Lifeboat Foundation

Year 2021 face_with_colon_three

In our new paper, we’ve investigated how quantum particles could move in a complex structure like the brain, but in a lab setting. If our findings can one day be compared with activity measured in the brain, we may come one step closer to validating or dismissing Penrose and Hameroff’s controversial theory.

Continue reading “Can Consciousness Be Explained by Quantum Physics? New Research” »

The question of whether artificial intelligence could ever achieve consciousness is a common theme in science fiction. Could robots ever truly feel anything—like love, hate, or fear—or would they be all “dark inside”, experiencing nothing at all?

It is more important than ever to answer this question correctly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer merely a matter of science fiction. AI are increasingly capable of producing art and mastering the use of language, raising serious questions about whether AI are already capable of consciousness, or if not yet, then soon.

Artificial Intelligence is our best bet to understand the nature of our mind, and how it can exist in this universe. \r\
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Joscha Bach, Ph.D. is an AI researcher who worked and published about cognitive architectures, mental representation, emotion, social modeling, and multi-agent systems. He earned his Ph.D. in cognitive science from the University of Osnabrück, Germany. He is especially interested in the philosophy of AI, and in using computational models and conceptual tools to understand our minds and what makes us human.\r\
Joscha has taught computer science, AI, and cognitive science at the Humboldt-University of Berlin, the Institute for Cognitive Science at Osnabrück, and the MIT Media Lab, and authored the book “Principles of Synthetic Intelligence” (Oxford University Press).\
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This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Guest lecture by Joscha Bach on the past and future of language models.

This chapter gives an overview of the projects facing a science of consciousness. Such a science must integrate third-person data about behavior and brain processes with first-person data about conscious experience. Empirical projects for integrating these data include those of contrasting conscious and unconscious processes, investigating the contents of consciousness, finding neural correlates of consciousness, and eventually inferring underlying principles connecting consciousness with physical processes. These projects are discussed with reference to current experimental research on consciousness. Some obstacles that a science of consciousness faces are also discussed.

Could artificial intelligence (AI) systems become conscious? A trio of consciousness scientists says that, at the moment, no one knows — and they are expressing concern about the lack of inquiry into the question.

In comments to the United Nations, three leaders of the Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science (AMCS) call for more funding to support research on consciousness and AI. They say that scientific investigations of the boundaries between conscious and unconscious systems are urgently needed, and they cite ethical, legal and safety issues that make it crucial to understand AI consciousness. For example, if AI develops consciousness, should people be allowed to simply switch it off after use?

Such concerns have been mostly absent from recent discussions about AI safety, such as the high-profile AI Safety Summit in the United Kingdom, says AMCS board member Jonathan Mason, a mathematician based in Oxford, UK and one of the authors of the comments. Nor did US President Joe Biden’s executive order seeking responsible development of AI technology address issues raised by conscious AI systems, Mason notes.

Humans and other animals with brains perhaps aren’t the only beings on the planet to experience consciousness, says a study in the journal EMBO Reports.

Consciousness instead underpins all life forms, from the smallest cells to the most complex organisms. Far from being limited to creatures like ourselves, the cell-based theory of consciousness frames the phenomenon a fundamental part of life itself.

Conventional thinking about consciousness—called the standard model of consciousness—focuses on the brain, supposing only complex organisms like humans and animals have it. But the new cell-based theory argues that consciousness started with the very first cells that emerged about 3.8 billion years ago and plants, bacteria and even amoebas have it.

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Summary: Experienced meditators can voluntarily induce unconscious states, known as cessations, without the use of drugs. This ability, observed in Tibetan Buddhist practice, allows meditators to experience a momentary void of consciousness, followed by enhanced mental clarity.

Conducted across multiple countries, the study utilized EEG spectral analysis to objectively measure brain activity during these cessation events. By correlating the meditator’s first-person experience with neuroimaging data, researchers have gained insights into the profound modulation of consciousness achievable through advanced meditation practices.