Scientists aim to develop conscious robot

Here we go again. CORDIS reports that computer scientists from the University of Essex and neuropsychologists from the University of Bristol have got funding to try to develop a "conscious" robot.

'Consciousness is perhaps the last remaining mystery in understanding what it is to be human. By attempting to build physical systems which can produce a form of artificial consciousness, we hope to learn more about the nature of consciousness,' explained Owen Holland, senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Essex and leader of the project.

As with previous so-called AI research, there may be all sorts of valuable information comes out of this, but if they convincingly create consciousness, I'll eat my hat.