An academic survey on theoretical foundations, common assumptions and the current state of consciousness science

Abstract

We report the results of an academic survey into the theoretical and methodological foundations, common assumptions and the current state of the field of consciousness science. The survey consisted of 22 questions, was distributed online and at two different occasions of the annual meeting of the Association of the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC, 2018 and 2019), targeting active scientists in the field only. We examined responses from 232 consciousness scientists with different backgrounds (e.g., philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, computer science) and at various stages of their careers (e.g., junior/senior faculty, graduate/undergraduate students). The results reveal that while respondents answer related questions quite consistently, there remains considerable discussion and debate between researchers about the definition of consciousness and the way it should be studied. To highlight a few observations, a majority of respondents believe that machines could have consciousness, that consciousness is a gradual phenomenon in the animal kingdom and that unconscious processing is extensive, encompassing both low-level as well as high-level cognitive functions. Further, we show which theories of consciousness are currently considered most promising and how supposedly different theories cluster together, which dependent measures are best used to index the presence or absence of consciousness, and which neural measures are the most likely signatures of consciousness. These findings provide us with a snapshot of the current, dominant views of professional researchers in the field and therefore may help to prioritise research and theoretical approaches to foster progress.

The Moral Consideration of Artificial Entities: A Literature Review

“…sentience) will be created, or are at least theoretically possible (see, for example, Thompson, 1965;Aleksander, 1996;Buttazzo, 2001;Blackmore, 1999;Franklin, 2003;Harnad, 2003;Holland, 2007;Chrisley, 2008;Seth, 2009;Haikonen, 2012;Bringsjord et al, 2015;Reese, 2018;Anthis and Paez, 2021;Angel, 2019). Surveys of cognitive scientists (Francken et al, 2021) and artificial intelligence researchers (McDermott, 2007) suggest that many are open to this possibility. Tomasik (2011), Bostrom (2014), Gloor (2016a), and Sotala and Gloor (2017) argue that the insufficient moral consideration of sentient artificial entities, such as the subroutines or simulations run by a future superintelligent AI, could lead to astronomical amounts of suffering.…”

Predictive Neuronal Adaptation as a Basis for Consciousness

“…It is largely accepted that consciousness is a gradual phenomenon ( Francken et al, 2021 ). It was also suggested that even a single cell may have a minimum level of consciousness, based on the complexity of behavior and complexity of information-processing within each cell ( Reber, 2016 ; Baluška and Reber, 2019 ).…”

Current Understanding of the “Insight” Phenomenon Across Disciplines

“…However, the path toward a solution can be achieved by other mechanisms. The free energy principle [the basis of Predictive Processing Theory (PPT), e.g., Hohwy and Seth, 2020 ; Francken et al, 2021 ] predicts that all sentient beings minimize uncertainty for energetic reasons ( Friston, 2003 ). According to PPT, all interaction with the environment involves constant amendment between perceptual input and the internal models ( Friston et al, 2016a ).…”