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  • The question of whether artificial beings or machines could become self-aware or conscious has been a philosophical question for centuries. The main problem is that self-awareness cannot be observed from an outside perspective and the distinction of being really self-aware or merely a clever imitation cannot be answered without access to knowledge about the mechanism's inner workings. We investigate common machine learning approaches with respect to their potential ability to become self-aware. We realize that many important algorithmic steps toward machines with a core consciousness have already been taken.

  • This study explores the potential for artificial agents to develop core consciousness, as proposed by Antonio Damasio's theory of consciousness. According to Damasio, the emergence of core consciousness relies on the integration of a self model, informed by representations of emotions and feelings, and a world model. We hypothesize that an artificial agent, trained via reinforcement learning (RL) in a virtual environment, can develop preliminary forms of these models as a byproduct of its primary task. The agent's main objective is to learn to play a video game and explore the environment. To evaluate the emergence of world and self models, we employ probes-feedforward classifiers that use the activations of the trained agent's neural networks to predict the spatial positions of the agent itself. Our results demonstrate that the agent can form rudimentary world and self models, suggesting a pathway toward developing machine consciousness. This research provides foundational insights into the capabilities of artificial agents in mirroring aspects of human consciousness, with implications for future advancements in artificial intelligence.

Last update from database: 3/23/25, 8:36 AM (UTC)