higher levels of complexity should increase our credence somewhat that consciousness-related computations are being performed
To nuance a bit: while some increasing amount of complexity might be necessary for more consciousness a system with high complexity does not necessarily implies more consciousness. So not clear how we should update our credence that C is being computed because some system has higher complexity. This likely depends on the detail of the cognitive architecture of the system.
It might also be that systems that are very high in complexity have a harder time being conscious (because consciousness requires some integration/coordination within the system) so there might be a sweet spot for complexity to instantiate consciousness.
For example consciousness could be roughly modeled as some virtual reality that our brain computes. This “virtual world” is a sparse model of the complex world we live in. While the model is generated by complex neural network, it is a sparse representation of a complex signal. For example the information flow of a macroscopic system in the network that is relevant to detect consciousness might actually not be that complex although it “emerges” on top of a complex architecture.
The point is that consciousness is perhaps closer to some combination of complexity and sparsity rather than complexity alone.
To nuance a bit: while some increasing amount of complexity might be necessary for more consciousness a system with high complexity does not necessarily implies more consciousness. So not clear how we should update our credence that C is being computed because some system has higher complexity. This likely depends on the detail of the cognitive architecture of the system.
It might also be that systems that are very high in complexity have a harder time being conscious (because consciousness requires some integration/coordination within the system) so there might be a sweet spot for complexity to instantiate consciousness.
For example consciousness could be roughly modeled as some virtual reality that our brain computes. This “virtual world” is a sparse model of the complex world we live in. While the model is generated by complex neural network, it is a sparse representation of a complex signal. For example the information flow of a macroscopic system in the network that is relevant to detect consciousness might actually not be that complex although it “emerges” on top of a complex architecture.
The point is that consciousness is perhaps closer to some combination of complexity and sparsity rather than complexity alone.