On Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness
Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness March 1, 2020 Pentti O. A. Haikonen
Artificial Intelligence will not achieve general intelligence unless it can incorporate meanings into its computations, a challenge known as the Symbol Grounding Problem. Current computers manipulate symbols without meaning, and proposed solutions involve self-explanatory sensory information, which can only be used in neural network machines different from existing digital computers. In humans, such self-explanatory information takes the form of qualia, which are tied to phenomenal consciousness. The author hypothesizes that solving the Symbol Grounding Problem is unavoidably connected to consciousness: machines that use self-explanatory information would be conscious.