While we currently don't know for sure where our self-awareness derives from, a growing body of evidence is pointing us towards one specific hypothesis, to which relates to network theory.

The hypothesis essentially claims that our ability of self-awareness doesn't derive from any single neuron of the brain, nor of any single synapse which helps one neuron communicate with another; rather, it is the sum result of our brain's network of neurons and synapses as a whole. In other words, the awareness of ourselves throughout space and time only comes as a result of the hundred billion neurons in our brain communicating with one another.

As noted by researchers at Vanderbilt University, in regards to a study that was published in 2015:

"The research suggests that consciousness is likely a product of this widespread communication, and that we can only report things that we have seen once they are being represented in the brain in this manner. Thus, no one part of the brain is truly the “seat of the soul,” as René Descartes once wrote in a hypothesis about the pineal gland, but rather, consciousness appears to be an emergent property of how information that needs to be acted upon gets propagated throughout the brain."

Which brings us to the IoT. When observing consciousness using network theory, the way our brain operates is quite similar to that of the IoT. The only significant difference between the two is that one involves neurons communicating with each other and the other involves digital devices communicating.

Within that communication between digital devices, smart electronics arise. The more devices you connect to the IoT, the more that intelligence and awareness permeate from those devices as a whole. Having a smart home today is predicated on a fully-functional IoT system, whereby various devices are operating in sync either automatically or by command, giving off the illusion of a "living" home.

Within the human brain, however, you have billions of neurons communicating with each other via synapses, to which ultimately determine your thoughts, actions, and awareness. You are a living system that is aware of itself and of others. And if the hypothesis above is true, this is due to the mass communication taking place between each neuron, i.e., our self-awareness derives from a biological IoT.

This then raises an important question, in my humble opinion: If our brain is really nothing more than an advanced computer, and if it operates like the IoT, resulting in self-awareness, could self-awareness arise within machines from the actual IoT?

As a hypothetical scenario, imagine that we've come to fully understand the function of each neuron thanks to the efforts of researchers like those currently working on the Human Connectome Project. With that understanding, we then create devices (or even digital systems) which mimic each neuron's functionality. From there, based on our understanding of what occurs as a result of specific neurons communicating with other neurons via the synapse, we then mimic that same occurrence between those specific devices (or, again, digital systems).

If we were to successfully achieve this, wouldn't it then be hypothetically possible for self-awareness to arise as a result of this mass network of coded communication? Could the invention of artificial general intelligence (AGI) - an AI that is capable of producing the same level of intelligence as that of the average human being - be solely predicated on the mass expansion of the IoT?

This is all still hypothetical, including the idea that self-awareness derives from a more globalized network of neurons in the brain. But if true, thanks to the exponential growth rate of informational technologies, the invention of an AGI - a machine that can think and feel just like us - is much closer than people may realize.

What do you think?