# Inferring Affective Consciousness in an Artificial Agent: A Case Study

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03883 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.03883/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Bayesian Mechanics for Stationary Processes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.13830/) (2021)
- [Sophisticated Learning: A novel algorithm for active learning during model-based planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08029/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Creatures that display 'hedonic place preference behaviour' are thought by many scientists to experience feelings, on the assumption that their attraction to pleasure-producing substances which lack nutritional value (e.g. cocaine, morphine) cannot easily be attributed to unconscious instinctual behaviour. In this paper, we discuss how a simple artificial agent that instantiates attributes of an affective system engaging in felt uncertainty about its intrinsic needs in relation to environmental resources can similarly display hedonic place preference behaviour -- through an apparently subjective form of information processing -- while simultaneously being entirely deter-ministic. We outline some implications of this artificially engineered behaviour for our understanding of the physical basis of consciousness and the experience of free will.