> Constructing a Machine Brain
https://david.scifi.fish/assets/culture/use_of_weapons/20250602_1504_Machine_Brains.m4a
Machine Brains. Old Drone (p255) t=13:19 - transcript 
The old drone begins by asking Zacalwe to forget the complexities of how machine brains are currently assembled and instead imagine building one that mimics the human brain precisely.
It proposes constructing such a brain from a cellular level, mirroring human development. The machine brain would form connections in the same way and could even be made to function at the same low speeds as neurons, responding to input and firing signals in line with biological patterns. This gradual development could recreate a genuine human-like mind.
## Themes
digraph Interviewer_Values { Consciousness -> Identity; Consciousness -> Sentience; Identity -> "Human Nature"; Sentience -> Perception; "Human Nature" -> Experience; Experience -> Embodiment; Experience -> Development; Perception -> Senses; }
# Simulating Human Experience To support this artificial brain’s development, it could receive sensory inputs equivalent to what a human embryo and later a child would experience—sound, touch, light and more—thereby fooling the brain into believing it was alive. Alternatively, the sensory data provided could be real and matched with the human counterpart’s experiences in both range and quality at each stage. In theory, this would produce a machine that thinks, feels and learns exactly as a human does.
# The Question of Consciousness The drone challenges the idea that only biological brains can be considered conscious. If human brains, made of slow-processing cells, can be deemed sentient, why not a machine constructed with the same structure and function—even if made of different materials? The argument highlights a possible prejudice, or even superstition, in refusing consciousness to machines solely based on their composition or build.
# Philosophical Implications The conversation turns more reflective, as the drone mocks the need to invoke mystical beliefs such as gods to justify human exceptionalism. It presses Zacalwe to decide whether such a machine, identical in behaviour and response to a human, should be considered conscious. Zacalwe deflects, stating he's still thinking, implying both the weight of the question and his struggle with the implications.
# See - Machine Brains (transcript)