Consciousness defined: requirements for biological and artificial general intelligence

Consciousness is the apparatus enabling decision-making, defined by fundamental requirements rather than by observed behaviors. Drawing on current theories and neurological evidence, the author argues that consciousness requires at least some capacity for perception, a memory to store perceptual information that provides a framework for imagination, and a sense of self capable of making decisions based on possible and desired futures. The loss of any one component removes the capability for conscious thought. This definition allows objective assessment of consciousness in any agent, including non-human animals and artificial intelligence, without requiring choice behavior or explicit temporal awareness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Consciousness is notoriously hard to define with objective terms. An objective definition of consciousness is critically needed so that we might accurately understand how consciousness and resultant choice behaviour may arise in biological or artificial systems. Many theories have integrated neurobiological and psychological research to explain how consciousness might arise, but few, if any, outline what is fundamentally required to generate consciousness. To identify such requirements, I examine current theories of consciousness and corresponding scientific research to generate a new definition of consciousness from first principles. Critically, consciousness is the apparatus that provides the ability to make decisions, but it is not defined by the decision itself. As such, a definition of consciousness does not require choice behaviour or an explicit awareness of temporality despite both being well-characterised outcomes of conscious thought. Rather, requirements for consciousness include: at least some capability for perception, a memory for the storage of such perceptual information which in turn provides a framework for an imagination with which a sense of self can be capable of making decisions based on possible and desired futures. Thought experiments and observable neurological phenomena demonstrate that these components are fundamentally required of consciousness, whereby the loss of any one component removes the capability for conscious thought. Identifying these requirements provides a new definition for consciousness by which we can objectively determine consciousness in any conceivable agent, such as non-human animals and artificially intelligent systems.