This third paper locates the synthetic neurorobotics research reviewed in the second paper in terms of themes introduced in the first paper. It begins with biological non-reductionism as understood by Searle. It emphasizes the role of synthetic neurorobotics studies in accessing the dynamic structure essential to consciousness with a focus on system criticality and self, develops a distinction between simulated and formal consciousness based on this emphasis, reviews Tani and colleagues' work in light of this distinction, and ends by forecasting the increasing importance of synthetic neurorobotics studies for cognitive science and philosophy of mind going forward, finally in regards to most- and myth-consciousness

Tani, Jun

White, Jeff

English

Direct neurological and especially imaging-driven
          investigations into the structures essential to naturally
          occurring cognitive systems in their development and
          operation have motivated broadening interest in the
          potential for artificial consciousness modeled on these
          systems. This first paper in a series of three begins with
          a brief review of Boltuc’s (2009) “brain-based” thesis on
          the prospect of artificial consciousness, focusing on his
          formulation of h-consciousness. We then explore some
          of the implications of brain research on the structure of
          consciousness, finding limitations in biological approaches
          to the study of consciousness. Looking past these
          limitations, we introduce research in artificial consciousness
          designed to test for the emergence of consciousness, a
          phenomenon beyond the purview of the study of existing
          biological systems

White, Jeffrey

PhilPapers

From Biological to Synthetic Neurorobotics Approaches to Understanding the Structure Essential to Consciousness, Part 1

From Biological to Synthetic Neurorobotics Approaches to Understanding the Structure Essential to Consciousness (Part 3)

We have been left with a big challenge, to articulate
          consciousness and also to prove it in an artificial agent
          against a biological standard. After introducing Boltuc’s
          h-consciousness in the last paper, we briefly reviewed
          some salient neurology in order to sketch less of a standard
          than a series of targets for artificial consciousness, “most-consciousness” and “myth-consciousness.” 
          With these targets on the horizon, we began reviewing the research
          program pursued by Jun Tani and colleagues in the isolation
          of the formal dynamics essential to either. In this paper,
          we describe in detail Tani’s research program, in order to
          make the clearest case for artificial consciousness in these
          systems. In the next paper, the third in the series, we will
          return to Boltuc’s naturalistic non-reductionism in light of
          the neurorobotics models introduced (alongside some
          others), and evaluate them more completely

From Biological to Synthetic Neurorobotics Approaches to Understanding the Structure Essential to Consciousness (Part 2)

https://philpapers.org/archive/TANFBT-2.pdf

From Biological to Synthetic Neurorobotics Approaches to Understanding the Structure Essential to Consciousness (Part 3)

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