What Would Machine Consciousness Look Like? A Report from Berkeley

What would it mean to take the possibility of machine consciousness seriously? To approach it as a question that may be studied with rigor?

At this DC Digital Minds gathering, group organizer Jessie Mannisto will report back from the Founding Assembly for Machine Consciousness Research in Berkeley, CA, where researchers and thinkers are working to develop the machine consciousness hypothesis into something more scientifically useful. We’ll talk about what kinds of evidence might support hypotheses of machine conscience or sentience, what concepts researchers are using, where the major uncertainties are, and why these questions may have ethical, social, and policy implications as AI systems become more capable and socially present.

This will be a casual cafe conversation with a little structure: Jessie will give a short report-back from the conference, followed by open discussion.
No technical background required -- just curiosity, good faith, and a willingness to think carefully about a strange and important frontier.

Optional Pre-Read: The Machine Consciousness Hypothesis