"'Where does computational power leave off and actual consciousness begin?'" (p. 31)
Consciousness arose not from computational power but from organism-environment interactions. Then some organisms developed computational power and reproduced it, in an enhanced form, in unconscious artefacts which will not become conscious merely by computing better and faster.
"'Scan the entire organism, transfer the organizational matrix to a database in an advanced neural network, add sensors and effectors.'" (ibid.)
In other words, not a mere computer but an artificial brain with sense organs. That might be conscious.
3 comments:
If I have one criticism of Poul's concepts in this story, it's that the 'neural network' doesn't include the full input of the body to the brain -- there don't seem to be many analogues of the effects of things like hormones and neural patterning. This is a point in the story but it seems unnecessary; if you can duplicate enough of the interactions of the brain to get a recognizable personality, why not get the whole kit and kaboodle?
Hmm, I may have gotten my Anderson AI settings confused!
HARVEST OF STAS with GENESIS.
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