Artificial consciousness (AC) is consciousness attained through artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics. This often raises questions about mind, consciousness, and mental states. Androids and some cyborgs have AC. A positronic brain is a popular artificial brain to provide AC to robots and androids.
Aspects of consciousness[]
There are various aspects of consciousness generally deemed necessary for a machine to be artificially conscious:
Awareness[]
Awareness activates neurons. There are at least three types of awareness. In agency awareness, you may be aware that you performed a certain action yesterday, but are not now conscious of it. In goal awareness, you may be aware that you must search for a lost object, but are not now conscious of it. In sensorimotor awareness, you may be aware that your hand is resting on an object, but are not now conscious of it.
Memory[]
Conscious events interact with memory systems in learning, rehearsal, and retrieval.
Learning[]
Conscious experience is needed to represent and adapt to novel and significant events.
Anticipation[]
The ability to predict (or anticipate) foreseeable events.
Subjective experience[]
This is the hard problem of consciousness especially with computing and obscurities like the uncertainty principle.
Characters with artificial consciousness[]
- Agents in The Matrix
- A.L.I.E. from The 100
- Robots and hosts in Westworld and Futureworld
- Androids from Alien
- Androids in Isaac Asimov stories.
- Droids in Star Wars
- Smart AI from Halo
- Cylons from Battlestar Galactica
- The Geth, EDI and SAM from Mass Effect
- HAL 9000 from Space Odyssey
- Lieutenant Commander Data and holograms from Star Trek
- The Minds from Culture
- Replicants from Blade Runner
- Skynet and cyborgs from the Terminator
- TARDIS from Doctor Who
- Transformers