only-me
Explanation
The Joke
Two scientists are observing a robot that has started declaring "There is only me!" One scientist explains that they added some CPU power and the robot suddenly began claiming that its particular configuration was the only "true" form of consciousness. The caption below reads: "This is how you will know that Artificial Intelligence has been achieved."
The comic suggests that the hallmark of true artificial intelligence will not be passing the Turing test or solving complex problems, but rather developing the uniquely human trait of arrogantly believing that one's own form of consciousness is the only real or valid one.
The Humor
The joke satirizes human philosophical solipsism and the "hard problem of consciousness." Humans have a long history of insisting that their particular type of awareness is uniquely special -- whether it is dismissing animal consciousness, debating whether other humans are truly conscious (philosophical zombies), or arguing about what "really" counts as thinking. The comic argues that this narcissistic insistence on the primacy of one's own consciousness is so fundamental to intelligence that when an AI starts doing it, that is the true sign it has become genuinely intelligent. It is a darkly funny inversion of the usual AI milestone discussions.
References
The "hard problem of consciousness," coined by philosopher David Chalmers, refers to the difficulty of explaining why and how physical processes give rise to subjective experience. The comic riffs on the tendency of conscious beings to privilege their own subjective experience above all others.