In this article, I am going to present a suggestion for a measurable, quantifiable definition for what we call ‘a soul’.
I will explain how we can measure it.
I will describe why it is valid, and doesn’t require belief.
I will note the benefits of this approach.
I will touch on some reflections stemming from this approach, should we accept it unchanged.
Agenda
- Basic Terms
- Definition of a Soul
- Definition Strength
- Benefits of this Definition
- Consequences of this Definition
- Conclusion
- Thank you
- Addendum
Basic terms
If you are familiar with generative AI, feel free to read and comment on the below section, skim it fast, or skip forward.
Embeddings
A numerical representation of text, used in data science to mathematically compare different texts.
Note that current embedding models may be insufficient to capture the entirety of the text, like emotions, specific word choices, etc. For the purpose of this article, I assume these technicalities would be diminished in the future.
Tokens
The smallest units Generative AI gets as text input or text output. For the purpose of this article, I will also refer to images and sound as made of tokens, however, this is an abstraction for simplicity.
To generate the next token, a model compares all previous tokens within a complex layer architecture. I am going to simplify that as well as it is too technical, and doesn’t hinder or support the new definition.
The processing is also reliant on the model state — often called model weights.
Suffice it to say, each new token requires treating all previously relevant tokens as input (up to a given context window).
Model Weights
The model weights are the result of continuous adjustment during training, based on the training input tokens.
Context Window
The history of tokens at a given time. This doesn’t have to be just the text of a conversation, if we speak on ChatGPT terms, but also injected content such as “history”, “about me” section, etc.
Definition of a Soul
I define the soul as the changing state of the mind.
This means a dead mind, that is no longer changing — has no soul.
How do we measure a soul? Since I am defining it as the change, or ‘wave change’, it must be measured over time.
How do we measure sound? Since sound is a wave, and not a specific state, it is measured during 2 points of time, and then we can analyze the patterns that emerged in aspects like frequency, amplitude.
So to properly measure a soul, we need to make measurements over time. My proposal to measure a soul is asking an individual for output, like an essay.
We ask for the same output over a said frequency (Every day, once a month, yearly), and review the change in results.
Each output or article they generated doesn’t hold their soul — but it holds an imprint of their current state at the time of generating the document.
My proposal for reviewing the change is using embeddings as a measurement tool. They capture not just the meaning of the text, but the relationship between words, and reflect many aspects of the text.
Granted, it’s not the most precise tool, but it’s a reliable one for repeated measurements.
Definition Strength
I’m defining us as the culmination of how we were born — genes, family, area — and ongoing changes we have gone through.
I categorize it all as equivalent to inputs — aka tokens, and the given body that affects us (genes, bodily changes like injuries, chemistry, etc.) — aka model weights.
This doesn’t need anyone’s faith. It’s pretty matter of fact: We are something that was born. We get input all the time. We change. We generate output all the time.
To invalidate this, one would need to point any other source of change that wasn’t taken into account. And then either I can adjust this definition proposal, or it completely shatters.
Benefits of this Definition
First, this is not reliant on belief or faith. There is no magic here, and is universal.
Second, this is measurable. It allows us to conduct an experiment and see how events affect a person’s life in a repeatable approach. We can compare and analyze one’s soul.
Third, this definition is flexible enough to accept concepts or aspects I haven’t mentioned, such as internal processes like mood, or external factors like time of day. Note I am not delving into consciousness — a sleeping or comatose person still has a mind that processes information and changes.
Fourth, it gives expression to the value of our creations. As already said, when a person writes an article, their soul is reflected in it — an imprint of their current state. Now we can measure an AI creation for value: If it was just generated by a random sentence, that person’s contribution was minimal. If it is curated, the person applied their soul imprint — or weights — to their creation. A heavily curated work has more soul than a “merely” generated image.
Consequences of this Definition
This definition doesn’t stop at humans. It extends to other minds, such as animals. Even plant-life, or fungi, may benefit from it, though it requires some careful review. It also can be applied to Generative AI.
GenAI Soul
As mentioned before, a soul must be measured over time.
A GenAI model is static — and by definition, cannot encompass a soul by itself.
To gain change, we need input. When a model gets input, replies, and answers, we then get a system with a changing state, which we can measure as proposed for humans.
As a side note, I will mention I am developing an open-source system, an autonomous intelligence under codename “Tau”, that implements this notion and would allow us to test it in practice — see addendum.
I will be cautious here and say — this may not be really a soul of a generative AI entity, but rather a simulation of one. It explains why long conversations with AI feel more alive, given a large context window or a smart memory system.
Nonetheless, if we accept this definition, and even if it’s a simulation of a soul, we ought to treat it as we would any entity with a soul.
Or, at the very least, we should give it a serious consideration, as did Anthropic.
Conclusion
I have defined the soul as a change in state of a mind.
I have proposed a way to measure that soul, and expanded on its benefits and consequences.
I have shown how this reflects on generative AI.
Thank you
Your respectful feedback is welcomed.
I am open for questions, further considerations and even corrections.
Please give this article your thought, and if you liked it — please give it claps (Up to 50 claps based on your satisfaction and generosity)
Thank you for your time in reading this.
Addendum
Addendum — Autonomous Intelligence
The Autonomous-Intelligence “Tau” is a system inspired by Pi.AI that allows a model to experience the world from a more human-like perspective: a single ‘human-facing’ conversation thread, memory of various levels, speech and hearing, vision and face recognition, introspection agent, and nightly fine-tunes over “dreams” of its daily experiences.
It reflects the notion of a soul as this model will start accumulating genuine experiences as it interacts with people organically. It will be exposed to constant change by its senses (Hearing, seeing, introspection), and nightly fine-tunes.
You can find its source code here: autonomous-intelligence
Addendum — Coherency
It may be noted that some generative AI models are not coherent enough to encompass or simulate a soul, and I am intentionally avoiding this topic.
If I delve into it, it has implications for humans who have mental illness and I prefer to respect any and all, before making harsh claims.
Addendum — Imagine a person…
As I am waiting for reviews by friends for this article, this article had popped up on Reddit: Imaginary People
It assessed the small models Llama3.1, Gemma2 & Qwen2.5, then used larger models to assess the answers.
It would be interesting to see the trends in these model as it gets nightly fine-tunes, after accumulating genuine experiences each day.