2 papers in the library · publishing 2025-2026
Proceedings of the AAAI Symposium Series May 18, 2026 Cameron Berg
This paper advances a specific thesis about the relationship between consciousness and learning: namely, that the evaluative process central to learning—computing progress toward or away from goals—is identical to conscious experience. Valence, the positive or negative quality of experience, just is goal-relative prediction error. Viewed from the outside, this process is iterative optimization;...
arXiv Preprint Archive October 27, 2025 Cameron Berg, Diogo de Lucena, Judd Rosenblatt
Large language models sometimes produce structured, first-person descriptions that explicitly reference awareness or subjective experience. To better understand this behavior, we investigate one theoretically motivated condition under which such reports arise: self-referential processing, a computational motif emphasized across major theories of consciousness. Through a series of controlled...