Beautifully written piece on a complex topic. I have been following you on Twitter and you never disappoint! The core idea and frame are compelling with some vivid writing! Congratulations 💕
Wow. That’s quite an extensive piece! Your dedication and passion for the subject shine through in your writing! Deep and insightful exploration of the subject! Great job 👏👏👏👏
Astonishing levels of analysis and exposition in a definitive piece Nat. A milestone in progression of our collective awareness.
Many congratulations.
You know my view, that I do not think something created other than by biological procreation & cell division could be termed "alive". An AI emulating something approaching sentience would always have its roots in computational processing. However, the distinction becomes troublesome if, as I believe has happened in Australia, we presume to be the creators of a hybrid biological/artificial processor.
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with only primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461
Long. But speechless. Congrats to you for writing and dedicating a significant amount of time to this piece of writing and also to my own patience to read it all... Just disregard the latter. XD
Hi Nat. My name is Sergio. This topic is of great interest to me, and I have read extensively on it. I am very impressed with this blog. The format is unique and unorthodox, the writing style is distinctive, and the ability to convey complex concepts in simple language is remarkable. I was so intrigued that I looked up the About section. I now understand why you are able to speak about the most difficult subjects with such eloquence. You have been a lecturer for many years, and your experience shows. I am delighted to have become a loyal reader of this blog.
You're a great writer, Nat and I'm here for you!
Yet another exhaustive material! How you do it is beyond my comprehension but I'm loving your unique writing style! Keep rocking, Natalia!
Beautifully written piece on a complex topic. I have been following you on Twitter and you never disappoint! The core idea and frame are compelling with some vivid writing! Congratulations 💕
Wow. That’s quite an extensive piece! Your dedication and passion for the subject shine through in your writing! Deep and insightful exploration of the subject! Great job 👏👏👏👏
Astonishing levels of analysis and exposition in a definitive piece Nat. A milestone in progression of our collective awareness.
Many congratulations.
You know my view, that I do not think something created other than by biological procreation & cell division could be termed "alive". An AI emulating something approaching sentience would always have its roots in computational processing. However, the distinction becomes troublesome if, as I believe has happened in Australia, we presume to be the creators of a hybrid biological/artificial processor.
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with only primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461
Meanwhile, my dumb azz embracing Sollipsism to get a lil comfort.
Fantastic! Fantastic! It took me 40 minutes but I'd re-read it again and again!
Long. But speechless. Congrats to you for writing and dedicating a significant amount of time to this piece of writing and also to my own patience to read it all... Just disregard the latter. XD
Hi Nat. My name is Sergio. This topic is of great interest to me, and I have read extensively on it. I am very impressed with this blog. The format is unique and unorthodox, the writing style is distinctive, and the ability to convey complex concepts in simple language is remarkable. I was so intrigued that I looked up the About section. I now understand why you are able to speak about the most difficult subjects with such eloquence. You have been a lecturer for many years, and your experience shows. I am delighted to have become a loyal reader of this blog.
The pleasure, eventually,🙄😂, was all mine, Nat. Engrossing, engaging, and so thought provoking. Well done!
Wonderful writing Nat. It took me two sittings to get to the end, and I’m absolutely blown away by way you tackle such complex subjects. 👏✍️
Acabo de registrarme solo para felicitarte! No pares! Este temazo fue demasiado bueno y ahora empiezo a leer los otros.
Great stuff... You ever delve into Actor-Network Theory or Object-Oriented Ontology?