A machine consciousness approach to the design of human-like bots

Abstract

This chapter introduces Machine Consciousness as a new research field applied to the development of human-like behaviour of non-player characters (NPCs) in video games. Key aspects, advantages, and challenges of this young research area are discussed using the cognitive architecture CERA-CRANIUM as an illustrative example of an autonomous control system inspired by cognitive theories of human consciousness. Additionally, other cognitive architectures used in video games are also analyzed. The bot codenamed CC-Bot2, winner of the 2K BotPrize 2010 competition and based on the CERA-CRANIUM cognitive architecture, is also described in this chapter. Specifically, the particular way in which CC-Bot2 processes the sensory-motor information and generates sequences of adaptive human-like actions is discussed. We also analyze the main differences between CC-Bot2 and other bots, focusing on the key features that allowed CC-Bot2 to win first place in the competition. Finally, we conclude by describing the main lines of work for future CC-Bot implementations and pointing out major conclusions about the application of Machine Consciousness to the design of believable bots.