Constructive approach to bidirectional influence between qualia structure and language emergence

Language emergence and the relational structure of subjective experiences, termed qualia structure, may influence each other bidirectionally. The emergence of languages with distributional semantics, such as syntactic-semantic structures, is hypothesized to link to the coordination of internal representations shaped by experience, potentially facilitating more structured language through reciprocal influence. This mutual dependency is explored through theoretical frameworks like collective predictive coding. Computational studies show that neural network-based language models form systematically structured internal representations, and multimodal language models can share representations between language and perceptual information. Language emergence may serve not only as a communication tool but also as a mechanism for shared understanding of qualitative experiences. The paper outlines future constructive research directions in consciousness studies, linguistics, and cognitive science.

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Abstract

This perspective paper explores the bidirectional influence between language emergence and the relational structure of subjective experiences, termed qualia structure, and lays out a constructive approach to the intricate dependency between the two. We hypothesize that the emergence of languages with distributional semantics (e.g., syntactic-semantic structures) is linked to the coordination of internal representations shaped by experience, potentially facilitating more structured language through reciprocal influence. This hypothesized mutual dependency connects to recent advancements in AI and symbol emergence robotics, and is explored within this paper through theoretical frameworks such as the collective predictive coding. Computational studies show that neural network-based language models form systematically structured internal representations, and multimodal language models can share representations between language and perceptual information. This perspective suggests that language emergence serves not only as a mechanism for creating a communication tool but also as a mechanism for allowing people to realize shared understanding of qualitative experiences. The paper discusses the implications of this bidirectional influence in the context of consciousness studies, linguistics, and cognitive science, and outlines future constructive research directions to further explore this dynamic relationship between language emergence and qualia structure.