Consciousness and computation
I came across an interesting article while browsing msnbc.com. I thought I’d link to it here because it has some connections to my Computer Science Master’s thesis which I have just recently finished writing. The article essentially presents a journalistic summary of recent scientific studies and opinions on the subject of human consciousness. In particular, it mentions Roger Penrose and his views on the matter:
Roger Penrose, a mathematical physicist at Oxford University, believes that if a “theory of everything” is ever developed in physics to explain all the known phenomena in the universe, it should at least partially account for consciousness. Penrose also believes that quantum mechanics, the rules governing the physical world at the subatomic level, might play an important role in consciousness.
In one section of my thesis, I specifically defend Penrose’s views which suggest that human computational powers exceed that of Turing-computational machines. As a result, artificial intelligence as it is studied today cannot hope to achieve machines that exhibit human-like consciousness.
If you are at all interested, chapter 3 of my thesis is the most relevant section that you may wish to look at.
