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A Semiotic and Systems-Theoretic Framework for the Emergence of Consciousness
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PRE
AI
J
G
A
A
P
DOI：10.1007/s12304-026-09638-0.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
The Turing Test, despite its historical significance, has been rendered inadequate by contemporary large language models (LLMs) that exhibit linguistic competence without consciousness. This inadequacy reveals a fundamental problem: passing a test based solely on linguistic behavior does not capture the systemic properties that ground conscious experience. We propose the Emergence Framework, a diagnostic-conceptual tool that evaluates consciousness across three interrelated dimensions: Agency (teleodynamic goal-directedness and capacity for norm generation), Self (boundary maintenance and reflexive coherence), and Otherness (recognition and interpretation of alterity through semiotic engagement). This framework emerges from a reconciliation of contemporary theories of consciousness-Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Global Workspace Theory (GWT), and the Free Energy Principle (FEP)-with biosemiotic perspective. Each theoretical approach addresses aspects of these three dimensions but lacks an explicit account of their necessary integration. By grounding these axes in biosemiotic principles, the framework offers a more comprehensive basis for evaluating consciousness not only in biological systems but also in synthetic and hybrid substrates. We apply this framework to diverse cases- from bacteria to organoids to AI agents-demonstrating how the three axes can discriminate degrees and kinds of conscious organization. This integrated approach offers new conceptual tools for consciousness research while acknowledging that translating these criteria into rigorous empirical protocols requires ongoing work.
Keywords:
Emergent consciousness
Semiotic systems
Artificial agency
Neuromorphic systems
Journal
B
IF:
1.9
Papers:
20
Citations:
0
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