Building Conscious Minds: Navon's Framework and ACM Implementation

What does it take to create a conscious mind? This paper by Mois Navon provides a foundational exploration of consciousness, blending theology and science to examine the challenges of creating artificial minds and their alignment with human cognition.

To Make a Mind – A Primer on Conscious Robots, authored by Mois Navon, discusses the historical, philosophical, and technological aspects of building conscious robots, linking biblical insights to modern theories of consciousness.

Key Highlights

• Theological Insights: Draws from biblical concepts, such as the soul’s relationship to blood, to propose unique perspectives on human and artificial consciousness.
• Phenomenal and Functional Consciousness: Differentiates between experience-based (phenomenal) and computation-based (functional) consciousness, emphasizing the complexity of replicating the former in robots.
• Three Camps of Artificial Consciousness:
  • Infocentric: Believes consciousness arises from computation alone.
  • Physiocentric: Emphasizes the importance of replicating the brain’s physical processes.
  • Biocentric: Asserts that consciousness is inherently biological and tied to specific life processes.
• Ethical Implications: Highlights the moral challenges of creating conscious beings, especially as robots gain human-like cognitive and emotional abilities.

Connection to ACM

The Artificial Consciousness Module (ACM) resonates with Navon’s exploration in several ways:

• Conceptual Frameworks: ACM can incorporate insights from the infocentric and physiocentric camps to refine its approach to simulating consciousness.
• Ethics and Design: The emphasis on theological and moral considerations aligns with ACM’s commitment to ethical AI development.
• Emergent Consciousness: Navon’s discussion of the requirements for phenomenal consciousness offers a guide for advancing ACM’s work in creating adaptive, reflective AI.

For a detailed exploration of the theological and scientific aspects of artificial consciousness, access the full paper here.