A Foundational Architecture for Artificial General Intelligence

Implementing and fleshing out a number of psychological and neuroscience theories of cognition, the LIDA conceptual model aims at being a cognitive “theory of everything.” With modules or processes for perception, working memory, episodic memories, “consciousness,” procedural memory, action selection, perceptual learning, episodic learning, deliberation, volition, and non-routine problem solving, the LIDA model is ideally suited to provide a working ontology that would allow for the discussion, design, and comparison of AGI systems. The LIDA architecture is based on the LIDA cognitive cycle, a sort of “cognitive atom.” The more elementary cognitive modules and processes play a role in each cognitive cycle. Higher-level processes are performed over multiple cycles. In addition to giving a quick overview of the LIDA conceptual model, and its underlying computational technology, we argue for the LIDA architecture’s role as a foundational architecture for an AGI. Finally, lessons For AGI researchers drawn from the model and its architecture are discussed.