Mechanisms of consciousness

This work was mainly done in 1997. I wanted to understand how consciousness works, using a constructive approach: an idea is considered worthy of attention only if it is supported by a detailed algorithm that should work today, and not in an uncertain future.

As a result of the study and rejection of numerous dead-end ideas, it was necessary to abandon the use of such recognized tools as neural networks and semantic analysis. The initial consciousness does not require (and cannot arise from modern artificial) neural networks, and the language appears in the later stages of the development of consciousness. However, I consider these areas technically very important. Once an active system has been built that can learn and accumulate useful experience, its perception of the world can be significantly improved by using pattern recognition systems based on neural networks, and its reasonableness can be enhanced by training using sound semantic structures for knowledge transfer. In my consciousness algorithm, structures resembling neural networks and capacious commands that resemble words arise and develop.

Consciousness arises in animals as one of the means of improving their adaptation to the environment. Rapid (compared to the animal's life) adaptation requires the ability to foresee, and the biological vital needs of the organism serve as the motive of adaptation. An artificial system with such properties also acquires consciousness.

In this article I try to talk about the work of consciousness in a "functional" style. Readers with trained systems thinking will see behind this description an interaction of objects that can be programmed. The low resource intensity of the algorithm makes me think that a very high level of consciousness, up to the consciousness of mammals, can be embodied today. This was the reason to write the introductory article "Dangerous Intelligence."

I am not familiar with international experience in the field of artificial intelligence, I do not pretend to a new word, and I apologize in advance for repeating already known ideas without appropriate references.

The consciousness algorithm, which I demonstrate in the butterfly and flower etude, remembers, structures, uses experience and tries to satisfy its desires. It can be embedded both in an ephemeral creature on the screen, and in a toy robot. But the level of his consciousness, achieved without special training, does not exceed the consciousness of the herring. As a result of learning, for example, various games, this level can be compared with the consciousness of a mouse or even a cat. I focused on “pure” self-learning consciousness, and have not yet developed interactive learning tools. In the algorithm used, it is not so much the brain that is important as the system of interaction with the outside world.

What is consciousness?

How is the mind? What processes, mechanisms, interacting objects are required to create consciousness and self-awareness? What is needed for making not a model of consciousness, but just a consciousness?

Usually the word consciousness is used as a characteristic of an individual being. It can "lose consciousness". And the word mind means the fundamental ability to be conscious. For example, "reasonable man." There are other interpretations. But I will not dwell on words anymore. Only on why consciousness is possible and how it works.

It is not known how to prove that a person thinks

Confidence in what people think is based on experience and conviction in their own minds, and not on measurements and logical conclusions from them. That is why it is difficult for science to approach a deep study of consciousness. We can study the brain, neurons, languages, behavior, but not consciousness itself.

We are not observing mind, but sensible behavior.

Since we cannot prove this precisely, then we will subjectively judge the presence of consciousness in some object by its behavior. In this case, you can take some kind of behavior for the conscious, and later find out that it was a mistake. But we have no more reliable way, and we will not waste time on its establishment, unless this is critical for answering the questions posed.

The essence of the subject is subjective

Man treats himself too prejudiced. And although I believe that I can draw useful conclusions about the nature of consciousness based on people's behavior, but I am also confident that these arguments are not convincing (for people). Therefore, we will consider the consciousness of other animals.

The behavior of the animal is controlled by its nervous system.

Usually, the larger the animal's brain, the more intelligent the behavior of this animal. The nervous system, like other organs and systems of the body, was invented by nature as one of the means of ensuring the survival of the species. The development of the nervous system and the increase in centralized brain also occurred as a result of the evolutionary struggle for survival. But there are some forms of life that survive without the nervous system, for example, plants.

Plants do not live, but survive

Compare the individual behavior of plants and animals. What, in fact, in their behavior contributes to the survival of the species? The very word behavior does not fit the plant. Plants live their age without a noticeable manifestation of individual properties. The survival of a single plant lies in the fact that it is able to endure adverse conditions that may occur at some time during the life of the plant. The adaptability of a plant species to changing conditions is ensured by the fact that plants that are poorly adapted to these conditions do not survive and do not pass on their unfortunate signs to offspring.

Animals can improve their lives.

Animals, such as cats and mice, are completely different in adverse conditions. They are actively trying to find a way out. Actually, this is what I call behavior. Behavior is a fairly quick response in response to changing external conditions. If bad conditions persist for a long time, then the cat tries to adapt to them. She is looking for the right behavior in a new environment for her. But if all attempts to improve the situation are hopeless, then the cat, like the plant, can only hope and endure.

The complex behavior of animals is a manifestation of conditioned and innate reflexes. This is true for simple animals, like a snail, and for the most intelligent, like a dog. Unlike plants, animals with a nervous system are able to acquire conditioned, not genetically programmed reflexes, that is, to learn.

Animals may find new beneficial (i.e. reasonable?) Behavior

In some cases, the behavior based on acquired reflexes is so "reasonable" that some, like me, consider it reasonable without quotes. Whether this behavior is a manifestation of the "real" mind or only a sophisticated adaptation of a living organism to a changing world is not known, since we can judge the mind only by behavior, and do not have a constructive "indicator of the presence of mind." And what, if not the adaptation to the world, to the extent that the world changes according to its needs, is human behavior? So, having agreed to judge the mind by behavior, we can recognize two important facts.
The judgment of the presence of reason is subjective, to the extent that some people consider the behavior of some of their fellow tribesmen to be unconscious.
You can enter a subjective scale of reasonableness. For example, a snail, a cat, and a man are listed here in order of increasing intelligence.

It is possible that the mind does not begin with the simplest level of organization of the nervous system, but “arises” with its sufficient development. However, while it is not clear to us what reason is, and the mechanism of such an occurrence is not clear, we will assume that all creatures with the nervous system are intelligent. In particular, the most simple creatures can have "zero" or "vanishingly small" intelligence. But with this approach we can compare the behavior of many animals in order to find out what exactly in the behavior of this animal seems reasonable to us. This should be such signs that are detected in all animals, without exception. Obviously, rationality is not that the creature feeds and multiplies, because plants, which, judging by the lack of behavior, do not possess reason, also have similar signs.

Such good definitions of consciousness, such as the ability to achieve a goal, or to find a solution, or to make a decision, are also not suitable for us, since they are not constructive, in particular, they are not uniquely associated with the observed behavior. “Goal” and “decision” are themselves determined through consciousness. The ability to communicate with their own kind, and the forms of such communication are "more observable", but often they are difficult to distinguish from the physical interaction. Example: Pollen transfer.

In my opinion, a good observable criterion of reasonableness is the ability to actively adapt to changing environmental conditions, that is, the ability to learn from your experience.

Self-learning is a sign of consciousness.

Consciousness is an inner property, a creative motor of a self-learning organism.

The initial consciousness arises with such an organization of the nervous system that provides the opportunity to learn. This is not the self-consciousness that makes you give way to an old woman. The constructiveness of this definition is that it does not limit the means for the manufacture of a "creative motor." Invent and create a device that can learn - and it will gain consciousness. Find the ability to learn from a robot, and this will prove that he has consciousness.

Instead of the word "self-study" I sometimes use the broader concept of "adaptation." If a creature independently finds a new behavior in the new conditions, and no one has taught him that behavior, then this creature is capable of adaptation (for self-learning). The invention of new behavior is a sign of creativity, and creativity is a sign of consciousness.

Man armed

A person equipped with modern technical means (books, cars, weapons) is able to survive in a wider range of external conditions. He is better adapted to the world than a human being, as a living being. In accordance with this definition, it can be considered that the consciousness of a civilized person continues to evolve, although the consciousness of a “biological” person may have limits that have already been reached, judging by the fact that we have to intensively learn throughout our lives.

Reasonableness is proportional to the ability to adapt

The great potential of adaptation is clearly visible from such a thought experiment. Imagine a creature with the most developed adaptation. Let this creature be forced to adapt to human culture. And it learned to play chess, to design space rockets and to compose refined poems. Who will deny him now rationality!

Therefore, the ability of a living being to adapt should be considered as manifestations of his consciousness. And everyone has the right to subjectively assess the degree of development of this consciousness.

Self awareness

"Primary" consciousness does not guarantee awareness. Awareness is a level of development of consciousness in which the subject distinguishes itself from other objects.

Self-awareness is the main universally recognized sign of consciousness. However, this is only a special case of awareness of the "external" world. We perceive the external world in the form of various qualities that reflect the physical parameters of natural phenomena recorded by our senses. We are not aware of our own consciousness, but our own sensations of the objective world and our thoughts, which can be represented as images from the object world, that is, as images of sensations. The judgment of one’s own consciousness is derived from the observation of one’s behavior. Therefore, the problem of self-awareness is reduced to the problem of awareness of one's feelings.

Awareness of sensations provides the same internal mechanism of consciousness - the motor of self-learning and creativity. Actually, consciousness is not a brain, not a behavior, but a mechanism, that is, a special process of information processing.

Consciousness is a process

You can completely save information and stop the process of its processing. In this case, the consciousness will disappear.

For awareness, it is important that the creative mechanism of consciousness produces the best organ behavior under the circumstances. Brain behavior is its interaction with other organs. The behavior of the hand is its interaction with the physical world and with the brain. If a sufficiently perfect "not improved" behavior is found, then the awareness also disappears, being replaced by automatic control. Therefore, a carefully worked out behavior, for example, when playing a musical instrument, becomes automatic and does not distract awareness from musical creativity.

Although we do not attach much importance to this, but it should be noted that the sensations that accompany the automatic behavior can also become automatic, that is, unconscious. For example, a healthy person does not pay attention to the fact that when walking on the feet of his legs a force of tens of kilograms acts. And in another situation, we feel and consciously react to a light touch.

Consciousness is not a material object.

The question "where is the mind" does not make sense. The necessary information processing can be performed by the local ganglion, the brain or a remote processor, but the consciousness is not inside these organs. For example, we see a butterfly on a computer screen. The processing of signals produced by its organs takes place inside the system unit, but it does not have a material body at all. It follows that it is impossible to assign the function of consciousness to the brain, since the brain is only one of the organs that support the observed conscious behavior of a living being.

Awareness is needed only where automation is impossible.

The living brain, as an information machine, constantly interacts with the object world. He singles out only a small part of his abilities for conscious creativity. And the mechanism of consciousness itself is an unstoppable process that works even when we are asleep and are not aware of anything. Awareness of oneself is only one of the many processes that take place in consciousness while controlling the body and its behavior in the outside world. It is a process of creative (that is, non-automatic) perception of the external world. The perception of the world cannot be fully automated, as a rational living being must be prepared for an unexpected unpredictable change in the surrounding world. It is required to maintain attention and have a “reserve of rationality” (awareness and ability to draw conclusions) in order to adequately change behavior.

Most of the processes of consciousness - is the control of the organs of the body, brought to automatism, and therefore it is not conscious. I admit that while the brain and other organs of an unborn child developed and learned to interact with each other, this creative process of self-learning was conscious. A maternal organism helped to learn, insuring the fruit from too rich creativity.

Self-awareness of individuality is not the basis of consciousness, but the perceived, most creative side of his work, which cannot turn into an automatic, easily recognizable behavior. Therefore, the consciousness of another subject is not directly observable. But own consciousness is observable. Although automatic processes constitute the main work of the mechanism of consciousness, they are subconscious and do not distract our attention from the creative work of consciousness, however small it may be.

Understanding criterion is a working self-learning algorithm.

Having developed an algorithm (technology) of self-learning or universal adaptation and having supplied an artificial creature with this algorithm, we provide it with a means for the development of consciousness and self-awareness.

Life among their own kind

Since an isolated consciousness is not observable, the modeling of a self-learning system is possible only simultaneously with the modeling of the senses and actions, that is, the sensors for interacting with the artificial or real world. Objects (bodies) in this world may not have a mind or perform some programmed actions. And some of the objects can be reasonable, for example, these are people and robots.

For us, only people are reasonable

Let artificial life be created. Let's try to test the rationality of some artificial creatures. If it developed in the environment of its own kind, and not of people, then it has a completely different world of interests. For us, it will not be like a thinker or a cunning Turing test, but an animal, a car or a program.

Naked philosopher

Lack of pressure from human culture will do the same with man. Imagine a dark limitless space without gravity, filled with motionless clean air under normal conditions. In this weightlessness hangs a naked philosopher. To simplify, let him not want to eat. How long will he remain a wise man?

Soon he will lose his mind. Experience shows that a strong decrease in sensory flow (sensory hunger) leads to loss of consciousness.A prolonged restriction of contact with people, as in a solitary prison cell, is dangerous for the psyche.
This example once again shows that constant dynamic contact with the object world is a prerequisite for both life and mind. A full-fledged intelligent life is possible only in some cultural environment. For example, among people. In order for us to recognize a being as reasonable, it must adapt to human culture. If the parrot can take the Turing test, then no one will doubt that he has consciousness. But if the same or even more sensible parrot has never met people, then he cannot pass the Turing test. Because it is a test for the presence of human consciousness.

Source: http://chernykh.net/content/view/1055/1138/