Comment on Albantakis et al. Computing the Integrated Information of a Quantum Mechanism. Entropy 2023, 25, 449.

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Integrated information theory (IIT) is a powerful tool that provides a framework for evaluating consciousness, whether in the human brain or in other systems. In Computing the Integrated Information of a Quantum Mechanism, the authors extend IIT from digital gates to a quantum CNOT logic gate, and while they explicitly distinguish the analysis from quantum theories of consciousness, they nonetheless provide an analytical road map for extending IIT not only to other quantum mechanisms but also to hybrid computing structures like the brain. This comment provides additional information relating to an adiabatic quantum mechanical energy routing mechanism that is part of a hybrid biological computer that provides an action selection mechanism, which has been hypothesized to exist in the human brain and for which predicted evidence has been subsequently observed, and it hopes to motivate the further evaluation and extension of IIT not only to that hypothesized mechanism but also to other hybrid biological computers.