Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin "Conscious" Software Agents” Can they be (or are they) Sentient? Stan Franklin and the “Conscious” Software Research Group

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin 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

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin “Conscious” Software Agent Autonomous Agent Senses — Acts — has own Agenda Structurally Coupled to Environment Cognitive Agent Multiple drives Conceptualization Memory—beliefs Learning Emotions—attitudes, moods Action selection—intention ‘Conscious’ Agent Implements Baars’ Global Workspace Theory of Consciousness

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin 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”?

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin IDA: an Intelligent Distribution Agent Detailer Telephone Dialogue with members Read personnel data Check requisition lists Conform to Navy policies Choose options to offer members Write orders Internet I D A

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Modules and Mechanisms Perception—Copycat Architecture—Hofstadter Action Selection—Behavior Net—Maes Associative Memory—Sparse Distributed Memory—Kanerva Episodic Memory—Case-based Memory Emotions—Pandemonium Theory—Jackson Metacognition—Fuzzy Classifier Systems—Holland, Zadeh Learning—Copycat Architecture, Case-based Reasoning Constraint Satisfaction—Linear Functional Language Generation—Pandemonium Theory Deliberation—Pandemonium Theory “Consciousness” —Pandemonium Theory

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin IDA’s Architecture “Consciousness” Perception Metacognition Associative Memory Episodic Memory Behavior Net Emotions Database Perception Linear Functional DeliberationNegotiation Write Orders Conceptual & Behavioral Learning

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Coalitions and Consciousness Coalition manager Spotlight manager Broadcast mechanism

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Behavior Net in Action Behavior net templates Behavior net Side lines Playing field Stands Work Space Broadcast

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin IDA’s Temporal Deliberation Create scenes organized around events Build scenarios as sequences of scenes Choose between scenarios, discarding some

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin “Conscious” Deliberation Associative Memory Working memory Focus Playing Field Stands Job List Detach Date Detach Date Detach Date Leave Time Leave Time Leave Time

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Ideomotor Theory William James (circa 1890) Bernard Baars (1988) Voluntary action—”conscious” selection Theory of voluntary action –Proposers—propose a course of action –Objectors—raise objections to such a course of action –Supporters—lend support to such a course of action –Timekeeper—operates the clock

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Ideomotor Theory in Action Idea pops to mind (proposer)—no objection (objector)—do it Objection (objector)—don’t do it Objection then support (supporter) do it Different proposal—no objection do it Different proposal—original proposal—no objection—do it Last unopposed proposal is acted upon

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Indefinite Oscillation? Timekeeper’s patience decays—quicker decisions Proposer’s (objector’s, supporter’s) activation decays— harder to get to “consciousness” Metacognition may intervene

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin 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 Damasio’s selves –Proto-self—can do –Core self—? –Autobiographical self—will do

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Adding Self Consciousness to IDA Evidence of Self Consciousness –Knowledge of individual history—will do –Self reporting—plan to do –Self concept—Blackmore’s self memeplex—missing in IDA

Banbury 5/15/01 Stan Franklin Web and Addresses Stan Franklin “Conscious” Software Research Group CMattie Project— IDA Project—