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Synthetic consciousness: the distributed adaptive control perspective.

Paul F M J Verschure1

  • 1Laboratory of Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems, Center of Autonomous Systems and Neurorobotics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08018 Barcelona, Spain paul.verschure@upf.edu.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|July 20, 2016
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The distributed adaptive control theory of consciousness (DACtoc) explains consciousness as a memory system that processes hidden world states. This theory proposes a synthetic methodology to address the hard problem of consciousness and its evolutionary emergence.

Keywords:
consciousnessdistributed adaptive controlmemoryneuronal substratenormativitysocial brain

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Consciousness presents a major scientific challenge, involving the 'hard problem' of subjective experience and its objective, verifiable explanation.
  • Defining the function and physical basis of consciousness remains a key conceptual hurdle in scientific inquiry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose the distributed adaptive control theory of consciousness (DACtoc) as a framework to address the methodological and conceptual challenges of consciousness.
  • To elucidate the evolutionary origins and functional role of consciousness in enabling complex agent interactions.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing a convergent synthetic methodology, including the analysis of synthetic, biologically grounded agents ('quale parsing').
  • Mapping the proposed functional architecture of consciousness onto specific brain systems (brainstem, midbrain, thalamo-cortical, cortico-cortical).
  • Analyzing the theory with respect to known deficits in consciousness.

Main Results:

  • DACtoc hypothesizes consciousness emerged in the Cambrian period, facilitating stable multi-agent environments by managing hidden world states.
  • Consciousness functions as an autonomous virtualization memory, unifying subconscious simulations to extract norms and project value for action control.
  • The theory predicts that normative bootstrapping of conscious agents requires an intentionality prior.

Conclusions:

  • DACtoc offers a novel perspective on consciousness, integrating its methodological, functional, and physical aspects.
  • Human consciousness represents a significant evolutionary transition, enabling agent autonomy beyond biological constraints.
  • The theory has implications for understanding the future of human evolution in the Anthropocene, potentially leading to post-biological forms.