On Three Categories of Conscious Machines

Reviewing recent closely related developments at the crossroads of biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence and biomimetic technology, in this paper, we attempt to distinguish phenomenological consciousness into three categories based on embodiment: one that is embodied by biological agents, another by artificial agents and a third that results from collective phenomena in complex dynamical systems. Though this distinction by itself is not new, such a classification is useful for understanding differences in design principles and technology necessary to engineer conscious machines. It also allows one to zero-in on minimal features of phenomenological consciousness in one domain and map on to their counterparts in another. For instance, awareness and metabolic arousal are used as clinical measures to assess levels of consciousness in patients in coma or in a vegetative state. We discuss analogous abstractions of these measures relevant to artificial systems and their manifestations. This is particularly relevant in the light of recent developments in deep learning and artificial life.