Antonio Chella – Narrative Self-Models in Robotics
Description
Chella develops synthetic models of machine consciousness based on narrative representation. He argues that when a robotic system can represent its own states and actions as part of a story, it reaches a minimal form of consciousness.
Resonance
PET agrees with the importance of self-representation and internal pattern evaluation. A system must track its own actions and update its model recursively.
Reframing
PET doesn’t ask, “Can it tell its story?”
It asks, “Is the story part of its pattern for survival?”
Narrative reporting isn’t consciousness. It’s the byproduct of recursive relevance. Consciousness arises not from the story—but from what the story means for existence. PET requires recursive evaluation, not surface-level simulation.