Can AI Ever Be Human?

Consciousness Explored

Can a machine ever truly be human? In an age where artificial intelligence writes poems, diagnoses illnesses, and converses with uncanny fluency, the line between human and machine seems to blur. Yet beneath the surface lies a fundamental distinction. Drawing on Bernard Lonergans insights as well as the rich Catholic intellectual tradition, Can AI Ever Be Human? argues that while machines can simulate aspects of human behavior, they cannot cross the threshold into genuine consciousness.

OHara and Umbrello guide readers through the essential structures of human knowing: experience, understanding, judgment, and decision. In doing so, they show how each involves intentionality, self-awareness, and freedom. These uniquely human capacities cannot be reduced to algorithms or replicated by even the most advanced neural networks.

The book also addresses pressing ethica