1. A model of agent consciousness and its implementation Ivan Moura Neurocomputing, 69 (16-18) 2006 pp. 1984-1995.

2. Outline Introduction Varieties of consciousness The global workspace model Identifying computational correlates of consciousness A sequential abstract machine A multithreaded virtual machine Implementing computational correlates of consciousness Conclusion Discussion 1

3. Introduction Two paths of the study of consciousness –Search for the neural correlates of consciousness Recently, many techniques such as the availability of brain-imaging technique helps this issue burgeoning –Search for the computational correlates of consciousness This approach lacks of concrete definitions The Purpose of this paper –To delineate a functional aspect of consciousness that can easily be implemented in a computational progress –To allow for practical experiments, this model of intelligent agents has both formal and executable specifications The model is based on Baars’ Global Workspace theory of consciousness 2

4. Varieties of consciousness N Block, On a confusion about a function of consciousness, Behav. Brain Sci. 18(2)(1995) 3 Four distinct roles CategoryExplanation Access consciousness (A-consciousness) - Representative, quantitative, functional - Attached to the sensors reflecting environmental or self-percepts. - The most inclined to be translate an Algorithm Phenomenal consciousness (P-consciousness) - To feel emotional experiences, sensations and to get qualitative inputs - Trickier to implement as it deals mainly with subjective and qualitative information - The hard problems are impossible to solve that rely on subjective aspects(Taylor) (So, it is do not considered it in this model)

5. Varieties of consciousness N Block, On a confusion about a function of consciousness, Behav. Brain Sci. 18(2)(1995) 4 Four distinct roles CategoryExplanation Self-consciousness (S-consicousness) - The reflective capability that we enjoy when we think about ourselves - self-recognition, the awareness of one’s identity - Both cases imply interaction inner states or levels, or between members of a common society Monitoring consciousness (M-consciousness) - The state or process of awareness that leads to one’s sensations and percepts - Internal scanning, which organizes and clusters information contained in the consciousness, is regarded as the proactive function of the consciousness - Treats collected information

6. Varieties of consciousness J.K. O’Regan, A.Noe, A sensorimoto account of vision and visual consciousness, Behav. Brain Sci. 24(2001) –Fitted A-consciousness –The authors insists that P-consciousness does not exist –That it provides an interesting approach to sensing is good when we identify some computational correlates of consciousness 5 Focusing on visual experience CategoryExplanation Transitive visual consciousness or consciousness of - one’s ability to be aware of a particular aspect of a scene Visual consciousness in general - A high-order capacity representing the ability to become aware of a feature and to be conscious of aspects of a scene

7. Varieties of consciousness J.G. Tayor, The Race for Conscious, MIT Press, Cambridge 1999 6 Declarative and non-declarative memory CategoryExplanation Declarative memory- contains elements that can be conscious - type1 : episodic and autobiographic memories(often called explicit memory) involving experienced or learned elements that one remember - type2 : semantic memory(implicit memory) represents available elements such as general knowledge but the ways they are experienced or learnt elements that one remembers Non-declarative memory - contains ‘only representations, such as skills, of which we have no such awareness’

8. Varieties of consciousness J.G. Tayor, The Race for Conscious, MIT Press, Cambridge 1999 –Three parts based on declarative and non-declarative memory 7 Declarative and non-declarative memory CategoryExplanation Passive (or perceptual) consciousness - Occurs when Situations are experienced in a passive mode without accessing to the self Active consciousness- Occurs when one thinks hard about a problem, paying less attention to perceptual inputs and autobiographical recalls, unless they are needed to solve the problem Self-consciousness- the reflective capacity of consciousness ‘in which you are moved by personal memories or are aware of yourself as the experiencer’

9. Varieties of consciousness A.P. Atkinson, M.S.C. Thomas, A. Cleermans, Consciousness : mapping the theoretical landscape, Trends Cogn. Sci. 4(10) (2000) Effective computational simulation should qualify as a specilized process model 8 Process vs. Representation theory and Specialized vs. Non-specialized theory CategoryExplanation Process vs. representation The process vs. representation dimension opposes models that explain consciousness in terms of specific processes operating over mental representations, with models that explain consciousness in terms of intrinsic properties of mental representation Specialized vs. non- specialized The specialized vs. non-specialized distinction refers to the existence or non-existence of a dedicated machinery for consciousness. In the absence of such dedicated machinery, consciousness could be said to emerge from the ‘collective activity of many components distributed both spatially and functionally across the brain, none of them responsible for consciousness on its own’

10. The global workspace model Well formalized computational model of consciousness Indentifying and describing the actors that are involved in consciousness as well as their interactions, roles and functions Made of Modules organized in societies, each having its own functionality and specialization Not animated by a government but by its members taken as a whole A bottleneck is needed to force the modules either to compete or to collaborate 9

11. The global workspace model 10

12. Unconsciousness specialized processors –The basic components –A simple skill, a basic knowledge Consciousness or global workspace –A working memory that plays the roles of a bottleneck allowing the system to be regulated –When an unconscious specialized processor is unable to achieve a given task by itself, it accesses the consciousness that will in turn broadcast the needs of the processor to the entire system 11

13. The global workspace model Coalitions and conscious processes –The unconscious specialized processors that answer the broadcasted needs form together with the requesting processor a coalition able to achieve a given task Contexts –They are the assumptions of the system that restrain access to the consciousness and discharge the coalition formation process –A context is unconscious and is constituted of a set of specialized processors –Contexts are composite skills –They are organized into a hierarchy where higher the level wider the scope –It supports a form of psychological evolution, a form of learning. 12

14. Identifying computational correlates of consciousness Two Functions established by the observation of the global workspace –Consciousness gives to the unconscious processors the opportunity to form a coalition in order to achieve a given task –The global workspace allow to fix coalitions into contexts, thus automating action selection(learning process which allows to shift deliberation to automation  M-consciousness) Two types of processors –Processors that depict the environment A representation of external elements or situational information(Facts) –Processors that activate an action The action itself is not represented We assume that such an action is automated and represented within a context(To call for an action is similar to a calling for a context) 13

15. Identifying computational correlates of consciousness Formation of coalitions is called deliberation A context is defined as an unconscious and permanent processor coalition –A context formed by Coalitions compiled Contexts can select an action without calling on global workspace The representation of the environment is abstracted as we assume that the environmental processors are generated by lower-level system 14

16. A sequence abstract machine A set of procedures implementing abstract functions defining a general model of reactive agent with sensing Basic components 15 SymbolExplanation PA plan AAn action Conditions  do(p,a)Action selelction Conditions  switch(p,p’)Changing plan

17. A sequence abstract machine Example –An agent whose goal is to wander in a grid and to suck dirt when he finds some or to go (or stay) home when room is clean 16

18. A sequence abstract machine Deliberation can be represented within a tree Leaves : the action selection processors Italic-branches : the processor depicting environment Nodes : the plan names 17

19. A sequence abstract machine The abstract machine is defined within the following procedures 18 SymbolExplanation lAgent’s local state eEnvironment pA plan(p0 is the initial plan) ├The deduction rules where an action selection ΥTransition functions on the environment

20. A sequence abstract machine The Layer for Physical system is abstract This abstract machine implements the deliberation process via sequential processors Recalling that consciousness is made of parallel processors, that several coalitions can access consciousness and that consciousness itself is made of two concurrent levels,i.e., deliberation and context formation, calls for a parallel abstract 19

21. A multithreaded virtual machine S-conscious –reflective ability –Internal and formal communication language needed to achieve duties of higher order A concurrent agent language that allows to implement agent conversations with dialogues  This language is provided by Bonzon 20

22. Compiling Dynamic Agent Conversations Pierre Bonzon, Compiling Dynamic Agent Conversations KI 2002 : Advances in Artificial Intelligence Purpose –For multi-agent systems –To implement abstract logical machine that is defined purely in sequential terms –To support synchronization of this model Basic Symbols 21 SymbolExplanation ├The deduction sign lThe Local state

23. Compiling Dynamic Agent Conversations The Dialog Structure 22 SymbolExplanation |1.To separate the head and tail list 2.To Isolate the guard in a guarded message ||Metasymbol for representing choices,Sequence or Conjuction ;Alternative or disjunction

24. A multithreaded virtual machine Dialog consists of branching sequences of messages with end alternatives Branching sequences can have an embedded structure Each alternative is prefixed with a condition, the guard A guard acts like a deamon. The dialogue is blocked until a guard is satisfied Unless re-entered with a resume message, dialogs are exited at the end of a sequence Actions interleaved with messages can be executed with an execute message Subdialogues can be entered with an enter message New parallel dialogues can be run with a concurrent message Synchronization between two dialogues is achieved with the pairs of messages tell/ask for information exchange and call/return for requests 23

25. A multithreaded virtual machine These dialogues are compiled into plans executed on an abstract machine Each dialogue is executed in a separated thread 24

26. A multithreaded virtual machine A representation of the virtual machine 25

27. A multithreaded virtual machine The agent behaviors is defined with plans that are now deduced by the concurrent virtual machine implemented with concurrent dialogs 26

28. A multithreaded virtual machine In order to initiate context formation, which is the second functional correlate of consciousness along with deliberation, we reflect the agent’s deliberation to a meta level The deliberation process is mirrored in a concurrent level that will serve to implement the context formation process Reflection achieves the agent’s ability to become conscious of its deliberation steps New dialogue introspect starts a new thread attached on both basic deliberation threads : switch and do 27

29. A multithreaded virtual machine 28

30. 29

31. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 30 The reflected deliberation progress recording each plans switching with the related condition Reflect(switch) stores a switched/3 predicate containing the condition C that triggered the plan switching from P to Q in a dedicated object gw(standing for global workspace) The condition is obtained through a request communication act synchronizing the switch dialogue with its reflect dialogue

32. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 31 The reflected deliberation progress recording each plans switching with the related condition Reflect(switch) stores a switched/3 predicate containing the condition C that triggered the plan switching from P to Q in a dedicated object gw(standing for global workspace) The condition is obtained through a request communication act synchronizing the switch dialogue with its reflect dialogue

33. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 32 Applying reflection to our example may result in obtaining the following predicates in the gw object: Compilation consists in grouping all conditions having led to select an action and generating a new plan of type ‘context’ ==> do(initial, a) ‘context’ is the context formed with all the conditions and their generalized arguments

34. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 33 Reflect(do) starts the compilation process initiated by the dialogue trace Applying it to our example, the following plans are generated :

35. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 34

36. 35 A new plan is set in the agent’s state through the dialogue teach that runs at the termination of the get_context procedure The dialogue teach simply transmits the plan to a learn dialogue that inserts it in the agent’s local state

37. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 36 A new plan is set in the agent’s state through the dialogue teach that runs at the termination of the get_context procedure

38. Implementing computational correlates of consciousness 37 A new plan is set in the agent’s state through the dialogue teach that runs at the termination of the get_context procedure

39. Conclusion The key to machine consciousness is to rely on a concurrent and multilayered model with explicit interactions and synchronization between the threads, as for human consciousness The axioms proposed by Aleksander and Dunmmal 38 AXIOMValuation Depiction axiominteracting with the environment Imagination axiomIt is not enough because this model is predefined. However, this paper considers compiled contexts are ‘imagined elements’ Attention axiomBottleneck is attention Planning axiomPlanning consists in calling the unconscious processors leading to a change of state or to an action selection Emotion axiomIt is Not enough. But, context disruption supports it.

40. Discussion The Computational correlates of consciousness 의 모델들의 우수성은 어떻게 평가할 수 있나 ? 이 논문에서 배제한 P-consciousness(feeling) 을 고려한다고 가정하면 어떤 방법들이 존재할 수 있나 ? 39