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Machine Consciousness and Strong AI

Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno

Saturday, 23 December 2006

Strong AI

Is machine consciousness a key aspect of strong artificial intelligence (strong AI)?

Can machine consciousness be applied as a pragmatic approach in weak AI?

Are machine consciousness and strong AI the same thing?

Machine consciousness is relatively immature as a modern scientific and engineering interdisciplinary paradigm [1]. Nevertheless, we could try to answer the former questions with a good degree of confidence.

In contrast to weak AI, strong AI claims that an appropriately programmed computer is a mind. Generally speaking, strong AI supposes that it is possible to build machines that can truly reason and feel. In this context, machine consciousness would refer to the feeling part of the hypothesized strong AI machine. From my point of view, most of the forms of reasoning are possible without any consciousness or feeling capability. Such a being would be a so-called (philosophical) zombie [2]. Therefore, we could argue that machine consciousness is key to “conscious” strong AI, but could be neglected in a relaxed form of “zombie” strong AI. This could be true if reason and consciousness are really independent, but what if reasoning and consciousness are intimately linked? Does more reasoning power involve more awareness? In my humble opinion, this question cannot be answered unless the real nature of consciousness is understood. Such an account should include the phenomenal aspects of consciousness (see definition of Qualia) [3].

Even though machine consciousness can be easily identified as a science fiction paradigm, I think it can have a key role in the realm of weak AI. Applying human consciousness models to machines and their programming is a form of bio-inspiration. We can study the human cognitive processes related to consciousness (like attention or propioception), and use the same principles in artificial machines. A much harder subject is the phenomenal dimension of consciousness, whose comprehensive underlying biological foundations are not known. This is one of the gaps to fill in the field of strong AI.

[1] http://www.conscious-robots.com/en/conscious-machines/the-field-of-machine-consciousness/what-is-machine-conscious.html

[2] http://consc.net/zombies.html

[3] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/

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Comments (3)

1 Mild AI
Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 28-11-2008 12:36
Thanks for the comment Darren,
I think the concept of Mild AI actually denotes kind of the same position held by many researchers in Machine Consciousness: we might create an artificial consciousness which is of a different nature in comparison with human consciousness, but it still can be called consciousness...

2 Searle used strong AI to draw an equival
Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 27-11-2008 20:20
Strictly speaking, John Searle (1984) introduced the term "strong" AI to denote an equivalence made between mind and programs, i.e. that an executing program is a mind. James Fetzer (1990) has shown this equivalence is not sustainable. However, between this dychotomy there is a third alternative, namely: "mild" AI, according to which a suitable computer is capable of possessing species of mentality that may differ from and be weaker than ordinary human mentality, but qualify as "mentality" nonetheless.

Fetzer, J.H. (1990). Artificial intelligence: its scope and limits. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Searle, J.R. (1984). Minds, brains and science: the 1984 Reith lectures. BBC publication.

3 Weak and Strong Artificial Consciousness
Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 09-03-2007 14:07
Very related to this is the distinction that Holland makes between Weak Artificial Consciousness and Strong Artificial Consciousness [1]. Weak Artificial Consciousness is centered in the design and implementation of models or cognitive processes correlated with consciousness. Strong Artificial Consciousness is the design and implementation of conscious machines. From my point of view, this leads us again to the so-called hard problem of phenomenology, which I think is the same underlying problem of Strong AI.

[1] Holland, O., (2003). Machine consciousness. New York, Imprint Academic.