Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Machine Consciousness

I have been reading Feinberg and Mallatt's book Consciousness Demystified ( MIT Press, 2018) and comparing their theory of neurobiological naturalism with A.s.a. H.'s operation. Feinberg and Mallatt emphasize the multiple realizability of consciousness.
A.s.a. H. is hierarchically organized. The lowest level in the A.s.a. H. hierarchy can provide rapidly responding reflex arcs. A.s.a. exhibits mental causation, it reacts to its environment in simple ways and in complex ways. 2D memory can store mental images. A.s.a. has exteroceptive sensations from cameras, microphones, odor sensors, etc. Interoceptive sensation comes from accelerometers, proprioception, pain and temperature sensors, battery charge level, etc. Experiences are recorded as cases and sequences of cases. You "know what it is like to be" A.s.a. if you experience the same cases (patterns of experience) that A.s.a. experiences. In order to fully "know what its like to be a" fish you would have to be able to sense electric fields. A.s.a. can do that even if humans can not. Proprioception is performed by Lego motors and other smart servos when they sense/measure their own positioning and motion. Battery charge and pain sensors and thermistors distributed throughout the Lego robotic agents provide affect with somatotopic body mapping. A.s.a. experiences qualia. When a human feels a full stomach or when A.s.a. senses a fully charged battery these are qualia. To "feel" is to represent something with a signal. One set of signals following one pathway become associated with the label "red." A different signal on a different pathway becomes associated with the label "C-sharp." Signals and pathways are private/subjective. Different valences are recognized by the components of  A.s.a.'s vector value system.
Interestingly, Feinberg and Mallatt estimate that all conscious animal brains have a minimum of about 100,000 neurons. (page 80) and "..complex neural hierarchies build mapped representations of different objects in the environment from multiple elaborate senses..." (page 97) This is what A.s.a. H. does as well.

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