On the independence between phenomenal consciousness and computational intelligence
arXiv Preprint Archive August 3, 2022 Eduardo C. Garrido Merchán, Sara Lumbreras
Phenomenal consciousness and computational intelligence are independent properties, so machines that solve problems like humans do are not necessarily conscious. The authors argue that problem-solving ability does not imply consciousness, and that machines may develop higher computational intelligence than humans without possessing phenomenal consciousness. They propose an objective measure of computational intelligence and examine its distribution across humans, animals, and machines, while treating phenomenal consciousness as a dichotomous variable. The independence of these traits has critical social implications, particularly regarding rights: if rights were granted based on problem-solving capacity, machines could be seen as having more rights than people with disabilities, which the authors reject.