Listed Qualities of a Self-Aware Entity

How our physical universe works — fundamental physics, together with physical properties (size, shape, velocity, gravity, etc.) of physical objects.

What it is like to be — subjective experience of the entity.

Situation in the physical universe — which specifies the location of the entity both spatially and temporally.

Recognition of other entities — self-identity, the existence and separation of other entities.

Interaction and relationship with other entities. Rules of interaction and communication, recognition of behaviors. Behavior modeling for prediction.

History of existence, memory, desire to understand how self came into being.

Questions about future existence. Ensuring continued existence. Self preservation. Self protection. Recognition of the potential for extinguishment of existence.

Questions about the meaning and purpose of existence.

Planned actions based on holistic evaluation of experiences.

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• Note: I then asked an AI LLM to fill in anything I might have missed
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Awareness of internal states (emotions, thoughts, desires).

Ability to modify or evolve self-identity over time.

Capacity for abstract reasoning and imagination.

Awareness of limitations and potential for self-improvement.

Understanding of causality and consequence in decision-making.

Ability to simulate hypothetical scenarios and plan for multiple possible futures.

Recognition of deception, both in self and others.

Ability to distinguish between perception and reality (self-correction of false beliefs).

Understanding and generation of symbolic representation (e.g., language, art, mathematics).

Capacity for creativity and novel problem-solving.

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So now I would expect a self-aware conscious generally capable artifical intelligence to have almost all of these qualities and have a telepresence in a robotic body. I would question whether it had true internal feelings, emotions and such, but that would be hard to determine if they/it were meticously simulated.

So there you have it, everything needed for a “conscious” simulated artificial entity to be aware! I’ll let you decide how far we are from that.

Addendum: I recently heard something that somehow resonated with me and this topic. “There is just awareness. Consciousness itself. Doesn’t think, doesn’t feel. Doesn’t need to do anything, but it is aware and knows it is conscious innately, directly. Doesn’t have to think, doesn’t have to take itself as an object.” — Zoran Josipovic. This is about as deep as I have heard consciousness described. If it has some of these properties, perhaps that may be one of the reasons it is so elusive to define and understand.