as "lay devotee" or "devout lay follower".
Kātyāyana or Mahākātyāyana was a disciple of Gautama Buddha. He is listed as one of the ten principal disciples and was foremost in expanding on and explaining brief statements of the Buddha.
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on the enlightened perspective of the Buddha. In Buddhism, ethics or morality are understood by the term śīla or sīla (Pāli). Śīla is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path. It is a code of conduct that emulates a natural inborn nature that embraces a commitment to harmony, equanimity, and self-regulation, primarily motivated by nonviolence or freedom from causing harm It has been variously described as virtue, moral discipline uprightness and precept, skillful conduct.
The position and treatment of animals in Buddhism is important for the light it sheds on Buddhists' perception of their own relation to the natural world, on Buddhist humanitarian concerns in general, and on the relationship between Buddhist theory and Buddhist practice.
In English translations of Buddhist texts, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch. In contemporary Buddhist communities, householder is often used synonymously with laity, or non-monastics.
The Bodhisattva Precepts are a set of ethical trainings (śīla) used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to advance a practitioner along the path to becoming a bodhisattva. Traditionally, monastics observed the basic moral code in Buddhism, the prātimokṣa, but in the Mahāyāna tradition, monks may observe the Bodhisattva Precepts as well. The Bodhisattva Precepts are associated with the bodhisattva vow to save all beings and with bodhicitta.
In Buddhism, sentient beings are beings with consciousness, sentience, or in some contexts life itself.
Tipiṭaka or Tripiṭaka, meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures. The Tripiṭaka is composed of three main categories of texts that collectively constitute the Buddhist canon: the Sutta Piṭaka, the Vinaya Piṭaka, and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka.
Mahāyāna is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India. It is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Theravāda and Vajrayāna. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna sūtras and their emphasis on the bodhisattva path and Prajñāpāramitā. Vajrayāna or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna which makes use of numerous tantric methods Vajrayānists consider to help achieve Buddhahood.
