2021/01/21 by Larissa Albantakis, Giulio Tononi, Albantakis, Larissa +1 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Embodied and Extended Cognition #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC) #Philosophy and Theoretical Science
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2102.04219
openalex publication_date 2021/01/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
If we take the subjective character of consciousness seriously, consciousness becomes a matter of "being" rather than "doing". Because "doing" can be dissociated from "being", functional criteria alone are insufficient to decide whether a system possesses the necessary requirements for being a physical substrate of consciousness. The dissociation between "being" and "doing" is most salient in artificial general intelligence, which may soon replicate any human capacity: computers can perform complex functions (in the limit resembling human behavior) in the absence of consciousness. Complex behavior becomes meaningless if it is not performed by a conscious being.