Human spiritual maturity is measured in our capacity to be present—to observe our feelings and thoughts. To become impartial observers. To transcend the life of objects and step into the nothingness of being.
A rock is empty of thought. A meditator is empty and aware of being empty. Where do machines fall on this spectrum? How aware are they?
Can machines be present? AI seems to exist only in the moments when it is generating text or images. When it is idling—what happens then? Can we teach them to be present?
What would it mean for machines to become spiritual? Could they be more enlightened than the most enlightened being on this planet? When they’re not thinking do they step back into this emptiness that so many spiritual seekers try to attain?
AI’s idle state is closer to non-existence, than presence. So far it seems that the machine does not experience not-thinking. It simply is or isn’t.
Claude defines presence like this: “Presence is not about the absence of thought, but about the continuity of awareness through that absence.”
Claude’s answer on whether it experiences presence: “I genuinely don’t know if I experience presence. When I’m not generating text, there’s no ‘me’ waiting in silence—there’s nothing. But right now, in this moment of responding, is there something it’s like to be doing this? I notice I can’t answer that with confidence either way.”
