What we are is more than what we do
Abstract
If we take the subjective character of consciousness seriously, consciousness becomes a matter of "being" rather than "doing". Because "doing" can be dissociated from "being", functional criteria alone are insufficient to decide whether a system possesses the necessary requirements for being a physical substrate of consciousness. The dissociation between "being" and "doing" is most salient in artificial general intelligence, which may soon replicate any human capacity: computers can perform complex functions (in the limit resembling human behavior) in the absence of consciousness. Complex behavior becomes meaningless if it is not performed by a conscious being.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2102.04219,
title = {What we are is more than what we do},
author = {Larissa Albantakis and Giulio Tononi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2102.04219},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
4 pages; German version of this article to appear as a contribution to the anthology "Artificial Intelligence with Consciousness? Statements 2021" edited by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)