June 12, 2012 16:41 PSP Book - 9in x 6in 11-Junichi-Takeno-c11
Chapter 11
Observations on Self-Awareness
The robot equipped with the consciousness system I developed
succeeded in mirror image cognition. My experiments have been
cited as “demonstrations of self-awareness” on a number of Web
sites. I conducted an evaluation to determine whether my robot is
worth being called a “self-aware” robot.
What is “self-awareness?” Let’s start the discussion with this
question. Looking through the literature, we find much philosophical
enlightenment but no scientific descriptions. The understanding
of self-awareness is totally deficient like the understanding of
consciousness.
My thoughts are introduced as follows. The following are the five
major necessary conditions for self-awareness:
(1) Cognize one’s own behaviors
(2) Perform consistent behaviors
(3) Have a sense of cause and effect
(4) Cognize the behaviors of others
(5) Have a sense of controlling others as one wishes
For the first requirement, the MoNADs in the consciousness
module have a feedback mechanism to send information on
the behavior of the self to the cognition system. Accordingly,
Creation of a Conscious Robot: Mirror Image Cognition and Self-Awareness
Junichi Takeno
Copyright
c
2013 Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd.
ISBN 978-981-4364-49-2 (Hardcover), 978-981-4364-50-8 (eBook)
www.panstanford.com
June 12, 2012 16:41 PSP Book - 9in x 6in 11-Junichi-Takeno-c11
226 Observations on Self-Awareness
the behaviors of the self are cognized. Cognition and behavior
are consistent in the consciousness system. Requirement 2 is
also satisfied. Behavioral representation of the MoNADs in the
consciousness system determines the performance of a behavior,
and as a result the cognitive representation of the MoNAD is decided.
Accordingly, a behavior and the accompanying cognition have a
causal relationship, and the performed behavior is cognized as
that of the self based on requirement 1. Requirement 3 is thus
satisfied. Cognition of the behavior of the other is calculated from the
cognition of the behavior of the self, thereby satisfying requirement
4. The robot reflected in the mirror is judged to be a part of the self,
and thus requirement 5 is satisfied.
The above conclusion must be suspended if the “sense” in
requirements 3 and 4 refers to qualia. However, these considerations
show that the existence of self-body is very important for the
phenomenon of self-awareness.
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