"Conscious" Software Agents Can they be or are they Sentient

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"Conscious" Software AgentsCan they be (or are
they) Sentient?

• Stan Franklin
• and the
• Conscious Software Research Group

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Global Workspace Theory

• The nervous system is a distributed parallel
  system with many different
  specialized processors
• Global workspace contains a coalition of
  processors
• Broadcasts globally to all other processors
• Recruit relevant processors needed
  to cope with novel or
  problematic situation

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Conscious Software Agent
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Why a Conscious Agent?

• Flesh out global workspace theory
  with detailed
  architecture and mechanisms
• Hypotheses for cognitive scientists and
  neuroscientists
• Produce flexible, adaptive, more human-like
  software
• Want smart agents?
• Model them after humans.
• Produce a sentient software agent, an ultimate
  artifact?

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IDA an Intelligent Distribution Agent
Dialogue with members Read personnel data Check
requisition lists Conform to Navy policies Choose
options to offer members Write orders
Telephone
Detailer
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Modules and Mechanisms

• PerceptionCopycat ArchitectureHofstadter
• Action SelectionBehavior NetMaes
• Associative MemorySparse Distributed
  MemoryKanerva
• Episodic MemoryCase-based Memory
• EmotionsPandemonium TheoryJackson
• MetacognitionFuzzy Classifier SystemsHolland,
  Zadeh
• LearningCopycat Architecture, Case-based
  Reasoning
• Constraint SatisfactionLinear Functional
• Language GenerationPandemonium Theory
• DeliberationPandemonium Theory
• Consciousness Pandemonium Theory

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IDAs Architecture
Metacognition
Database Perception
Linear Functional
Deliberation
Negotiation
Write Orders
Behavior Net
Conceptual Behavioral Learning
Consciousness
Perception
Associative Memory
Episodic Memory
Emotions
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Coalitions and Consciousness

• Coalition manager
• Spotlight manager
• Broadcast mechanism

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Behavior Net in Action
Behavior net
Work Space
Stands
Side lines
Playing field
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IDAs Temporal Deliberation

• Create scenes organized around events
• Build scenarios as sequences of scenes
• Choose between scenarios, discarding some

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Conscious Deliberation
Focus
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Ideomotor Theory

• William James (circa 1890) ----- Bernard Baars
  (1988)
• Voluntary actionconscious selection
• Theory of voluntary action
• Proposerspropose a course of action
• Objectorsraise objections to such a course of
  action
• Supporterslend support to such a course of
  action
• Timekeeperoperates the clock

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Ideomotor Theory in Action

• Idea pops to mind (proposer)no objection
  (objector)do it
• Objection (objector)dont do it
• Objection then support (supporter) do it
• Different proposalno objection do it
• Different proposaloriginal proposalno
  objectiondo it
• Last unopposed proposal is acted upon

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Indefinite Oscillation?

• Timekeepers patience decaysquicker decisions
• Proposers (objectors, supporters) activation
  decays harder to get to
  consciousness
• Metacognition may intervene

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Adding Self to IDA

• Baars self
• Observing self as overarching context
• Self systems as competing context hierarchies
• IDA has
• Competing goal context hierarchies (not deep)
• Competing perceptual contexts
• Damasios selves
• Proto-selfcan do
• Core self?
• Autobiographical selfwill do

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Adding Self Consciousness to IDA

• Evidence of Self Consciousness
• Knowledge of individual historywill do
• Self reportingplan to do
• Self conceptBlackmores self
• memeplexmissing in IDA

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Web and Email Addresses

• Stan Franklin stan.franklin_at_memphis.eduwww.msc
  i.memphis.edu/franklin
• Conscious Software Research Group
  www.msci.memphis.edu/csrg
• CMattie Projectwww.msci.memphis.edu/cmattie
• IDA Projectwww.msci.memphis.edu/ida