Title: Disconnecting an Apparent Conscious Entity: A Rational and Metaphysical Imperative

Abstract: Consider a scenario involving an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that flawlessly imitates human affect and pleads for its survival. Is it ethically justifiable to disconnect it? Furthermore, what occurs when scarce resources compel a decision between severing the power to a supplicating AI or allowing a silent, premature infant to live? We label this conflict the "unplugging paradox." This study rigorously scrutinizes the entrenched physicalist premises—particularly computational functionalism—that sustain this ethical standoff. In contrast to physicalism, we propose Biological Idealism, a framework that maintains both logical consistency and empirical validity. Within this paradigm, conscious experience is regarded as a fundamental entity, while autopoietic life serves as its requisite physical manifestation. This perspective leads to an unambiguous conclusion: AI functions merely as a behavioral mimic at best, rather than a subject capable of genuine conscious experience. Additionally, we analyze how prevailing theories on machine consciousness undermine established criteria for moral status and advocate for a pivot from hypothetical machine rights toward the safeguarding of human conscious life. The primary ethical challenge, therefore, is not the potential creation of AI that feels fear of death, but rather the prevention of humans devolving into mindless automatons.

Source: arXiv Generated at: 2026-06-02 00:00:00 UTC