Abstract
In this paper, a working hypothesis is proposed that a nervous system for pain sensation is a key component for shaping the conscious minds of robots (artificial systems). In this article, this hypothesis is argued from several viewpoints towards its verification. A developmental process of empathy, morality, and ethics based on the mirror neuron system (MNS) that promotes the emergence of the concept of self (and others) scaffolds the emergence of artificial minds. Firstly, an outline of the ideological background on issues of the mind in a broad sense is shown, followed by the limitation of the current progress of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on deep learning. Next, artificial pain is introduced, along with its architectures in the early stage of self-inflicted experiences of pain, and later, in the sharing stage of the pain between self and others. Then, cognitive developmental robotics (CDR) is revisited for two important concepts—physical embodiment and social interaction, both of which help to shape conscious minds. Following the working hypothesis, existing studies of CDR are briefly introduced and missing issues are indicated. Finally, the issue of how robots (artificial systems) could be moral agents is addressed.
Highlights
The rapid progress of observation and measurement technologies in neuroscience and physiology have revealed various types of brain activities, and the recent progress of artificial intelligence (AI)technologies represented by deep learning (DL) methods [1] has been remarkable
Cognitive developmental robotics [2] has been advocating the importance of physical embodiment and social interaction, which has great potential in overcoming the above-mentioned limitation
cognitive developmental robotics (CDR) has not mentioned consciousness explicitly, here we argue any possibility of artificial consciousness more explicitly by proposing a working hypothesis based on the nervous system of pain sensation
Summary
The rapid progress of observation and measurement technologies in neuroscience and physiology have revealed various types of brain activities, and the recent progress of artificial intelligence (AI). Merleau-Ponty argues that in addition to subjectivity and objectivity, the dimension of “physical embodiment” emerges, where a body of the same thickness is given to objects that are touched or viewed when the subject is touching and seeing, and that the body could be a place where exchanges between two subjective and objective poles are repeated In other words, he pointed out the importance of the body as a media connecting the objective physical world and subjective experience. He pointed out the importance of the body as a media connecting the objective physical world and subjective experience As mentioned above, this is the basic concept of “physical embodiment” in cognitive development robotics. The above hypothesis can be regarded as the developmental process for artificial consciousness
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