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A Test for Consciousness
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IIT postulates that consciousness is equal to integrated information (Φ).
“IIT defines a property of a system called integrated information (Φ) and postulates that this is an exact measure of the quantity of consciousness of any system.”
From The Problem with Phi: A Critique of Integrated Information Theory (2015) · cites this paper as [6]
IIT appears to be identifying consciousness with a specific measure of information.
“In either case, IIT appears to be identifying consciousness with a specific measure of information.”
From The Problem with Phi: A Critique of Integrated Information Theory (2015) · cites this paper as [6]
IIT implies a form of panpsychism.
“Tononi’s response is not surprising given that IIT implies a form of panpsychism [1–8].”
From The Problem with Phi: A Critique of Integrated Information Theory (2015) · cites this paper as [6]
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Consciousness: here, there and everywhere?
Tononi, G., & Koch, C. (2015) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0167 · Cited by 811
Self-citationGlobal Workspace Dynamics: Cortical “Binding and Propagation” Enables Conscious Contents
Baars, B. J., Franklin, S., & Ramsoy, T. Z. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00200 · Cited by 294
Indicators and criteria of consciousness in animals and intelligent machines: an inside-out approach
Pennartz, C. M. A., Farisco, M., & Evers, K. (2019) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2019.00025 · Cited by 121
“It is only 8 years ago that Koch and Tononi (2011) proposed an alternative Turing-type of test for consciousness in machines, namely whether they would be able to answer arbitrary questions about what is going on in a photograph.”
The Problem with Phi: A Critique of Integrated Information Theory
Cerullo, M. A. (2015) · PLOS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004286 · Cited by 114
“IIT appears to be gaining popularity, and Tononi has recently teamed up with neuroscientist Chistof Koch to promote the theory [4,6].”
BackgroundMudrik, L., & Koch, C. (2013) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/13.13.24 · Cited by 59
“Koch and Tononi (2011) have suggested how this property could be tested within the restricted domain of stationary visual scenes using operational tests for visual-scene consciousness.”
BackgroundSelf-citationBits and bytes: the future of radiology lies in informatics and information technology
Brink, J. A., Arenson, R. L., Grist, T. M., Lewin, J. S., & Enzmann, D. R. (2017) · European Radiology · doi:10.1007/s00330-016-4688-5 · Cited by 58
“In Scientific American, a new test of AGI and Bmachine consciousness^ was proposed [18], whereby a computer would be considered to demonstrate AGI if it could identify Bwhat’s wrong with this picture^ when examining images with incongruent components.”
BackgroundEvidence for Implicit—But Not Unconscious—Processing of Object-Scene Relations
Biderman, N., & Mudrik, L. (2017) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797617735745 · Cited by 51
Integrated information as a possible basis for plant consciousness
Calvo, P., Baluška, F., & TREWAVAS, A. J. (2020) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.10.022 · Cited by 49
Kozma, R., Davis, J. J. J., & Freeman, W. J. (2012) · Journal of Neuroscience and Neuroengineering · doi:10.1166/jnsne.2012.1004 · Cited by 33
“[1–5].”
Inferring the direction of implied motion depends on visual awareness
Faivre, N., & Christof Koch, A. (2014) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/14.4.4 · Cited by 28
“Building upon these assumptions, Koch and Tononi (2011) proposed that a system able to process the intricate elements of a complex visual scene as a whole may be considered as conscious.”
BackgroundSelf-citationReviewing Tests for Machine Consciousness
Elamrani, A., & Yampolskly, R. V. (2019) · Journal of Consciousness Studies · Cited by 27
Quantum explanations of consciousness: A “Just So” story?
Baars, B. J. (2012) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2012.09.001 · Cited by 21
Mudryk, Y., Pecharsky, V. K., & Gschneidner, K. A. (2011) · Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie · doi:10.1002/zaac.201100327 · Cited by 20
Neurophysiological evidence of the cognitive cycle and the emergence of awareness
Davis, J. J. J., Kozma, R., & Freeman, W. J. (2013) · International Joint Conference on Awareness Science and Technology & Ubi-Media Computing · doi:10.1109/icawst.2013.6765425 · Cited by 22
“As a complementary study to understanding of neurophysiological processes manifesting higher cognition and consciousness using fMRI, PET, MEG, and other advanced techniques [1-5], we have focused on the analysis of ECoG signals over a 64-channel array on the visual cortex in rabbits.”
BackgroundPagni, B. A., Walsh, M. J. M., Rogers, C., & Braden, B. B. (2020) · Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnint.2020.571408 · Cited by 20
“This female advantage has been demonstrated using a diverse array of ToM tests including RME, Faux Pas, and false belief (Baron-Cohen et al., 1997, 2015; Hall et al., 2010; Koch and Tononi, 2011), although others have suggested sex differences may be dissociated using cognitive- and affective-specific ToM tasks since…”
BackgroundGuerrero, L. E., Castillo, L., Arango‐López, J., & Moreira, F. (2023) · Neural Computing and Applications · doi:10.1007/s00521-023-08328-z · Cited by 20
“[65] review contemporary tests relevant to examining artificial consciousness, such as:—Tests according to U based on IIT;—[61] test for measuring U , which requires a machine to differentiate key features in a scene from many possible scenes;—‘‘the six key factors of human-like consciousness’’, a test designed by Goer…”
Saariluoma, P. O., & Rauterberg, M. (2016) · International journal of philosophy study · doi:10.14355/ijps.2016.04.004 · Cited by 14
“Initiating things, ‘seeing as’, selecting the goals and congruent actions, and acting following the generated representation are necessary goals to form a cluster of integrated activities, which seems to be very difficult for machines to achieve.”
BackgroundConsciousness as the Temporal Propagation of Information
Revach, D., & Salti, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnsys.2022.759683 · Cited by 15
“The use of computer simulations can assist in understanding and affirming our predictions concerning the emergence of subjective properties (Koch and Tononi, 2011).”
BackgroundThe Neuroscience of Consciousness
Koch, C. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-385870-2.00051-2 · Cited by 13
Self-citationConsciousness, Sapience and Sentience—A Metacybernetic View
Yolles, M. I. (2022) · Systems · doi:10.3390/systems10060254 · Cited by 11
Davis, J. J. J., Kozma, R., & Freeman, W. J. (2015) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2015.07.279 · Cited by 11
“…data obtained by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalograms (MEG), electrocorticograms (ECoG), and electroencephalograms (EEG) (Freeman W. J., 1999), (Del Cul, Baillet, & Dehaene, 2007), (Seth, Dienes, & Cleeremans, 2008), (He & Raichle, 2009), (Koch & Tononi, 2011).”
Palm, G. (2016) · Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncom.2016.00003 · Cited by 11
“…of brain localization of higher cognitive functions in thousands of experimental studies and of philosophical debates about consciousness (e.g., Koch and Tononi, 2011; Tononi, 2012) and cognition in animals and for example, the attribution of some commonsense psychology to monkeys, using the…”
BackgroundDavis, J. J. J., & Kozma, R. (2013) · IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence, Cognitive Algorithms, Mind, and Brain (CCMB) · doi:10.1109/ccmb.2013.6609160 · Cited by 10
On the invariance of cortical synchronization measures across a broad range of frequencies
Kozma, R., & Davis, J. J. J. (2012) · International Conference on Awareness Science and Technology (iCAST) · doi:10.1109/icawst.2012.6469627 · Cited by 10
Free Will and Turing Test with Multiple Agents: An Example of Chatbot Design
Ishida, Y., & Chiba, R. (2017) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2017.08.190 · Cited by 9
Toward Improved Audio CAPTCHAs Based on Auditory Perception and Language Understanding
Meutzner, H., Gupta, S. K., Nguyen, V., et al. (2016) · ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security · doi:10.1145/2856820 · Cited by 8
“One way to achieve this could be to ask for the plausibility of a given scenario [Koch and Tononi 2011].”
BackgroundFormal Causation in Integrated Information Theory: An Answer to the Intrinsicality Problem
Cañizares, J. S. (2021) · Foundations of Science · doi:10.1007/s10699-020-09775-w · Cited by 8
Dimensions of corvid consciousness
Veit, W., Browning, H., Garcia‐Pelegrin, E., Davies, J. R., DuBois, J. G., & Clayton, N. S. (2025) · Animal Cognition · doi:10.1007/s10071-025-01949-y · Cited by 10
“…of consciousness, with proponents of the Integrated Information Theory of consciousness (IIT), even making it the defining feature of consciousness (see Tononi 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012a, b, 2015; Balduzzi and Tononi 2008, 2009; Tononi and Koch 2008; Tononi et al. 2016; Koch and Tononi 2011).”
Minding Rachlin’s eliminative materialism
McDowell, J. J. (2012) · The Behavior Analyst · doi:10.1007/bf03392261 · Cited by 6
Towards an Affective Computational Model for Machine Consciousness
Chandra, R. (2017) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70139-4_91 · Cited by 5
Davis, J. J. J., & Kozma, R. (2014) · doi:10.1109/cibci.2014.7007787 · Cited by 4
“The understanding we derived here, give us insight into how to approach future analysis of scalp EEG data with potential for BCI applications.”
BackgroundCañizares, J. S. (2023) · Philosophia · doi:10.1007/s11406-023-00684-3 · Cited by 4
“Integrated Information Theory (IIT) (Balduzzi & Tononi, 2008; Koch & Tononi, 2011; Oizumi et al., 2014; Tononi, 2008, 2017; Tononi et al., 2016) stands out as one of the most promising scientific theories to fill in the epistemic gap regarding what Chalmers (1995) called the hard problem of…”
A Note on Continuous Self-Identification as Self-Awareness: An Example of Robot Navigation
Ishida, Y. (2015) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.297 · Cited by 3
Why We Might Augment Reality: Art’s Role in the Development of Cognition
Wright, J. (2014) · Springer series on cultural computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06203-7_12 · Cited by 2
Artificial Life and Machine Consciousness.
Nelson, A. (2013) · Cited by 3
Mjimba, V., & Sibanda, G. (2019) · Changing Ecosystems and Their Services · doi:10.5772/intechopen.84406 · Cited by 2
“10 computers to make decisions that address specific problems just as humans do every day [26].”
BackgroundInfluentialHow can we validate theory-derived indicators of consciousness in Artificial Intelligence?
Pennartz, C. M. A. (2026) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2026.01.011 · Cited by 1
Mind and Life: Is the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature False?
Zwick, M. (2015) · Biological Theory · doi:10.1007/s13752-015-0231-1 · Cited by 1
“Koch and Tonioni (2011) offer a test for consciousness that is a variation on Turing tests for intelligence; since all such tests are functional, i.”
BackgroundMethodTriggering the Flotsam of Behavior
Wright, J. (2016) · Advances in media, entertainment and the arts (AMEA) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-0016-2.ch011 · Cited by 1
The primary (dis)function of consciousness: (Non)Integration
Mudrik, L. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15002198 · Cited by 1
Can a Machine Become Self-Aware?
Luokkala, B. B. (2013) · Science and fiction · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7891-1_4 · Cited by 1
Nahinsky, I. D. (2017) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5406/amerjpsyc.130.2.0201 · Cited by 1
Law and Ethics of Morally Significant Machines: The case for pre-emptive prevention
Barnes, C. R. (2017) · Otago University Research Archive (University of Otago) · Cited by 1
Integrating Programmatic Optimization and Learning Through Art
Wright, J. (2013) · Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts · doi:10.7559/citarj.v5i1.83
Book Review: Consciousness and Robot Sentience by Pentti Olavi Antero Haikonen
Hudlická, E. (2014) · International Journal of Machine Consciousness · doi:10.1142/s1793843014400058
Hitchins, D. K. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-25203-7_3
“[10] Whether an APO that was aware of, and able to assess situations, identify threats to order and make fast, Recognition-Primed Decisions to restore order could be deemed sentient or conscious, may be unfathomable.”
BackgroundAn evaluation of the Integrated Information Theory against some central problems of consciousness
Olsson, H. (2015) · Diva portal (Dalarna University Library)
An affective computational model for machine consciousnessPreprint
Chandra, R. (2017) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1701.00349 · Cited by 1
“With such a breakthrough for development of Watson for cognitive computing, there remains deep philosophical questions from perspective of natural and artificial consciousness [85].”
BackgroundAmplitude-phase relationship of brain dynamics viewed by ECoG using FIR-based Hilbert analysis
Davis, J. J. J., & Kozma, R. (2017) · IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI) · doi:10.1109/ssci.2017.8285234
“It will take many decades of improvements to the existing cutting-edge EEG, MRI and MEG brain imaging technologies, as well as the development of novel mathematical tools for complex brain dynamics, to clearly identify and understand neurophysiological processes manifesting higher cognition and consciousness [1-5].”
BackgroundThe Interpretation of Classical Physics
MacKinnon, E. M. (2011) · Boston studies in the philosophy of science · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2369-6_4
Cognitive Architecture With Episodic Memory
(2020) · Advances in human and social aspects of technology book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-5653-5.ch008
Why We Might Augment Reality: Art’s Role in the Development of Cognition
Wright, J. (2018) · Springer series on cultural computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69932-5_13
Why We Might Augment Reality: Art’s Role in the Development of Cognition
Wright, J. (2022) · Springer series on cultural computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-96863-2_3
New Results from Brain Research and Neuroscience
Palm, G. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-00311-0_9
The Suicide of Multivac: From Asimov’s Science Fiction to Consciousness Testing
Gagliardi, F. (2024) · Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness · doi:10.1142/s2705078524500061
Metadata
- Authors
- Koch, C., & Tononi, G.
- ORCID
- Tononi, Giulio
- Venue
- Scientific American
- Published
- 2011-06
- Volume
- 304
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 44-47
- ISSN
- 0036-8733 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W103999368
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 7.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Scientific American (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Cybernetics and Technology in Society
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Psychiatry, Mental Health, Neuroscience
- Keywords
- artificial consciousness, artificial intelligence, machine intelligence, philosophy of mind, Turing test, self-awareness
- MeSH terms
- Computers, Consciousness, Humans, Mental Processes, Sensation
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