Chapter 1 – An Initial Model

Introduction

The quest to replicate, and even surpass, human capabilities through technology has been a constant effort throughout human history. From the manipulation of fire, agricultural techniques and the use of horses to transport us; to modern telecommunications, computing and contemporary means of transportation; human beings have always looked for ways to create systems and mechanisms that surpass their strengths and capabilities. As we move forward in this digital age, the idea of ​​an “artificial consciousness” has become a central topic of debate, fueling both hopes and fears in the scientific community, in governments, and across all human industries.

In this series of publications “Artificial Consciousness – How Far Can We Go?” , a detailed and technical roadmap is proposed that seeks to outline the steps and challenges involved in creating systems capable of implementing different levels of consciousness. This work is not limited to describing the technological implications, but also analyzes the ethical, philosophical and sociological implications of such development, maintaining a firm stance seeking significant scientific rigor.

Throughout this series of posts, we invite the reader to embark on a journey through the complexities and “mysteries” of artificial intelligence, exploring the frontiers of what is technically possible and reflecting on the decisions that, as a society, we must take when faced with the possibility of creating conscious machines. It is a technical and ethical challenge that promises to redefine our relationship with technology and, potentially, with ourselves.

The present – ​​an initial model

Currently, the concept of consciousness is the subject of debate by scientists and philosophers around the world. It is clear that the concept of “intelligence” suffered a similar debate starting in the 1950s with the beginning of the global discussion on Artificial Intelligence. This debate has as its main axis the definition of the concept of consciousness and the ambiguities and limitations of our understanding of said concept.

As a starting point to define the concept of consciousness, we are going to propose some fundamental ideas about what we call time. We usually think that time is divided into three large areas: the past, the present and the future; where the past is the time scope of events that have already happened; the present is a kind of infinitesimal moment in time that we also conceptualize as “actual moment.” and the future is the realm of time that has not yet happened. One of the main problems with these definitions is precisely their lack of verifiable scientific rigor; since it is not possible to measure the scope of what has already happened in its entirety, nor the scope of what has not yet happened; and even more so it is impossible to determine how small or big that space of time is that we call the present.

It might be more plausible to define the past and the future as a single reality; similar to Minkowski’s theory of the “Block Universe”. To exemplify this topic, let’s consider a scenario where a stone is thrown perpendicular to the ground, and it returns in free fall after a period of time, say 10 seconds. Once the stone is thrown, if there is no external intervention, it will inevitably return to the ground at a speed more or less similar to that at which it was thrown; approximately 49.05 m/s. From this perspective, the departure of the stone and its return, being events that occurred and will occur, respectively, can be considered the same reality; For the purposes of this analysis we will call it, “Trajectory Reality” (TR).

The role of consciousness and intelligence

Now let’s imagine that 5 seconds after throwing the stone, I decide to use a gun to shoot the stone that begins to fall. Assuming I have good aim and intuition, the bullet hits the stone, disintegrating it into a cloud of dust. At this point the “Trajectory Reality” or TR has been reshaped, changed forever. This change in reality has been orchestrated by my awareness or consciousness of the stone’s trajectory, my intelligence and the action I have taken of shooting the stone.

Under this example, it is evident that reality can be shaped, or defined by conscious and intelligent action (CIA). This concept is relevant to explain that the past is the realm of time where the CIA has no ability to act, and the future is the realm of time where reality can still be shaped by the CIA. Under this same line of thought, the present would no longer be exactly an infinitesimal point in time; but rather that variable period of time between past and future in which the Conscious Intelligent Action has the ability to shape reality.

From this reflection, we can intuit that consciousness and intelligence are entangled and have the ability to understand reality to a certain degree and redefine it through action.

The following diagram slightly illustrates this concept, which we can refer to as the dynamics between perceived reality and shaped reality through conscious and intelligent action.

This is where the term we used previously to refer to the present as “actual moment” becomes especially relevant since it effectively connotes the range of time where action can be taken (actual) and in fact shape reality.

We can distinguish many other defining properties of consciousness, its relationship to intelligence and reality. We will address these in our next post.