Toward Criteria for Artificial Self-Consciousness: Unity, Normativity, and Agency
Proceedings of the AAAI Symposium Series May 18, 2026 B. Scot Rousse
This paper distinguishes two forms of consciousness that are often conflated in debates about artificial intelligence: pre-reflective experiential awareness and reflective self-consciousness. Drawing on phenomenology, Kant, and con-temporary philosophy of mind, it argues that pre-reflective awareness involves the minimal self-involvement characteristic of phenomenal experience, while reflective...