Sorry that my answer comes so late, but I'll put this here for posterity. I will only address the latter part. My point was that a brain is an N x N -matrix in the same sense as an ANN. An ANN is no more an N x N -matrix "in reality" than a biological brain; in reality it is some collection of analog electric potentials and configurations of matter which can sometimes be represented as a digital N x N -matrix for the convenience of the programmer. Thus the situation is exactly identical to a biological brain, which is also not "in reality" an N x N -matrix but can be represented as one. If we had sufficiently advanced (nano-)technology, we could manipulate human brains through their abstract representation as a matrix just as we can ANNs. Any distinction is purely pragmatic.In any case I was not saying that being representable as an N x N -matrix is sufficient for consciousness (which I do not believe), simply that it is clearly compatible with consciousness. I agree that a self-aware ANN would probably require a body (possibly simulated) and some notion of agency.
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