# Intelligence as a Measure of Consciousness

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.00646 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.00646/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 3 of its 68 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Aug 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: Early experiments with GPT-4](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.12712/) (2023)
- [Emergent Abilities of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.07682/) (2022)
- [Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08708/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Evaluating artificial systems for signs of consciousness is increasingly becoming a pressing concern, and a rigorous psychometric measurement framework may be of crucial importance in evaluating large language models in this regard. Most prominent theories of consciousness, both scientific and metaphysical, argue for different kinds of information coupling as a necessary component of human-like consciousness. By comparing information coupling in human and animal brains, human cognitive development, emergent abilities, and mental representation development to analogous phenomena in large language models, I argue that psychometric measures of intelligence, such as the g-factor or IQ, indirectly approximate the extent of conscious experience. Based on a broader source of both scientific and metaphysical theories of consciousness, I argue that all systems possess a degree of consciousness ascertainable psychometrically and that psychometric measures of intelligence may be used to gauge relative similarities of conscious experiences across disparate systems, be they artificial or human.