Review - Machine Consciousness by Owen Holland (Editor)

Book review - Consciousness is a perennial subject of fascination to human inquiry, and whether it can be reproduced in a human artifact − the question of "Artificial Consciousness" − has recently distinguished itself from the question of "Artificial Intelligence" as a research area in its own right, enabling one to pose the question of whether "AC" will turn out to be a necessary precondition for AI (now arguably one of AI's most intriguing questions). This collection arises from a workshop entitled, "Can a Machine be Conscious?" which took place at the Banbury Center, Long Island, in 2001 (though some of the published essays were not presented at the workshop but solicited later). Methodologically, the collection ranges across a wide spectrum: from armchair discussions from a range of philosophical perspectives, to technical reports from actual robotics research projects. The result is a stimulating resource for advanced undergraduates or the interested layperso