Frontiers in Psychology
September 30, 2026
Achim Schilling, Patrick Krauss
Recent advances in artificial intelligence, connectomics, and computational neuroscience increasingly raise the question of whether artificial systems—or even pure computer simulations—could become conscious. Contemporary theories emphasize embodiment, predictive processing, homeostatic regulation, and continuous interaction between cognition, body, and environment rather than isolated...
International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
April 13, 2026
H. Moradi, Ignacio Avellino, Patrick Krauss et al.
As AI systems increasingly display human-like behavior, people often attribute consciousness to these machines, raising questions about anthropomorphism, ethics, and design. We report findings from an online survey (N=553), including academics from the formal sciences, natural sciences, humanities, and a heterogeneous group of other participants. Respondents evaluated perceptions of...
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
August 20, 2025
Mathis Immertreu, Achim Schilling, Andreas Maier et al.
This study explores the potential for artificial agents to develop core consciousness, as proposed by Antonio Damasio's theory of consciousness. According to Damasio, the emergence of core consciousness relies on the integration of a self model, informed by representations of emotions and feelings, and a world model. We hypothesize that an artificial agent, trained via reinforcement learning...
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 25, 2024
Mathis Immertreu, Achim Schilling, Andreas Maier et al.
preprint
This study explores the potential for artificial agents to develop core consciousness, as proposed by Antonio Damasio's theory of consciousness. According to Damasio, the emergence of core consciousness relies on the integration of a self model, informed by representations of emotions and feelings, and a world model. We hypothesize that an artificial agent, trained via reinforcement learning...
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience
2020
Patrick Krauss, Andreas Maier
The question of whether artificial beings or machines could become self-aware or conscious has been a philosophical question for centuries. The main problem is that self-awareness cannot be observed from an outside perspective and the distinction of being really self-aware or merely a clever imitation cannot be answered without access to knowledge about the mechanism's inner workings. We...