Survey of Consciousness Theory from Computational Perspective

This paper surveys several major theories of human consciousness from information theory, quantum physics, cognitive psychology, physiology, and computer science, aiming to connect them through a computational lens. It also reviews existing metrics for evaluating consciousness and discusses whether current computational models could be conscious. The authors argue that understanding consciousness is a crucial step toward building general artificial intelligence.

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Abstract

Human consciousness has been a long-lasting mystery for centuries, while machine intelligence and consciousness is an arduous pursuit. Researchers have developed diverse theories for interpreting the consciousness phenomenon in human brains from different perspectives and levels. This paper surveys several main branches of consciousness theories originating from different subjects including information theory, quantum physics, cognitive psychology, physiology and computer science, with the aim of bridging these theories from a computational perspective. It also discusses the existing evaluation metrics of consciousness and possibility for current computational models to be conscious. Breaking the mystery of consciousness can be an essential step in building general artificial intelligence with computing machines.