Title: The Morphospace of Consciousness,
Abstract: We construct a complexity-based morphospace to study systems-level properties
of conscious & intelligent systems. The axes of this space label 3 complexity
types: autonomous, cognitive & social. Given recent proposals to synthesize
consciousness, a generic complexity-based conceptualization provides a useful
framework for identifying defining features of conscious & synthetic systems.
Based on current clinical scales of consciousness that measure cognitive
awareness and wakefulness, we take a perspective on how contemporary
artificially intelligent machines & synthetically engineered life forms measure
on these scales. It turns out that awareness & wakefulness can be associated to
computational & autonomous complexity respectively. Subsequently, building on
insights from cognitive robotics, we examine the function that consciousness
serves, & argue the role of consciousness as an evolutionary game-theoretic
strategy. This makes the case for a third type of complexity for describing
consciousness: social complexity. Having identified these complexity types,
allows for a representation of both, biological & synthetic systems in a common
morphospace. A consequence of this classification is a taxonomy of possible
conscious machines. We identify four types of consciousness, based on
embodiment: (i) biological consciousness, (ii) synthetic consciousness, (iii)
group consciousness (resulting from group interactions), & (iv) simulated
consciousness (embodied by virtual agents within a simulated reality). This
taxonomy helps in the investigation of comparative signatures of consciousness
across domains, in order to highlight design principles necessary to engineer
conscious machines. This is particularly relevant in the light of recent
developments at the crossroads of cognitive neuroscience, biomedical
engineering, artificial intelligence & biomimetics.