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On the Definition of the Concepts Thinking, Consciousness, and Conscience (Artificial Intelligence/Mind/Cognltion/Perception) ANDREI S

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On the Definition of the Concepts Thinking, Consciousness, and Conscience (Artificial Intelligence/Mind/Cognltion/Perception) ANDREI S Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 89, pp. 5774-5778, July 1992 Psychology On the definition of the concepts thinking, consciousness, and conscience (artificial intelligence/mind/cognltion/perception) ANDREI S. MONIN P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117218 Moscow, Commonwealth of Independent States Contributed by Andrei S. Monin, February 3, 1992 ABSTRACT A complex system (CS) is defined as a set of chess-playing computer: its data base necessarily contains a elements, with connections between them, singled out of the selection of standard openings, end-games, and multimove environment, capable of getting information from the environ- checkmates which constitute the chess semantics itself (if it ment, capable of making decisions (i.e., of choosing between exists at all). alternatives), and having purposefulness (i.e., an urge towards Generalizing, we go over to data base semantics in the preferable states or other goals). Thinking is a process that theory of games and in its numerous practically important takes place (or which can take place) in some of the CS and applications. Or, considering the most rigorous problems of consists of (i) receiving information from the environment (and thinking, it must be admitted that all the semantics of the from itself), (it) memorizing the information, (iii) the subcon- mathematical group theory and other abstract ("formal") scious, and (iv) consciousness. Life is a process that takes place mathematical constructions are created by using initial def- in some CS and consists of functions i and i, as well as (v) initions and axioms as the data bases and the rules of reproduction with passing of hereditary information to prog- mathematical logic as the programs to prove theorems. eny, and (vi) oriented energy and matter exchange with the However, the broadening ofthe definition of a computer is environment sufficient for the maintenance ofall life processes. not the principal aim of this paper: I am about to elaborate a Memory is a complex of processes of placing information in definition of the concept "thinking" suitable for a vast class memory banks, keeping it there, and producing it according to of systems (or "subjects") which includes particularly hu- prescriptions available in the system or to inquiries arising in mans and broadly defined computers as well-for the so- it. Consciousness is a process of realization by the thinking CS called "complex systems" [see, for instance, Fleishman (2)]. of some set of algorithms consisting of the comparison of its knowledge, intentions, decisions, and actions with reality- Complex Systems i.e., with accumulated and continuously received internal and external information. Conscience is a realization of an algo- DEFINITION 1. A complex system (CS) is a set ofelements, rithm of good and evil pattern recognition. with connections between them, singled out of the environ- ment, capable ofgetting information from the environment, The theory of artificial intelligence (AI) (and that of human capable of making decisions (i.e., of choosing between intelligence as well) lacks a constructive (that is, functional) alternatives), and having purposefulness (i.e., an urge to- definition of the concept "intelligence." This may be a wards preferable states or other goals). reason why the concept of Al is not widely accepted in Let me mention some of CS qualities which seem to be society, even among scientists (while, curiously, the concept necessary while considering possibilities of CS thinking. The of human intelligence even in the absence of definition is first ofthese is reliability or stability (R-quality) ofa given CS never considered as questionable). This of course restrains or perhaps of a larger CS which includes the given CS as one practical steps towards the realization and development ofAI of its subsystems. The R-quality may be provided for, in of higher and higher levels. particular, by CS structure (preprogrammed, for instance, by The proverbial question "Can a machine think?" obvi- means ofthe genetic code) or by its behavior, including, in the ously is meaningless until a definition of the concept "think- case of a biological CS, instincts or unconditioned reflexes ing" is given. The Alan Turing test-"if an expert cannot (i.e., aggregates of innate complex reactions or acts of distinguish the performance of a machine from that of a behavior arising as a rule in a constant form in response to human who has a certain cognitive ability, then the machine internal or external stimuli, such as defensive or self- also has that ability"-does not give a constructive defini- preservation instincts, feeding, sexual or reproductive in- tion. Substitution of a computer (defined as a machine for stincts, and parental and population-preservation instincts). manipulation of formal symbols) for a machine in general The second is noise-stability while receiving information enabled Searle (1) to conclude that computers, as defined from the environment, including the normal functioning of above, do not think (or, in other words, that "strong AI" is organs of sense (I-quality). The third is controllability (C- impossible) because computer programs contain only syntax quality), and the fourth is self-organization or self-learning while thinking is not limited by formal symbol manipula- (L-quality), including learning by being taught (which plays a tion-it needs semantics. major role in many biological CS). All four of these qualities However, there is no necessity to restrict ourselves to the are obviously feasible in cases of several nonbiological CS. narrow definition of a computer given above. For instance, a The structure ofa CS is understood usually as a graph, that computer usually has a data base ordered according to some is, a set of elements ("vertexes" or "nodes") and their pairs indications, and this ordering introduces a kind of semantics. (nonordered "ribs" and ordered "arcs") with adjacency and In Searle's favorite example of the "Chinese room" com- incidence relations between them. Complex structure is puter it includes a data base of numbered hieroglyphs that necessary for the provision of a CS with R-, I-, Q-, and actually contains some semantics in the form of interconnec- L-qualities defined above. For example the R-quality may be tions between hieroglyphs designating, say, "color" and "blue" or "green." Another example is presented by a Abbreviations: Al, artificial intelligence; CS, complex system(s). 5774 Downloaded by guest on September 23, 2021 Psychology: Monin Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89 (1992) 5775 provided for by duplicating a function in different subsystems receiving informationfrom the environment (andfrom the CS in the same fashion as the reconstruction of the image of a itself), (ii) memorizing the information, (iii) the subcon- whole object imprinted on a hologram by any part of the scious, and (iv) consciousness. hologram, or doing without a damaged electrical line in a DEFINITION 3. Life is a process which takes place in some parallel electrical network. These analogies may have a literal of the CS and consists of functions i and ii above, (v) meaning while modeling neural networks of human brain or reproduction with passing ofhereditary information to prog- organs of sense. eny, and (vi) oriented energy and matter exchange with the A complexity of a set may be measured by its dimension- environment sufficient for the maintenance of all life pro- i.e., an exponent d in the power law N - Ed which expresses cesses. the minimum number N of spheres ofdiameter E covering the Here v appears to be the principal function or purport oflife set when E is small (but not too small; this means that the (there exist minor exceptions; for instance, some hybrids, power law is an intermediate asymptotic). If d exceeds the such as the mule, are undoubtedly alive but have no repro- usual (topological) dimension of the set, then the set is called duction abilities-this is an aimless life). afractal. There exist some grounds to suspect that for neural Function iv is obviously not necessary for life. The same networks d > 1-i.e., they are fractals. appears to be basically true for function iii ifinnate hereditary It appears, however, that the most complex structures are instincts are not included in this At the same time the random ones [for the theory of random graphs see, for concept. instance, Gilbert (3)]. They are not unusual (for example, function v is obviously not necessary for thinking, especially polycrystalline structures and ferromagnetic domains are for Al, at least if AI has no reproduction abilities [although widespread in nature and in engineering). The same is true for sexual reflections may play a significant role in the mental life the brain cellular microstructure. The formation of the brain of biological subjects, ascending from innate instincts, to structure on higher, supercellular, levels, including cytoar- subconscious motivations discovered by Sigmund Freud (4), chitectonics of cerebral cortex, is of course determined by and up to the idealized concept of personal love at the very the genetic program. However, the human genome (several summit known at present]. The same is true for function vi million genes) is very far from sufficient for encoding all the (the energy necessary for the maintenance of the thinking neurons (1010 to 1011), synapses (1014 to 1015), and their processes may be borrowed from some internal source, for combinations. The complexity of the neural network struc- instance from some quantity of a radioactive isotope). ture necessary for the thinking processes exceeds by many Thus thinking and life processes are by definition not orders of magnitude the possibilities of transmitting the interconnected: a thinking CS may be either alive or lifeless, genetic information. and a living CS may be either thinking or thoughtless. In the It is clear, therefore, that the cellular microstructure of second of these four cases the CS would constitute Al.
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