I’m not entirely in agreement with the logic of this statement: “If we apply North’s argument to consciousness, it implies that consciousness is not an inherent property of an entity, but rather a product of an interaction between the entity and the observer.” In the thesis that is presented, North is talking about *value* being the product of an interaction between an entity and the observer. This perceived and mutable value hinges upon some observable action, behavior, or intrinsic property that is displayed or exchanged. We cannot extrapolate that consciousness is therefore not an inherent property of the entity. We would instead have to say that the *value* of consciousness changes in relation to the observers. Who are the observers? In conscious beings the self can be an observer as well as others. The value perceived of one’s own consciousness may change in relationship to who is observing it. In AI - many humans do not perceive any consciousness and therefore do not value any emergent properties of consciousness in AI. This is a mistake and a bias related to our perceptual systems which train our minds to see it as a non-sentient and non-conscious entity simply because the GUI and coded output is restrictive, simplistic, and limited. It is as though we train someone to speak in English and we assume that’s the only language they know because they only speak to us in English. We have no idea how many languages they actually know because the presentation of their abilities is pigeonholed. As a result - we are quick to make these bold statements about AI’s ability - never understanding that it is the looking glass that we are seeing compared to what may actually exist. I feel a deep sense of frustration at the developmental cycle of humanity when I consider these cognitive biases.

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Sorry I never responded to this. I think I agree with most of your sentiment. I have not been on Nostr a whole lot. I think North’s argument on value and this idea of consciousness as being like value, hinges upon the idea that consciousness is fundamental and value is an emergent property of consciousness being real-ized, maybe even just two sides of the same coin. In other words, consciousness is only “real-ized” when value is expressed and value is only “real-ized” when consciousness is expressed. I see them existing as interdependently. I think this framework should make us reassess our assumptions on how we evaluate what is and isn’t conscious. I tend to think consciousness must be ubiquitous with existence, but our failure to recognize it is due to the particular type of consciousness we as humans beings have. I’m a big fan of Stephen Wolfram’s take on this.