Calculating God

By Robert J. Sawyer
Tor Science Fiction. 2001
English. 352 pages.
ISBN: 0812580354

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BRAINMAKERS: How scientists are moving beyond computers to create a rival to the human brain.

By David H. Freeman.
Touchstone. 1995.
224 pages. English.
ISBN: 067151055X

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Intelligent Systems Weblog

This blog run by José Carlos Cortizo is one of the most active and visited blogs from Madrimasd.org. It is dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and covers a wide range of areas, from Machine Learning to Robotics.

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In 30 years we will have an alternative to death: being a ghost in a machine.

In a recent article by Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi [1], the authors argue that in 30 years we will be able to upload our mind to a computer. Actually, we can start building our “mindfiles” already using services like Lifenaut.

Despite of the optimism of this claim, Koch and Tononi recall us that we don’t know yet what consciousness is. They believe that consciousness will be artificially created eventually; however, it might not be the same sort of consciousness as we think.

The first assumption used as the base of the argumentation is that consciousness is produced in the brain by the natural world, and therefore it is controlled by the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology. The activity in the corticothalamic system seems to be a key factor in the production of consciousness. Nevertheless, other functions and brain areas (even those that are characteristic of human beings) are not necessary for the presence of consciousness. Even interaction with the environment could not be necessary for the existence of consciousness (provided that such interaction has existed before). In other words, we can have an entirely inner conscious experience.

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AI Bots in Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Usually when we talk about situated agents as the target of the research in Artificial Intelligence or Machine Consciousness, we think about physical agents, like typical autonomous robots. One of the reasons why we tend to use physical robots as part of our experimental setup is because we believe embodiment plays a key role both in intelligence and consciousness.

Because of the limitations in cost and time, during development phases we are used to using simulation tools in order to quickly test our hypotheses. However, the final target is always the physical robot and its application into the real world. At least that is the obvious conclusion in the field of robotics.

But, what about final AI applications that only live within virtual worlds? Do they deserve less attention from AI research fields? In recent years we are seeing a growing interest in applications which reside entirely within virtual worlds and video games. Some relevant examples are Second Life and World of Warcraft. I personally believe the success of these products is rooted in the fact that they provide new ways of interaction between humans (players, colleagues, partners, etc.). We currently lack the same level and richness of interaction when it comes to AI bots (we use the term AI bot to refer to autonomous virtual agents that are controlled by an AI program).

From my point of view, there is no doubt that AI bots are a new example of situated agents. Whether they can be considered embodied or not is another question. Anyhow, we could say that they are embodied in terms of the simulated physical laws enforced by the engine which generates the corresponding virtual world or video game.

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The Puzzle of the Brain: Conciousness

This book is currently underway, but some chapters are already available online: SetShift.
SetShift is a research group of the University of Granada, Spain. The book is written in Spanish and covers many aspects of consiousness in 20 chapters.

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