[LINK] Machine Learning Was: Re: Robot cars and the fear gap

[Jim Birch]

David Lochrin wrote:

Conscious minds attach meanings to symbols


Maybe in your case.  My cat is certainly conscious - i.e. aware of and
responding to it's surroundings - but doesn't do a lot of symbols.

A self-conscious mind, which might be what you are referring to, does that,
and, is aware of itself, located in time, separate from the environment and
in an ongoing relationship to it. Symbols or some kind of internal
modelling seems to be required, particularly if it's going to communicate
with us.  My cat doesn't do this much.

The next step is being able to model other minds.  This is an adaption for
social living and produces the the complex, nuanced life we live.  Cats
pretty clearly don't do this, neither do young children and some
disfunctional adults.

If a machine can demonstrate awareness it is conscious, though (at this
stage) this is likely over a more limited domain than you.  Over time we
can expect machines to be self-conscious and to model other minds.
Obviously, it's subjective quality won't be the same as yours which has
been honed by evolution for a particular purpose.

Jim