psychic chess masters

If it's any consolation, you pass the Turing Test.

Okay. It seemed as if saying A.I. would be self-aware ran into philosophical problems. I was just checking

I'd suggest that the opposite is probably true.

As long as you don't argue with yourself.  Nothing to worry about. 

Oh, I never heard of the "Turing Test". That sounds interesting from the introduction to it in wikipedia. 

Funny explanation of emergence:

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts!
How come when you mix water and flour together you get glue...
And then you add eggs and sugar...
And you get cake?
Where did the glue go?
You know darned well where it went!
That's what makes the cake stick to your butt![1]
— (Anonymous email to Gary Stilwell)

Gary Stilwell is a former computer engineer and created the next hypothesis:

consciousness will emerge in a computer given enough component parts

'given enough' is vague enough to resist any attempt for falsification, although I understand what he wants to say. The consciousness of a black hole should be amazing in his line of thought or should it read that consciousness will emerge in a system consisting of complex elements equal to the ratio of the density of those complex elements.

Ok, get the idea. Has the same problem as the mind/body dualism, because you can not predict the characteristics of the complexer level from the characteristics of the simpler level (you can not predict life from the presence of some protons and electrons). The mind/body dualism might even be perceived as a form of emergence.

and chilli beef

Ooo, then I will know for sure if my computer is out to get me.

So many words here. Such little substance!

@TheGrobe: No, I don't believe A.I. would be self-aware. Ever. The best it could do is fool people into believing it was self-aware. Of course, if you want to believe it is, then you may be the perfect subject to fool. 

When I attended philosophy courses, there was a professor who said, "We can't know if a person is self-aware, but we must act as if they are"(paraphrased) I never understood that then, and I don't now. My "knowing" doesn't amount to much if I can't know that another person is self-aware besides myself. That just seems like solipsism to me.

It's the basis for solipsim, but it's also the corollary to Descarte's famous "I think therefore I am".

As for the "we must act as though they are", if I were to guess, the reasoning behind this is deeply rooted in moral philisophy as opposed to existentialism. 

Do you believe animals besides humans are self aware?  Insects?  Bacterium?  Is there a cut-off point for self awareness?

My philosophy is a bit rusted, but... When did existentialists (Kirkegaard, Sartre, etc.) negate conscience ?

I don't think I said they did.

But you have heard of touring bikes, no?

I never understood Descartes' "cogito, ergo sum" to lead to solipsism? That wouldn't make sense? I think his "cogito..." was for all of us, not just himself. Why would you write a book and publish it if it leads to solipsism?

What do you mean by you second statement? Could you elaborate for me?

Psychics are frauds, long live James Randi!

Randi?

Links please.

My interpretation would be that even though we can never be certain of the self-awareness of others (and solipsism is actually the rejection of the self awareness of others, not just the uncertainty), to act as though others are not self aware would be immoral -- akin even to being sociopathic.