What Is It Like to Be a Brain Simulation?
This addresses a philosophical problem for researchers in consciousness and AI, but it is incremental as it builds on existing thought experiments without new empirical data.
The paper tackles the problem of what subjective experience a brain simulation would have compared to a biological brain, exploring thought experiments and hypotheses to evaluate potential differences in experience.
We frame the question of what kind of subjective experience a brain simulation would have in contrast to a biological brain. We discuss the brain prosthesis thought experiment. We evaluate how the experience of the brain simulation might differ from the biological, according to a number of hypotheses about experience and the properties of simulation. Then, we identify finer questions relating to the original inquiry, and answer them from both a general physicalist, and panexperientialist perspective.