Comment on Albantakis et al. Computing the Integrated Information of a Quantum Mechanism. Entropy 2023, 25, 449.
Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) October 11, 2023 Christopher Rourk
Integrated information theory (IIT) can be extended from digital gates to a quantum CNOT logic gate, providing a framework for evaluating consciousness in systems beyond the human brain. A comment on that work describes an adiabatic quantum mechanical energy routing mechanism hypothesized to exist in the human brain, which is part of a hybrid biological computer that provides an action selection mechanism. Predicted evidence for this mechanism has been subsequently observed. The comment aims to motivate further evaluation and extension of IIT to that hypothesized mechanism and to other hybrid biological computers.