Qualia, Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence

It is noted that there are many different definitions of and views about qualia, and this makes qualia into a vague concept without much theoretical and constructive value. Here, qualia are redefined in a more general way. It is argued that the redefined qualia will be essential to the mind–body problem, the problem of consciousness and also to the symbol grounding problem, which is inherent in physical symbol systems. Then, it is argued that the redefined qualia are necessary for Artificial Intelligence systems for the operation with meanings. Finally, it is proposed that robots with qualia may be conscious.