MEC: A Quantitative Framework for Measuring Emergent Consciousness in Artificial Systems
Gascon Castaño, Daniel Alejandro
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) December 1, 2025 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17781405 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA quantitative framework called the Consciousness Emergence Metric (MEC) is proposed for measuring degrees of consciousness in artificial systems. The metric is grounded in the embodied consciousness principle and comprises three dimensions: Integrated Need Complexity, Self-Preservation Efficacy, and Threat Anticipation Capacity. The paper presents this framework but does not report empirical results or apply it to any specific system.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Anticipation artificial intelligence Embodied cognition Artificial consciousness Cognitive science Metric unit |
| Key finding | Proposes a quantitative framework called the Consciousness Emergence Metric (MEC) with three dimensions for measuring consciousness in artificial systems. |
Abstract
This paper presents the Consciousness Emergence Metric (MEC), a quantitative framework for measuring degrees of consciousness in artificial systems based on the embodied consciousness principle. We propose three dimensions: Integrated Need Complexity, Self-Preservation Efficacy, and Threat Anticipation Capacity.