# Conscious enactive computation

## TL;DR

This paper examines enactive computation and consciousness debates, analyzing organizational closure and finite state automata to address obstacles in creating artificial conscious agents and defending extended consciousness.

## Contribution

It refines the concept of enactive computation through state space analysis and offers a new perspective on machine consciousness and living with artificial agents.

## Key findings

- Analysis of organizational closure in enactive computation
- Defense against criticisms of extended consciousness
- Proposal of a new perspective on living with machines

## Abstract

This paper looks at recent debates in the enactivist literature on computation and consciousness in order to assess major obstacles to building artificial conscious agents. We consider a proposal from Villalobos and Dewhurst (2018) for enactive computation on the basis of organizational closure. We attempt to improve the argument by reflecting on the closed paths through state space taken by finite state automata. This motivates a defense against Clark's recent criticisms of "extended consciousness", and perhaps a new perspective on living with machines.