Reflection on systemic aspects of consciousness
Zuzana Běinová
Neural Network World 2023 DOI: 10.14311/nnw.2023.33.022 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that although AI development appears revolutionary, it builds successively on prior findings, and that questions of what counts as intelligence and whether systems can gain consciousness remain open. Proposes that systems sciences can help integrate knowledge on these topics, and presents an overview of differing viewpoints on system consciousness. |
Abstract
Today's quick development of artificial intelligence (AI) brings us to the questions that have until recently been the domain of philosophy or even sciencefiction. When can be a system considered an intelligent one? What is a consciousness and where it comes from? Can systems gain consciousness? It is necessary to have in mind, that although the development seems to be a revolutionary one, the progress is successive, today's technologies did not emerge from thin air, they are firmly built on previous findings. As now some wild thoughts and theories where the AI development leads to have arisen, it is time to look back at the background theories and summarize, what do we know on the topics of intelligence, consciousness, where they come from and what are different viewpoints on these topics. This paper combines the findings from different areas and present overview of different attitudes on systems consciousness and emphasizes the role of systems sciences in helping the knowledge in this area.