On the link between conscious function and general intelligence in humans and machines

Abstract

In popular media, there is often a connection drawn between the advent of awareness in artificial agents and those same agents simultaneously achieving human or superhuman level intelligence. In this work, we explore the validity and potential application of this seemingly intuitive link between consciousness and intelligence. We do so by examining the cognitive abilities associated with three contemporary theories of conscious function: Global Workspace Theory (GWT), Information Generation Theory (IGT), and Attention Schema Theory (AST). We find that all three theories specifically relate conscious function to some aspect of domain-general intelligence in humans. With this insight, we turn to the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and find that, while still far from demonstrating general intelligence, many state-of-the-art deep learning methods have begun to incorporate key aspects of each of the three functional theories. Given this apparent trend, we use the motivating example of mental time travel in humans to propose ways in which insights from each of the three theories may be combined into a unified model. We believe that doing so can enable the development of artificial agents which are not only more generally intelligent but are also consistent with multiple current theories of conscious function.

Arguments for the Rise of Artificial Intelligence Art: Does AI Art Have Creativity, Motivation, Self-awareness and Emotion?

“…With the birth of the electronic computer in 1946 and the introduction of Computer Graphics (CG) by Ivan Sutherland, which was studied in greater depth by many experts, computer painting, digital media art and new media art were created. In 1950, Ben F. Laposky in the United States created the first computer 'art', namely "Electronic Abstractions" (Juliani et al, 2022). Laposky created abstract art using a cathode ray oscilloscope, sine wave generators, and other electronic circuits.…”

“…The seemingly realistic 3D plant image is essentially just a series of codes (McCormack, 2017). In fact, Japanese artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi also created the Growth Model series of computer graphics and animation works in the 1970s and 1980s (Juliani et al, 2022). Some scholars have already proposed the concept of 'AI Aesthetics' and explored the possibilities.…”

SKYNET 2023 Conception of the Artificial Super Intelligence Project. A System Approach. ver. 3

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“… Information decomposition into three components -an important direction for creating a fullfledged perception system in AI systems. [Luppi et al (2024)] Griffiths Thomas L.,223 Grinspoon David,226 Grok,192,2,3,6,40,41,49,56,68,73,75,89,100,110,111,112,116,119,130,136,238 Gurnee Wes,139,196,227 Guterstam Arvid,227 Guttenberg Nicholas,133,207,56,65,129,161,163,165,167,201,202,203,238 hackers,25,26,30,32,35,37,…”

Building the Blocks of Being: The Attributes and Qualities Required for Consciousness

“…Attention is how an entity limits the information it gives priority resources to by selectively focusing on a specific selection of incoming information [10,26]. This attention may be triggered by a bottom-up process, whereby an external event attracts an entity's attention (e.g., a flicker of movement, a distinctly recognisable sound), or through a topdown approach whereby the entity chooses to focus on a specific event or region, externally or internally [3,27,28].…”