I agree with this. Computational functionalism is the main way researchers/practitioners are operationalising AI consciousness in practice today, but philosophically there are several other possibilities. Dualisms and panpsychisms would often fit the bill too. In both cases, there’s the challenge of identifying whether the consciousness is operating at the level of a particular system, as opposed to specific components/subfunctions within it or indeed a broader system that subsumes it. Functional approaches might have easier ways of handling that challenge, but it still needs setting out.
I agree with this. Computational functionalism is the main way researchers/practitioners are operationalising AI consciousness in practice today, but philosophically there are several other possibilities. Dualisms and panpsychisms would often fit the bill too. In both cases, there’s the challenge of identifying whether the consciousness is operating at the level of a particular system, as opposed to specific components/subfunctions within it or indeed a broader system that subsumes it. Functional approaches might have easier ways of handling that challenge, but it still needs setting out.