Currently, neuroscientist hold that two theories seem to be the most accurate in describing what causes consciousness: the Theory of Integrated Information and the Theory of Global Workspace. The theory of Integrated Information states that consciousness is created from several entities of information being tied together in a flawless, irreducible manner. Tanya Lewis briefly describes this in her article “Scientist Closing in on Theory of Consciousness”:
“The basic idea is that conscious experience represents the integration of a wide variety of information, and that this experience is irreducible. This means that when you open your eyes (assuming you have normal vision), you can 't simply choose to see everything in black and white, or to see only the left side of your field of view.”
Furthermore, the theory of Global Workspace states that consciousness is produced via an ability to reflect on past events, much like computer memory. If this is true, then artificial intelligence very well could develop consciousness. However, if the theory of Integrated Information is true, it seems improbable for artificial intelligence to be able to develop consciousness due to the lack of irreducibly flawless information able to be shared throughout an artificial agent 's processing