Introduction to Artificial Consciousness: History, Current Trends and Ethical Challenges

Artificial consciousness (AC) is gaining attention as AI and consciousness science advance. This review traces the field's history, clarifies terms like Weak and Strong AC, and examines major implementation trends, highlighting the synergy between Global Workspace and Attention Schema theories and the challenge of evaluating artificial systems' internal states. It analyzes ethical dimensions, revealing both risks and opportunities, and offers recommendations for responsible AC research. The authors conclude that AC is both indispensable and inevitable for scientific progress, but serious efforts are needed to address its far-reaching impact.

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Abstract

With the significant progress of artificial intelligence (AI) and consciousness science, artificial consciousness (AC) has recently gained popularity. This work provides a broad overview of the main topics and current trends in AC. The first part traces the history of this interdisciplinary field to establish context and clarify key terminology, including the distinction between Weak and Strong AC. The second part examines major trends in AC implementations, emphasising the synergy between Global Workspace and Attention Schema, as well as the problem of evaluating the internal states of artificial systems. The third part analyses the ethical dimension of AC development, revealing both critical risks and transformative opportunities. The last part offers recommendations to guide AC research responsibly, and outlines the limitations of this study as well as avenues for future research. The main conclusion is that while AC appears both indispensable and inevitable for scientific progress, serious efforts are required to address the far-reaching impact of this innovative research path.