Where Do Cognition and Consciousness Begin?

"The systemic set of processes that enables value-sensitive acquisition, encoding, evaluation, storage, retrieval, decoding and transmission of information. All learning systems are cognitive systems. All living systems and artificial learning-systems are therefore cognitive systems. In other words, cognition is the capacity to learn from experience in a value-sensitive way-discriminating what is beneficial or harmful, and with behavior shaped accordingly."

"Understanding the evolution of cognition can help us see how mind emerged from matter. It can also help with the design of more sophisticated artificial intelligence. Only some cognitive systems are conscious, but developing a framework for identifying which ones are, helps us understand the mechanisms of consciousness. And it helps us think through the ethical implications of how we treat other creatures-and perhaps how advanced AI might one day treat us."

"Here we turn to neurobiologist Simona Ginsburg and evolutionary biologist Eva Jablonka, whose broader framework situates cognition much earlier in evolution and in many more organisms. Their approach is rooted in learning, which they see as the defining feature of cognition and the evolutionary basis of consciousness."

Learning-centered framework defines cognition as processes enabling value-sensitive acquisition, encoding, evaluation, storage, retrieval, decoding, and transmission of information. Cognition therefore includes all living systems and artificial learning systems because all learn from experience and discriminate beneficial from harmful stimuli to shape behavior. A stricter model requires internal models capable of simulating the world for flexible, goal-directed action, limiting cognition to mainly mammals and some birds. Only some cognitive systems are conscious; frameworks for identifying which systems are conscious clarify mechanisms of consciousness. Understanding cognitive evolution informs how mind emerged from matter, guides AI design, and raises ethical considerations about treatment of other beings.

Read at Psychology Today