I think that Newcomb's paradox does provide evidence for machine consciousness, independent of implementation.
[A reminder. Newcomb's paradox: A highly superior being from another part of the galaxy presents you with two boxes, one open and one closed. In the open box there is a thousand-dollar bill. In the closed box there is either one million dollars or there is nothing. You are to choose between taking both boxes or taking the closed box only. But there's a catch. The being claims that he is able to predict what any human being will decide to do. If he predicted you would take only the closed box, then he placed a million dollars in it. But if he predicted you would take both boxes, he left the closed box empty] Let's replace the ``highly superior being from another part of the galaxy´´ by a machine. It seems that choosing only the closed box is the best option. However since the contents of the box is already fixed, it seems difficult to understand how you could lose a million dollars by choosing both boxes. That seems to contradict causality. However, we must consider how the machine arrives at the prediction. Suppose the machine simulates your brain and just computes what you will choose. It is hard to see that there is any alternative to this. Then the paradox is resolved if this computation generates your consciousness. If you are standing in front of the two boxes, making up your mind, you don't know if you are in the real world or the virtual world generated by the machine. So, you can't say that the contents of the closed boxed is already determined. How could you beat the machine? Suppose that the two boxes are in a room and that the machine arrives at the prediction by scanning your brain moments before you enter that room, and then calculating what you are going to do next. I propose this solution. Sneak into the room before the experiment is supposed to start. Then, with a pencil, mark a wall with small cross, and then leave again. Hopefully the machine won't notice the cross on the wall. At the start of the experiment you enter the room and you look at the marked wall. If you see a cross, then you are in the real world and the closed boxed is already filled. So you choose both boxes. But if you don't see the cross, you are in the virtual room generated by the machine. To make the machine fill the closed box with a million dollars you have to choose only the closed box. Of course, you may ask why your virtual version would care about your real version. I suppose that after the simulation your virtual copy will live on with memory loss as your real version. Saibal
