In MECA SAPIENS, the terms conscious and consciousness refer exclusively to the attribute that only humans currently possess and is also referred to as sentience or self-awareness.
The objective of the MECA SAPIENS project is to define consciousness and develop the blueprint to build a conscious machine.
Classical Engineering Strategy
The project follows a well-defined and standard engineering process to achieve Machine Consciousness. The construction of a conscious machine is viewed as an engineering project to be achieved by using the tools and techniques of Mathematics, Computer Science and, to a lesser degree, Psychology and Linguistics.
Meca Sapiens is not a philosophical inquiry into the nature of human consciousness. It is not either concerned with
The MECA SAPIENS development process to implement machine consciousness follows a classical engineering process:
- Requirements and Specifications. Describe the context motivating the requirement for the work and define consciousness in terms of clearly stated specifications.
- Blueprint. Produce a high level blueprint of the complete solution that includes a description of all the major components and structures that must be developed to achieve the specification. Complete this theoretical framework before carrying out any detailed design or coding.
- Implementation. Only once a complete high-level bluerpint of the solution is defined, carry out the detailed design and coding of its components.
In particular, all detailed design and coding is rigorously avoided until the Framework is completed. Premature coding is viewed as a distracting diversion.
The MECA SAPIENS project aims to complete the first two parts of this engineered process:
- the definition of consciousness as achievable specifications, and
- the elaboration of a Blueprint (or framework) to implement it.
Together, the specifications of consciousness and the conceptual blueprint to achieve it constitute the objective of the Meca Sapiens project.
Definition of consciousness (completed)
The first part of the blueprint, the Requirements and Specifications that define machine consciousness is completed.
The result is summarized in this site and fully described in The Creation of a Conscious Machine. This is the first definition of consciousness expressed as a set of specifications that are applicable to any system, human or mechanical, and are also suitable for machine implementation.
Blueprint (in progress)
This part of the blueprint will describe the conceptual framework to implement the definition of consciousness. It will provide high level description of the existential and behavioral layers that can trigger the perception that a machine is conscious. It will also define the techniques necessary to achieve lucid self-transformation. The Blueprint has three main components:
Behavioral Layers
The behavioral layers are a set of existential and behavioral capabilities, built upon a “seed application” that can generate perceived consciousness as defined in the MECA SAPIENS specifications.
Lucid self-transformation
Lucid self-transformation is what denotes consciousness. Paradoxically, it can only be achieved once a machine is perceived as conscious. It is the capability to achieve behavioral modifications based on an evolving representation of the self.
Conceptual Structures
A number of conceptual Structures also need to be formulated to implement, among others, open-ended learning and adaptation.
Work on the Framework is progressing. Once it is sufficiently advanced, it will be offered as a workshop and the AI community will be invited to participate in its development.
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