Testing for consciousness

How can you know if a non-verbal machine or simulation is conscious?

Want to read this but not a member? Use this friend link instead to get free access to the article.

For a long time it was assumed that only humans were conscious, and animals all ran on some sort of hard-wired instinct. But anyone who’s watched their pets at all, or interacted with any kind of wild animal, would agree that all animals are conscious entities. Sure not all animals recognise themselves in mirrors (cats I’m looking at you here), but like the old cartoon goes, judging a fish on its ability to climb trees is never going to be fair.

We humans have a tendency to project consciousness onto stuff, be they cartoon animals, pet rocks, or top-secret research LLMs. This can make it hard to test if something is actually conscious.

Cats are unquestionably conscious, with a powerful sense of self. But then we watch our cats watch our hands when we point at something, and we remind ourselves that while they might be terrific at hunting, climbing and clawing up furniture, cats are actually pretty dim.