Quantum Mechanics, Real and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Some incompletely resolved problems in the quantal theories of measurement and observation are discussed with reference to Schrodinger's 'cat paradox' and the paradox of Wigner's friend. A simple version of the theory of measurement is presented, which does not completely resolve these paradoxes but suggests the need for an objective quantal description of the process of observation, and the formation of memory, of an event originating at the microscopic level, by an animal or artificial intelligence. A quantised model is then developed to simulate the function of the cerebral cortex in the formation of memory of sensory impressions, with macroscopic observables expressed in terms of parafermion operators of very large order. A letter from Schrodinger, which corrects some published versions of his paradox, is presented as well as a short account of the simulated formation of long-term memory by the model in an appendix.