Inferring Affective Consciousness in an Artificial Agent: A Case Study

# Inferring Affective Consciousness in an Artificial Agent: A Case Study
Source: [https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03883](https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03883)
[View PDF](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.03883)

> Abstract: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\.

## Submission history

From: Nicolas Kuske \[[view email](https://arxiv.org/show-email/df69d452/2609.03883)\] **\[v1\]**Thu, 3 Sep 2026 14:07:57 UTC \(413 KB\)