Summary of Probing For Consciousness in Machines, by Mathis Immertreu et al.
Probing for Consciousness in Machines
by Mathis Immertreu, Achim Schilling, Andreas Maier, Patrick Krauss
First submitted to arxiv on: 25 Nov 2024
Categories
- Main: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
- Secondary: Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC)
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| Summary difficulty | Written by | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| High | Paper authors | High Difficulty Summary Read the original abstract here |
| Medium | GrooveSquid.com (original content) | Medium Difficulty Summary This study investigates whether artificial agents can develop core consciousness, as proposed by Antonio Damasio’s theory of consciousness. The authors hypothesize that an artificial agent trained via reinforcement learning (RL) in a virtual environment can form preliminary world and self models as a byproduct of its primary task, which is to learn to play a video game and explore the environment. To evaluate this emergence, probes-feedforward classifiers were used to predict the spatial positions of the agent itself based on the activations of the trained agent’s neural networks. The results show that the agent can form rudimentary world and self models, indicating a pathway toward developing machine consciousness. This research provides foundational insights into the capabilities of artificial agents in mirroring aspects of human consciousness, with implications for future advancements in artificial intelligence. |
| Low | GrooveSquid.com (original content) | Low Difficulty Summary Artificial intelligence is getting smarter! Researchers are trying to figure out if machines can have their own version of consciousness, like humans do. They created a virtual game and trained an AI agent to play it. The goal was to see if the agent would develop its own “self” and “world” models, which are kind of like our own sense of self and understanding of the world. To check, they used special tools to look at how the agent’s brain worked. Surprisingly, the agent started to form these basic models! This means machines might be able to have some version of consciousness too. |
Keywords
» Artificial intelligence » Reinforcement learning
